How to Track Who Won What in a Whatnot Show

New streamers in their first 10 shows. During and after the show. Beginner. 7-min read.

A fast auction show can sell an item every few seconds. If you wait until the show ends to work out who won what, you end up replaying video, sorting cards by auction number at midnight, and guessing. The fix is to attach the buyer to the item the moment it sells, then pack from Whatnot's order screens instead of your memory.

Steps

1. Pick one way to mark sold items before you go live. Use pre-printed stickers, tags or small bags, one per item. Keep a pen and a stack of them within reach of the camera table.
2. Turn on Sorting Labels if your account has it. Sorting Labels print the listing title and buyer username automatically as items sell. It is in Beta and only open to selected pilot sellers, so check before you plan around it. On whatnot.com, open your show from the Shows page, then select More > Seller Tools > Sorting Labels.
3. Set up the computer and printer for Sorting Labels. You need a computer that stays on during the show, Whatnot Tray version 2.2.6 or newer, an installed printer, and label stock in 2 × 1 in, 1 × 1 in, 4 × 6 in or 2 × 3 in. Print a test label before your first show. You can stream from your phone while the labels print from the computer.
4. Mark each item the second it sells. Stick the printed label, or write the buyer username on your tag, and attach it to the item before you show the next one. Say the username out loud so the recording matches the tag.
5. Sort sold items by buyer username as you go. Drop each tagged item into a bin or box for that buyer, or into alphabetical bins. Whatnot recommends organizing by buyer username and then sorting shipments alphabetically in Seller Hub.
6. Handle cancel requests before printing labels. You cannot generate a label while a cancellation request is pending. Decline it if you plan to ship, or accept it and pull the item.
7. Pack from Seller Hub, not from memory. On whatnot.com, open Seller Hub > Shipments. Each shipment shows the buyer username and item count. Expand bundled shipments to see every item. Whatnot bundles purchases from the same buyer automatically in most cases.
8. Print packing slips with your labels. In Shipments, select the orders, choose Generate Labels, then Export Shipping Label / Slips and pick both. Each slip lists the buyer username and items for that shipment, so you can check the box against it.
9. Use video receipts only to settle doubts. If a tag fell off, the video receipt shows the moment the item appeared in your show. Video receipts are available for 60 days after purchase.

Worked Example

Example: a sports card singles show sells 200 cards to 55 buyers. Without tags, you have 200 loose cards and a list of auction numbers. With tags and bins, you have 55 bins, one per buyer. After the show you open Shipments, filter to that show, and work down 55 shipments. For each one you pull a bin, check the cards against the packing slip, and seal the mailer. Then export the Show Report (CSV) from Shipments > Open Sidebar > Show Actions and check that the number of items you packed matches the number of items sold.

Common Mistakes

• Waiting until after the show to label items. One missed sticker turns into a guessing game across 200 items.
• Packing from video receipts. A clip shows when an item appeared in the show, not which shipment it belongs to, so it is slow to pack from.
• Printing labels before clearing cancel requests. Labels will not generate while a request is pending.
• Leaving sold items on the table in one pile. A bin per buyer makes bundles obvious.

Checklist

• Stickers, tags or bags ready before the show
• Sorting Labels turned on and a test label printed (if your account has it)
• Bins or boxes set up for sorting by buyer username
• Every sold item tagged before the next item is shown
• Cancel requests handled before labels are generated
• Packing done from Seller Hub > Shipments with packing slips
• Show Report (CSV) item count checked against what you packed

SaleTrail is warehouse software for live sellers that tracks inventory, picking and packing after each show, if you outgrow stickers and bins.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Whatnot.