How to win Whatnot giveaways

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If you’ve been enjoying live-stream giveaways on TikTok, then you might want to check out Whatnot, which is a hybrid between TikTok Live and eBay. Originally popular for sports cards and collectibles, it’s now a popular live shopping app packed with small businesses selling beauty, home and fashion items as well as more niche products like Pokemon Cards and Lego.

Whatnot sellers host live streams for hours at a time, running quick auctions where the viewers bid against each other to secure a bargain. Most sellers host regular giveaways to keep people watching, and to attract more viewers. These ‘givvys’ are usually free to enter (you’ll need to follow the account), but there are also ‘Buyer Appreciation Giveaways’ for those that make a purchase. Prizes are usually small (sometimes it might be free shipping, rather than an actual prize!) – but occasionally you can win gadgets and tech!

To join Whatnot, you’re welcome to use my referral link whatnot.com/invite/superluckyme – you put in your phone number to sign up, and will receive at least £10 credit to spend! 

Whatnot basics

Sellers on Whatnot are independent small businesses, resellers, and hobby sellers rather than brands, so you probably won’t see any usernames you recognise – but you will see lots of famous branded goods on sale. 

  • To Follow a seller, tap the yellow Follow button at the top of the screen. 
  • To comment on the live stream, tap in the Say something box
  • Double tap the stream to send a heart and show you like it
  • Use the Search box on the home screen to look for sellers, category, keyword or product
  • While watching a live stream, swipe up or down to browse other lives
  • Use the small down arrow top right to shrink the live stream, and go back to the home screen
  • If you see a mini yellow sticky note on the left of the screen, that’s the Show notes which may have details of giveaways and prizes

From the home page, choose a category – the sellers that are currently live will have a red LIVE button at the top. You can also tap Categories at the bottom of the screen to browse. You can see the time of the sellers’ next live stream, so you can tap the bookmark icons and be notified when they start.

Once you’ve selected a category, tap Top sellers to see a list of live streams, plus the number of current viewers. Sellers with less than 20 live viewers are not likely to be hosting giveaways, but if you can find some with between 20 and 50 viewers that means less entries in the giveaway and a better chance of winning! Streams with 100+ viewers are very likely to be hosting giveaways, but they will be harder to win due to their popularity.

How to Bid on an auction

To bid to buy an item on WhatNot, simply swipe across on the Bid banner on screen – you may need to do this several times if someone is bidding against you! You’ll see a red countdown timer showing how much time is left for the auction and the name of the highest bidder will appear on screen when time runs out.

The cost of postage will be shown at the bottom of the screen, and is usually £3.27. For some special events shipping is FREE, so you can get some real bargains if you’re watching a stream with low viewer numbers! 

If there’s a specific product you want, you can go to a seller’s shop and place a Pre-Bid on that item before it appears on a live auction.

Giveaways (Givvys)

Just like TikTok, sellers use prize draws on Whatnot to boost their viewers and move up the app’s rankings, so you’ll find givvys running constantly. Most are free to enter, they run for a very short time, and winners are picked automatically at random by the app. It makes no difference what time you actually enter, as it’s a random draw rather than instant win – but you MUST be watching the stream when the giveaway ends, to be included in the draw. 

If a seller has a giveaway, you’ll see it at the top right of the screen along with the number of entrants. Usually you have to be a follower of the account. Tap Enter Giveaway to take part. Unlike TikTok, you won’t see a countdown timer on screen. Giveaways run for a maximum of 5 minutes – but the host can end it early. With TikTok, because giveaways are usually 15 minutes with a visible countdown, you have time to swipe between streams and enter several at once – but this technique won’t work on WhatNot because of the short times and lack of on-screen timer, so you need to stay watching one stream.

Sometimes the seller may announce what the prize is, but usually it’s not clear. You may be able to find out if you tap Shop and Giveaway – although often that’s just a numbered list of Givvys!

If you’re brand new to Whatnot, you may not be able to enter a givvy until your card has been verified.

Buyer Appreciation Giveaways

Some sellers host Buyer Appreciation Giveaways (also known as BAGs, or Buyer Givvys) and you’ll be entered into the prize draw after making any purchase. These are usually better quality prizes than the regular giveaways. In the US you have an option to fill a form to enter a Buyer Giveaway without making a purchase (AMOE – Alternative Method Of Entry) – this option doesn’t apply in the UK. 

When you win on Whatnot

At the end of a giveaway, a random name spinner on the screen will stop on the winners name and confetti will fill the screen. Sometimes you may need to leave a comment to tell the seller what size or colour you want, so make sure you’re listening out as they may ask you questions that you need to answer in a comment!

After winning you’ll receive a confirmation email and also see the prize listed under Purchases on your Activity tab. This will confirm what prize you have won, so you know what to expect. When it’s sent you’ll get another email – your address is linked to your account so you don’t need to confirm it with the seller. 

Find & Follow Sellers

Sellers advertise their upcoming live shows in advance. When you find a seller or brand you like, tap the bell icon on their profile to follow them and turn on show notifications. You can also browse upcoming shows on the home screen and tap to Bookmark – Whatnot will send you a push notification when the stream goes live.

Below are a selection of suggested sellers you can follow, as recommended by members of the SuperLucky community! There are also lots of collectables, cards, and Pokemon sellers.

Support the sellers

Be active in the chat, share the live with friends, double tap the screen and send reactions to show you’re engaged! Tap the seller’s name at the top of the screen and you can pay to boost them or tip them – you might want to do this if you have won a nice prize from them, as a thank you. Or pop into their live feed and comment to let them know how much you liked the products. Don’t be a Givvy Goblin – this is slang in the Whatnot community (especially in the US) for someone who jumps from one stream to the next just for the giveaways, without engaging or saying thank you!

Activity

On the activity tab under Purchases you can see items you have bought and prizes you have won – the giveaway prizes will have a Price of £0. You can rate and review your purchases and prizes. Also on this tab you’ll see Bids and Offers, plus under Saved you’ll see the shows, products and sellers you have bookmarked. 

Whatnot Points

You earn Whatnot points for watching live streams, doing a daily check in, making a purchase and lots more. Points can be redeemed for on screen reactions and emojis to use in the chat. From the Home screen, tap the gift icon top right then Points Shop to see what you can buy.

Referral bonuses

If you refer a friend to join Whatnot, you both get credit on your accounts, from £10 to £200! Use my referral link www.whatnot.com/invite/superluckyme – and then refer your own friends too! Check on the status of your referrals by tapping Account, Referrals & Credits then Invite History.

I won these small prizes in my first few days of entering Whatnot giveaways!

Whatnot tips

  • Make sure Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode is enabled in your phone’s settings for the Whatnot app. This allows the live stream to shrink into a small window on your screen while you get on with other tasks! 
  • Charge up an old phone handset (it doesn’t need to have a SIM – just connect to wifi while at home) and use that for WhatNot streaming rather than your main phone – glance at the phone and tap to enter the givvys when you spot them!
  • Start by following and watching smaller sellers with products you like, it will be more fun to take part and easier to win prizes! 

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Have you won a Whatnot giveaway? Do you have any tips?

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