Let’s Ship Items From My First Whatnot Show (And What I Learned)
- Share Allen
- Feb 9
- 5 min read
If you’ve ever thought about selling your clothes online but felt overwhelmed by the process, let me tell you something: sometimes the best way to learn is to just start.
That’s exactly what happened during my first weekend selling on Whatnot. I hosted three live shows, sold more than 70 items, and made about $927 in sales. Not bad for a weekend experiment!
But once the excitement of the live shows ended, reality set in… I had a mountain of packages to ship.
In this post, I’m sharing what it actually looked like to pack and ship orders from my first Whatnot show, what I learned about shipping, and a few tips if you’re thinking about selling your own items online.
Watch next: Want to join me on Whatnot
(BUYER: $15 credit on your first purchase - https://whatnot.com/invite/closet2share)
(SELLER: Get $150 if you have a show your first week - https://www.whatnot.com/invite/seller...)
My First Whatnot Weekend: The Results
Over the course of the weekend I ran three live shows.
One show was a vintage clothing sale that didn’t do very well.
My Saturday morning dress sale was the most successful.
My final show sold 11 additional items.
Altogether, I sold over 70 items and generated roughly $927 in revenue before platform fees.
The biggest surprise? Many of these items had been sitting in my closet—or listed online for over a year.
For example:
Dresses that had been listed on Poshmark for months
Pieces I bought years ago that no longer fit
Items my daughter had in her closet
Clothing from past photo shoots
Instead of letting them sit there, I finally moved them in a single weekend.
Why Live Selling Works So Well
One thing I realized quickly is that live selling moves inventory much faster than traditional listings.
When selling on resale platforms like Poshmark, you typically have to:
Photograph the item
Write a description
Add measurements
Price it
Wait for buyers
With live selling on Whatnot, it’s much simpler.
You just:
Show the item live
Describe it
Start the auction
Let viewers bid
In one of my shows I sold 57 items in about three hours. That would have taken weeks or months through traditional listings.
Preparing to Ship 70+ Orders
After the show ended, I needed to get everything organized.
The first step was separating each order by buyer. Some customers bought one item, while others bought several pieces.
Then I gathered my shipping supplies:
Poly mailers
Tissue paper
Thank-you stickers
A shipping label printer
A small shipping scale
I ordered most of these supplies on Amazon just to get started quickly.
Once everything was ready, it was time to start packing.
My Packaging Process
Packaging may seem like a small detail, but it actually matters a lot.
When I ship orders, I always think about how I would want to receive a package.
My process looks like this:
Fold the item neatly
Wrap it in tissue paper
Add a thank-you sticker
Place it inside the poly mailer
Weigh the package
Print the shipping label
Even though some people simply toss items into a bag, I prefer to make the package feel more thoughtful. Buyers appreciate it, and it helps create a better overall experience.
What I Learned About Whatnot Shipping
Shipping was the part I was most nervous about.
Here are a few things I learned during my first round of orders.
1. Weigh Your Items Before the Show
Before running my sale, I weighed each clothing item and assigned it a weight category inside Whatnot.
For example:
12–15 oz items
1–2 lb items
2–3 lb items
This ensures the buyer is charged the correct shipping price.
2. Always Include Packaging Weight
One important mistake to avoid: don’t just weigh the clothing item.
You must include the weight of:
Tissue paper
Packaging
Poly mailer
Labels or stickers
If an item weighs 10 ounces, I usually round it up to the next weight tier to account for packaging.
This prevents the buyer from being charged additional postage later.
3. Organize Orders Before Printing Labels
Because some buyers purchased multiple items, I organized everything into piles before printing labels.
This made the packing process much easier and avoided mixing up orders.
4. Always Get Packages Scanned
One important tip: always have your packages scanned at the post office.
Even if the postal worker tells you to leave them in a drop area, I prefer to have them scanned and get a receipt.
Why?
Because until that package is scanned, it’s essentially your responsibility.
Getting a receipt protects you if something gets lost.
Decluttering My Closet (And My Storage)
Another motivation behind these sales was simple: I have too many clothes.
Like many people who love fashion, I’ve accumulated items from:
Shopping trips
Downtown LA wholesale purchases
Photo shoots
Past trends
Items that no longer fit
Some dresses had been sitting in my closet for 10 years or more.
Instead of holding onto them, I’d rather see someone else enjoy them.
How Live Selling Could Become a Real Business
During the process, I started thinking about the bigger opportunity.
If someone ran two live shows per day, even just a few days per week, the numbers could add up quickly.
For example:
$500 average per show
2 shows per day
3 days per week
That’s roughly $3,000 per week in revenue.
Of course, that would require sourcing inventory consistently, but it shows how quickly live selling can scale.
My Biggest Lesson: Just Start
The funniest part of this experience is that I talked about selling on Whatnot for over a year before I actually started.
I had planned it, researched it, and thought about it… but never did it.
Then one weekend, I finally ran my first show.
And it worked.
So if you’re thinking about selling clothes online—whether on Whatnot, Poshmark, or somewhere else—my biggest advice is simple:
Just start.
You’ll figure out the rest as you go.
Final Thoughts
Packing and shipping my first Whatnot orders was a learning experience, but it also showed me something important: selling online doesn’t have to be complicated.
If you have clothes sitting in your closet that you never wear, they could easily become extra cash and extra space.
And who knows… it might even turn into a fun side hustle.
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1000 Sheets White Tissue Paper - https://amzn.to/400AXRM
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Black Poly Mailers 14.5x19 - https://amzn.to/4aadZOg
18x24 Clear Plastic Flat Open Poly Bags - https://amzn.to/4aoc5Z0
Large Clothing Rack - https://amzn.to/4aFvhmn
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Mini Wireless Microphone - https://amzn.to/3ZraI70
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