[00:03] >> Clinton is a part-time pastor who sold over $2 million on Whatnot last year all. >> My very first show, zero followers, just hitting live, 65 people showed up to see what I was offering.
[00:17] live selling works, how much you can make, and how to turn it into a sustainable part of your business. >> People aren't going to stay because you stay [music] because they feel like they belong to a community.
[00:30] how people are making money on there, this is the episode for you. >> Don't wait, start before you feel ready. Early in our journey, uh we're about 4 months in roughly, and we put on a a Super Bowl show where we gave away some
[00:43] cool like signed jerseys and helmets and stuff. Um but we did a $100,000 GMB in a >> Okay. >> the first ones to do that in the golf category, and which is kind of crazy. You you go into it not knowing what to
[00:58] expect, and 6 hours later you're just standing there kind of in awe. It was it was a fun night. >> Yeah, no kidding. I'm thinking of the hourly rate on that. 100,000 divided by six, okay. Yeah, there's some cost of
[01:11] good return there. >> It was [snorts] a it was a great night for sure. And it just kind of more so on our side showed us uh or what we're capable of in in in this realm, so.
[01:23] >> Yeah, so that's uh you four-ish months into your journey, which would be incredible for a lot of people, but let's peel it back to those early moments and figure out, well, how am I going to get anybody to tune in here?
[01:36] How do I even start this thing? >> Yeah, so uh we started October of uh '24. And honestly, we didn't start this as some big strategic move. In my office, I have just golf bags full of golf clubs that I've collected over the
[01:50] years, and I had seen the app, didn't know what it was about, so one day I just I downloaded it, and I went live from my office. And I think I had like from my office. And I think I had like 65 people in that first show. And the
[02:03] to run items cuz I didn't know what I was doing. They were like, "Well, you do this. You Here's how you add the item. Here's how you you sell it and started at 10 seconds with a timer reset." I'm like, "I have no idea what any of that
[02:16] means." And so, it was no big setup, no plan. I just kind of hit go live and I think the first show I sold a putter which I want to tell you about that. It's kind of a full circle moment. Um but it just I went live and the I went
[02:31] live the next day and then I went live the next day and it just kind of started this snowball effect of like this could be really good for our shop and the rest is kind of history. >> Yeah, so I think that's important to
[02:46] brick-and-mortar location with a bunch of golf products. So, if people aren't starting with that, maybe you're starting from your garage or you're starting from offloading stuff that your neighbors are trying to get
[03:00] rid of. Like there's different ways to go about it, but I like this. not going to overthink it. I'm going to go live. The audience is going to tell That's really [laughter] really kind of funny. But 65 people
[03:15] showing up and zero zero followers. Like there's no built-in audience, but people >> Yeah, and that's the beautiful thing that Whatnot brings to the table is they have this this community that has knows what the app's about. They're on there
[03:31] looking to buy. So, even in my very first show, zero followers, just hitting live, 65 people showed up to see what I was offering. And I'm sure some of those no idea what he's doing. >> [laughter]
[03:45] >> I don't ever want to buy from him." But to it was just cool to see like on in here watching me not know what I'm doing and they they're interested in golf. This is so cool. I This is awesome just from zero to 65 in in a matter of
[04:01] literal seconds just hitting go live." >> Do you need onboarding as as a buyer on the platform? It kind of asks what product categories you're interested in. Oh, I'm interested in
[04:13] sports equipment. I'm interested in collectibles or trading cards and it kind of will show you stuff that's related to those categories. Yeah, so when you come in as a buyer whatever you click during that initial
[04:27] onboarding process, that's the shows that are going to pop up and generate what's so beautiful is you're not going to get hit with a bunch of things that you're not interested in. It's going to show you what you actually want to buy.
[04:40] platforms at this stage where it's less about the followers, it's more about the algorithm and if you can be engaging and entertaining on camera, it's going to feed it to more people. >> Sure, absolutely.
[04:53] >> Okay. So, you sell this putter and what how much how much do you sell it for? >> So, I think the very first sale this putter went for like 300 bucks. So, at this point I'm I'm like, "Holy smokes, this is this is awesome. What can I grab
[05:06] spending money and the full circle moment is a few months ago the guy who bought that putter actually sent it back to me and was like, "Hey, this was the first item you ever sold. I want to give it back to you just as a as a memorial
[05:20] for you to so that you never lose that that item the very first item you sold." bag. >> Yeah, well, I always picture like you >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. So, it was just a really
[05:34] this community, man. There's so many good people on the app. kind of liquidation or low price kind of auction intent where we're going to
[05:49] drive some excitement, which could be nerve-racking if nobody is tuning in or you're like, "All right, I just sold this $300 putter for 10 bucks and I don't feel so great about that." >> So, there are definitely win and lose
[06:04] moments. Um obviously, the the beauty of Whatnot is you can start items as an whatever price you want to start them a number, um let's just say it is a $300 putter
[06:18] and I need $300 out of it. I can start that item at $300. I don't have to start it down to the dollar. Now, the the joy and the the drama it brings when you do
[06:30] start an item like that at a dollar is very entertaining to watch, especially my face as I'm watching it tick up cuz a lot of our auctions are 5 to 10 seconds long with no timer reset. So, you can imagine me the stress that I feel inside
[06:44] watching this $300 item hoping that it gets up to that number within those 10 >> In 10 seconds? >> In 10 seconds. So, these are very quick turnaround items, very quick turnaround auctions. But, Whatnot offers us a
[06:58] platform that we can list items in a buy-it-now section where somebody can go in and look at our buy-it-now and buy something at a set price and we can set all of our auctions at a set price, too. So, where we guarantee ourselves certain
[07:11] So, where we guarantee ourselves certain margins that we we want to hit. So, margins that we we want to hit. So, >> What What have you found works better? >> Definitely the the auction. They call them sudden death auctions, uh 5 to 10
[07:23] seconds. Um and I will say this, those those short auctions create a buzz in the community and it actually draws more viewers in that want to swipe. Um because that's the whole thing is you
[07:36] just swipe across the screen to create your bid. And so, people really enjoy that and it I think it's kind of the fear of missing out. Uh they don't want to miss out on swiping and winning an item. So, we found that those auction
[07:48] styles that started a dollar and go up rapidly really quick in 5 to 10 seconds rapidly really quick in 5 to 10 seconds work best for us and our community. >> Yeah, impulse buy. Uh oh, it's it's only 10 seconds. I better do it now.
[08:01] >> Yeah, for sure. >> Okay, so you start going live consistently. Like, okay, I had this early win sold this $300 putter on my very first stream. Hey, I can do this every day. You know, how much time are
[08:13] you dedicating to it in these early, you know, days and weeks? >> It wasn't about stepping into like the unknown. Once I did it one time, I was like, you know what? I'm kind of built for this. Like, I I
[08:26] I grew up in public speaking and and learning to engage crowds and not just That's kind of my my heart. People are my heart. You know, I'm a I I pastor part-time. So, I enjoyed doing that. So, when I went live for the first time,
[08:41] that second day, I was like, "Oh, this is going to be awesome. I get to talk to people through a camera and 65 people showed up. I wonder how many's going to showed up. I wonder how many's going to show up tomorrow." And this this isn't
[08:53] just e-commerce. I'm actually hosting a community of people and I get to show them like what all this what this is about. So, those early days that I went live, I was live for maybe 30 to 45 minutes. But, as it started going on, I
[09:07] was going live a couple hours on a Tuesday and a couple hours on a Thursday. And so, it started building up from just maybe an hour a week to 2 hours a week to 4 hours a week till now this is a full-time gig.
[09:21] people on the streams now. Like, there's know the different personalities behind it. >> Correct. Yes, sir. >> Talk to me about the
[09:34] inventory side. If I don't have a brick-and-mortar store, like if I want to tap into this, is it important to have a niche? Like, oh, we're going to be the go-to people for great deals on golf gear, or could it be a little bit
[09:47] more broad if I'm sourcing from we did an episode on B-Stock sourcing, where it's like these customer return liquidation auctions from Costco and you know, government surplus auctions and stuff. Like, do you need to niche down?
[10:01] >> Whilst certainly niching down helps, right? Because you can build a community around that certain niche. Um it's not necessary because the beauty of Whatnot is um whatever you're selling, you're going to find viewers that are looking
[10:15] to buy that item. Um while we're specific in the golf category, um we we sell a lot of hats that aren't really golf specific. And so we've we've found a crowd that's coming in to find these these certain hats. It's called Waggle.
[10:28] It's a certain brand. Um but they're not golf specific hats. They have all kinds of crazy designs on them. So we're getting people that are kind of outside hats cuz they know we're going to sell them on our shows. Whatever you're
[10:40] there to buy those products. people trying to source some profitable inventory for this? >> Sure. So, if I didn't have the brick and mortar, what would I do? How would I get
[10:54] product? Um in the golf category specific, I would go to local pro shops sitting there. I'd build a relationship with the pro or the manager. Find stuff year's product and say, "Hey, I'm willing to take this off your hands."
[11:09] Um also searching online, there's tons of websites that are um in the golf category that sell used equipment. Facebook and Instagram, posting on your story and saying, "Hey, uh do you guys have golf clubs laying in your garage?
[11:23] off you if they've been sitting for a while." Uh hitting up local garage sales and estate sales. You can find all kinds of stuff just in your local community, not even searching abroad. You can find it in your local town
[11:39] by just doing a little bit of research and social media is a huge one. >> Okay. We had a listener to the show who was in the Amazon Influencer program and he built it up to the point where he was getting free product from brands to do
[11:53] these video reviews. Sometimes even getting paid to do the video reviews, which is cool. So, he would earn the review fee, the free product, the sold. And then what he would do when the stock room got full of stuff or the
[12:06] start to do the whatnot live selling. Hey, let's go through the inventory. It was like triple quadruple dip on this one. It was do it, too. >> For sure. Yeah, that's that that is an
[12:19] interesting thing and I wonder kind of what's the >> Yeah. >> It was an example of not niching down. >> Yeah, for sure. >> But it's an interesting strategy to go
[12:32] partner with other retailers. Hey, we'll take your clearance inventory off your hand and try it. So, basically trying to It's buy low, sell high but marketing channel for it. >> And to to speak to that, like, you know,
[12:45] well, man, at the end of a season our shop was always full of stuff that man just sat and and you know, we we would put it on sale and try to move it, but you know, we're always left with a bagful of
[12:59] clothes and and a a boxful of hats and a rackful of shirts. And so, knowing that somebody could have came in all of this, how much do you want if I take it all? That would have been a huge
[13:14] for us years ago before Whatnot. >> Okay. And now you have your own your own giving some of this unsold stuff. >> Yes, sir. >> Is as a percent like a as a pie chart is
[13:28] compare to the brick-and-mortar foot traffic now? >> When we got into Whatnot back in October, this was before we knew what was going to happen to golf economy here in West Texas.
[13:41] So we went live and and it started booming and building into 2025. Well, in 2025 we lost three local golf courses here, which we have a total of six golf courses in West Texas. So three of those
[13:56] right off the top disappeared overnight. And so our the golf economy started doing this in Midland. It started going down. Well, this e-commerce and Whatnot started picking up right at the right
[14:09] time. So it was kind of a godsend. Last year we did just over $2 million on the app. In the store we did a little over 3 million. And so the the brick-and-mortar still going to do more, but Whatnot has been a very
[14:24] healthy back door for us as far as the golf economy goes here. >> Right, cuz all of a sudden instead of you serving the immediate 20-mi radius, you can now serve people all around the
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[16:57] shipping and logistics side of this thing. Obviously, you know, golf clubs come in their own challenge to ship something of that size, but hats maybe a little bit easier. So, when somebody wins the
[17:09] auction or they buy this thing, what you know, what happens on the back end to fulfill that product? Talk about that process. >> Oh boy. So, I'm going to go back to our Super Bowl show where we did a $100,000.
[17:22] Super Bowl show where we did a $100,000. Um we sold 600 golf clubs in that 6-hour Um we sold 600 golf clubs in that 6-hour span. Um and so, we're still pretty new to this process of shipping. And I want to plug Whatnot here because they make
[17:35] the the actual the the printing labels for it super super streamlined. Um they provide the label, the buyer pays the shipping. And at the end of a show, we uh reconcile everything, and
[17:48] labels. Um so, if you have a label printer, you just click a button, it prints out all the labels for you. And so, we have the packing slip and label provided by Whatnot.
[18:02] So, what comes next is packing 600 golf clubs. And so, we kind of was like on cloud nine the night we finished the show, but then we get here the next morning and we're like, "Oh crap, we have 600 golf clubs that we have to ship
[18:16] out." And so, >> which one was going to which person. >> Correct. So, we we were looking at golf number, and so we were finding the numbers that matched up with the packing
[18:28] slip. So, as we learned, we actually hired a full-time staff that ships for us after shows. Um and we use a a software called Hot Label during our shows that actually
[18:41] prints off a label with the buyer's name, the item they bought, what time they bought it, and how much they bought it for. And then each item gets tagged with the packing slip. So, our shipping process has become a lot more
[18:55] streamlined. But those early days were were a steep learning curve of "We got to get these golf clubs out in a very timely manner." Um Whatnot gives us 48 hours to ship, not including Saturdays and Sundays.
[19:09] Um so, you have 48 hours to get it to the USPS or UPS uh hub and that way it can be on on its way in a timely manner. >> Yeah, pretty tight turnaround and maybe because of you know, we're all spoiled by Prime shipping and just the the
[19:24] excitement of buying something live is like, well, I I want it now. It's this immediate gratification. >> Yes, sir. Yeah.
[19:38] shipping? Is it flat rate? I mean, it's bigger sometimes bigger items. How does that work? >> So, it's based on um pre uh pre-built forms that we put into um our shows based on So, we have a skew for clubs.
[19:53] for um lighter items that go USPS. So, every auction that we put in will be pre-tagged with a a shipping skew and
[20:05] so, it's all based off of weight and size and so, the buyer will pay whatever the shipping is for that item based on where they are in the United States. So, all of our clubs and bags ship via UPS and all of our lighter items apparel,
[20:19] hats, accessories will ship USPS. And so, when the buyer pays for that shipping, again, Whatnot provides us a label. It's super streamlined, super easy process. Uh the only thing we have to do is provide the box, packing
[20:32] material, and ship it out. >> Got it. So, the item for uh $100 and then a tax on the $15 shipping or whatever. Okay. >> Correct. And then also uh we bundle
[20:46] ship. So, uh they may buy one item and then the next four items is free shipping cuz we can pack it all in a one box. >> Oh, okay. Got it. Got it. So, increase the average uh order size,
[20:58] encourage people to buy more, which is something that you've done a really good job. I mean, you've got your crew hat on right now. It's the GHQ crew and so, you're starting to build this sense of community and I imagine you see some
[21:10] familiar screen names or usernames just showing up day after day. That's the beauty of this is we've actually built a community and I always say the golf community on Whatnot is the best community because
[21:25] shows. We give away stuff in other people's shows. They give away stuff in people's shows. They give away stuff in our shows and and we recognize most of the people that are coming into our our lives and we we answer comments
[21:39] live. We engage constantly cuz that's the big thing. People want to feel seen. They want to feel heard. They want to know that they're not just a number that purchased an item from us. They want to feel like they belong. We We We wanted
[21:52] it to be relational and not transactional. And so we turned viewers into regulars and those regulars into this big community that shows up every show because and I think this is the biggest thing I want people to know is
[22:05] people aren't going to stay because you offer the best price. They're going to to a community every time they show up.
[22:19] see you in the crowd or like how how are you fostering some of that? >> Absolutely. So when you show up into our show, it actually will say so and so's here. And so we're calling out people as they show up into the show
[22:33] hope you're having a good day. I'm responding to comments live. I'm making sure I'm acknowledging everybody that's kind of engaging in the chat um as much as I can, right? Because there's at one point we had 1,600 people in our show
[22:48] and so you can imagine the comments are just going live crazy. >> Yeah, and you're like I'm trying to deliver my pitch about this product. Meanwhile, I'm like that would kind of break my brain a
[23:00] little bit to to do it all at once. >> Yeah, and so obviously you you get um I try to respond to comments as they're coming through. Sometimes we miss some. We're not We're not the best at it, but
[23:12] um we're always engaging with the people because again, we want them to feel like they're a part of the the crew. And that's kind of how we we branded that is part of this community. >> Yeah.
[23:24] So you mentioned going on other people's lives in the in the category, which is a cross pollinate. >> Sure. >> Anything else that you found to kind of lift up or or get more reach for the
[23:39] >> Social media is a huge one. Uh we have YouTube channel. Um so we've we've obviously cross Instagrams. Um and our YouTube we we promote our
[23:54] shows on there as well. Um so >> do it like kind of a simulcast? Like we're also going live on YouTube, on Instagram at the same time? >> So Whatnot offers that. You can simulcast straight over to YouTube uh at
[24:06] start your show. And the beauty of that is when they're when somebody watches live on YouTube, they can actually come on over to Whatnot via a link. obviously they can't bid live on YouTube, but they can click the link and
[24:20] come over to the Whatnot show. And we found that that's brought some traffic over as well. The biggest thing I've I've found that helps is is actually going into other shows and and uh supporting other sellers. Um
[24:34] being seen not even just in the golf category. We go across the app into other shows and and it's not that we're going to promote. We're going to support other sellers so they they know that uh they're not alone in this.
[24:47] even new sellers, like if you're just getting started, we love to show up in your show and give away items, buy items, and say give it to the chat because that's a big part of saying of saying, "Hey, we support other people
[25:00] on this app and we want you here. You're you belong here." So. of podcasting, in guesting on other shows, similar in the world of YouTube, doing collabs. The old playbook still works there. Being supportive
[25:14] out. >> It does work, for sure. um trying to promote on social media, and going on other shows. So, this is just as simple as outreach message, like
[25:28] to align schedules and timing to make it >> Correct. Yes, sir. Yep. And then we also uh we actually built this studio out in our shop. We have this giant glass window that looks out
[25:41] onto the floor, and there's a QR code on the window, so people can come watch our lives live in the store, um and they can they can scan the QR code on the window and actually get into the auction while
[25:54] watching from the sales floor. So, that's another fun aspect. As I'm live, dancing to the music on the floor, and they're waving at me, and they're buying live from the the sales floor. So, it's really cool.
[26:07] it's really cool. >> How funny. This is just a wild phenomenon. Like, I'm the shopper who wants to just click buy now. Like, I for, buy it, shows up, you know, in 2 days.
[26:20] Like, the idea of spending an hour kind of yeah, infotainment or entertainment shopping. Like, very QVC, very like, "Oh, this might Maybe this is presents is going to be the thing." But, some of the usage data is crazy here.
[26:35] What's like people are spending more time here than in a ton of other apps. Like, an hour a day in some cases, or you know, that adds up over the course engaged audience at this point. >> And I think that speaks to the
[26:48] engagement of all the sellers. It's not just selling an item. We're actually getting to know the people that come into our shows. We actually hosted a into our shows. We actually hosted a golf tournament last May for Whatnot and
[27:01] we brought all the Whatnot golf sellers to the tournament and got to know the people who are in the category and played golf with them for a day. We had a meet up the night before and so we just wanted them to know, "Hey,
[27:13] you're not just a face on a screen. We want to get to know you in person and we want to know who we're working with in this category. So, like it's so much more than just coming onto an app and buying an item. It's it's actually
[27:27] meeting the people that are on the other side of a phone and buying those things from you. >> Yeah, there was this old book. It was like by Chip and Dan Heath. It talks about the small-town newspaper and the
[27:42] editor of the newspaper had one mantra. It was names, names, names. People see their name in print, they're going to keep subscribing to this newspaper. And so publishing the scores and the highlights of the Little League games,
[27:54] hall council meetings, like all of this stuff, any excuse to print somebody's names, like build that community. And it was in the context of driving newspaper sales, but I imagine it works the same way here where if you can and it's
[28:08] probably the same in the in the world of podcasting where smaller audiences have these people. Like if you can get any sort of commenting or engagement back struggling with? Like, what do you want to hear next?" And I think that probably
[28:22] works in this space as well. >> It does, man. It it works very well in this space. Just getting to know people. >> At this point, the Whatnot channel is over 50,000 followers to the extent that
[28:35] get notifications the next time you go live and all this stuff. But what else have you found to kind of drive momentum and excitement and growth without doing the same stick week after week.
[28:48] >> Sure. So, like consistency, being the the same person every every time you go live. Obviously, that's I think that speaks to human person on screen that you are off screen, but being consistent. Big
[29:01] events, like so this week's Masters Week, it's the Super Bowl of golf. It's the greatest week in golf, and so we're doing a big Masters show where we're giving away a a It's signed by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Tom Watson,
[29:16] uh Ole Zabel, and Fred Couples a Masters flag. We're giving that away in our don't want to give it away, but somebody's going to be super happy to get that. We're selling a ton of Masters themed gear and limited edition bags,
[29:29] and so doing big event style shows, there's four majors a year in golf. So, we do a big show for every major. We actually did a big Super Bowl show. It was our biggest show, which is
[29:41] awesome. The content flywheel, which is every social media's like influencers dream, is this YouTube and and social media and in-store customers all pointing back to what we do
[29:55] on a weekly basis here on the app. And so, staying consistent with those things so, staying consistent with those things is very very important. every weekend we're going to have this, you know, two, three, four-hour marathon
[30:09] type of show, or is it like a little bit every day, a steady a steady drip? >> Early on it was like we had a a giant show every week, and as we've kind of we're only a year and a half into this, and live shopping is so new that we're
[30:24] still learning kind of the ins and outs. We're kind of evolving into maybe three to four times a week where we're live two to three hours on those days, and then one big show every few weeks
[30:38] keep that consistency, but also keep the interest in those bigger bigger shows with big giveaways and and things like that. I mean I mean this retail like it's the President's
[30:52] Day sale. It's you know, whatever events you can any excuse to kind of hype it >> For sure. Yeah. >> Anything So you mentioned the the label printer or that kind of stuff any other
[31:05] thing on the tools or technology side that makes life easier either for syndication or for filming or for anything related to this? need is a phone to go live, but on the back end there
[31:21] recommend label printer and then a actual small tag label printer and use a a software like hot label that will auto print
[31:33] after every sale a tag that you can put on that item instead of putting a a number. This makes it so much more streamlined and it saves you a ton of time if you can just peel off a sticker put
[31:47] it on that item and set it aside. And then get you a deal with a box manufacturer or a shipping supplier. Because you're going to be ordering a lot of boxes and a lot of packages. Cool thing is if you are starting small USPS
[32:02] offers free boxes and free shipping supplies. But as you scale it and you get bigger you're going to be ordering boxes and you're going to be ordering boxes and and poly mailers by the pallets and so
[32:14] real quick. >> Yeah, that's interesting. We'll start give you a taste, but then once you get to a certain [laughter] point you're >> Yeah, yeah. [snorts] >> You go through a lot of product here.
[32:27] >> You're maxing this out for sure. >> It seems like other platforms are trying to get in on this trend Tik Tok even YouTube to a certain extent wouldn't be surprised if I see Amazon in the space in the next year or two. Like
[32:41] is there is there an opportunity to either syndicate the same content or try and reach a broader audience on a TikTok shop or something like that? >> You know, the the beautiful thing here
[32:54] is Whatnot was one of the first ones into this space and they have put so much not just monetary resources, but people not just monetary resources, but people behind every area of this app. Their
[33:08] support is unmatched. So, it's it's it's literally as easy as as making a phone call or a text if I if I run into an issue or I see something that could improve. You you have direct access to people that can make those
[33:22] changes on the app. So, while this community does evolve, what I see happening is Whatnot is evolving as well and they're so far ahead of the live game that I don't know that anybody will ever reach them. I I really don't. They
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[35:51] Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. What advice would you have for the seller who's like I want to drive some hype, but also I don't want to give
[36:05] away a signed master's flag if three people are showing up. It's like almost this kind of nervousness where I got to I got to bring the energy, I got to to to attract an audience, but like if nobody's there, it's like a weird uh a
[36:19] weird place to be. Um You're kind of in that early like putting in putting in your taking your lumps early on, maybe. I I get that feeling. So, like I What I would say to them is start before you feel ready. Like, you're
[36:34] never going to get have everything in order. You're never going to have all of your your T's crossed and your I's dotted. Just start. Start messy. Uh giveaways were and I didn't know that you could give away stuff in in your
[36:49] very first like I had no idea. I didn't even know how to list an item. I was literally taking pictures with my phone while I was live of the item so that I could add it into the inventory cuz I had no idea. So, if you're if you're
[37:02] afraid like, "What if nobody shows up?" Well, you don't know until you try. And up for your show. So, start before you feel ready. Start messy. Start small. But, you got to start. You you you have
[37:14] to try it. And and when something starts working and when you see what's working, go all in on it. Just dive in dive in and go.
[37:29] like, "Well, that didn't sell for what I of a bath on that one." >> Absolutely. There were a lot of baths to >> [laughter] >> That obviously when when you start an
[37:44] item at a dollar and you're you give them 5 seconds to buy. Uh just here's a a real-world example. A few weeks ago, um a Scotty Cameron putter, it's the most expensive putter you can buy in all of golf. Um they retail around $500.
[37:59] Um I have it a It was about 10 years old. It was in perfect condition. It's worth every bit of what it sold for new 10 years ago. >> And I was just running item after item, 5
[38:12] seconds sudden death, and just going and going. And I grabbed the Scotty Cameron and I didn't talk about it. I just hit start. Well, it went for $9. >> Mm. Somebody got a screaming deal. >> Yes, somebody got a screaming deal and
[38:26] like man, I should have took my time on that one and explain >> Yeah. >> Because you can't you can get in a group and you can just be clicking next item next item next item run next item and
[38:41] you're grabbing and you forget like okay, let's take time on some of these more expensive items and really present it and show them what they're getting because like on that item it was I mean it was worth every bit of $500. It went
[38:53] for $9. And so there's a lot of those along the way that you're going to Um, but I think the biggest mistake would be not going all in on this Um, because dude, it's been an awesome journey. It really has.
[39:11] in in 5 seconds do they even have time to like bid each other up or like how do they even determine the winner? >> So there's two options, right? You can swipe to bid and you can wait till the very last second and hope you win it for
[39:23] whatever the price is. Or in those 5 seconds you have time to hit the custom bid option and say let's just say I'm running that is. Somebody could go in and type in $550 on the custom bid
[39:37] and every time somebody swipes it'll keep bidding up to that number. And so whatever it gets bid up to in those 5 seconds as long as it's under $550 seconds as long as it's under $550 that person would win that item. Um, so
[39:50] they get it at the last second. >> Okay. >> Yeah, depending on the speed of your data connection and I go >> Yeah. >> But the idea of scoring a $500 putter
[40:04] for $9 like imagine that's part of the appeal for this entertainment aspect like a slot machine of like oh maybe I'm going to score something really cool. >> I guarantee you I'm on an Instagram story with that item whoever got it.
[40:17] >> Mhm. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, one person's loss is another person's win, I guess, helps you get the story out of it, you build
[40:31] >> Yes, sir. >> What other What other surprises have you thing here? >> Man, the the most surprising thing is how quickly it's grown. Cuz live selling is still really new. It
[40:48] I mean, it's it's still a relatively new market, especially in the United States. But, how quickly you can scale this is unbelievable. Um the beautiful thing that makes Whatnot different is we're not putting an item
[41:01] up for sale and then waiting a week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, maybe a month, a 30-day listing for it to sell, and you're just sitting there this ever going to sell? No, these items, whatever you put in your store
[41:14] and you run, it's going to sell right then and right there. So, we're not sitting on inventory for months. We're literally giving inventory in 1 day, selling it the very next day. So, it's it's been kind of surprising to us
[41:29] because coming from the brick and mortar, we may order 15 drivers and it takes us 30 to 45 days to move through those 15 drivers. Whereas, if I was to order 15 drivers for Whatnot to sell, it would take me
[41:43] drivers. And so, >> turning over capital significantly >> Very, very quickly. So, the biggest surprise to us is like, oh my gosh, like, we're not sitting on inventory for months. We're sitting on inventory for a
[41:57] day, maybe 3 days at the most. >> Do you have a sense of how the margins compare? >> Yeah, so definitely you have to be very, very cognizant of your margin. In the retail
[42:09] store, at the end of the year, we're running somewhere around 38% before expenses come in. Um on Whatnot, it's closer to 20 to 25%, but you also learn the you want to bring in some higher margin items to mix in
[42:25] with hard goods because hard goods as a as a whole are pretty razor-thin margins anyway. Um so, bringing in an accessories and golf balls and gloves and towels and and building high margin items into your shows can help buffer
[42:41] the back end on those hard goods uh style items. >> Got it. Got it. That's helpful. So, it's lower margin generally speaking, but so much quicker turn. And we've heard from other Amazon sellers where it's
[42:55] like, "Yeah, if I can, you know, sell 100 of these in a month, that's so much course of the year, even if the the margin's higher because I can I do that faster." >> Yeah, and overhead, you know, overhead
[43:09] is is a lot cheaper, too. For the shop, you have, you know, say eight to 10 employees. For the the Whatnot, the back end stuff, there's there's three of us. And so, over overhead is so much cheaper, and as much volume as you're
[43:23] turning, I mean, it's unmatched, really. >> Do you see it overtaking the retail shop? Do you see like it almost it gives you some credibility of having the golf shop as the backdrop and like being able
[43:37] to source all this stuff, but I don't know. Is there a world where and a pile of golf clubs and we don't need we don't need the storefront anymore? >> No, I don't I really don't think so um
[43:49] because the storefront brings a an aspect to of community that you can't get with live selling, and that's the in-person relationships that we've built Um we know 90% of the people that walk
[44:02] through our door by name, and so I don't think you can ever replace that. Now, you you can build a sense of that community on Whatnot by knowing the people that are coming into your shows, but the face the face-to-face connection
[44:15] is is just kind of unmatched. So, I don't know that it'll ever replace the brick-and-mortar, but it definitely is an added benefit to the brick-and-mortar. Um it is a I think them two paired together is an
[44:29] unstoppable force. >> Yeah, I could see anybody anybody doing an e-commerce business or an eBay business or a consignment type of business where this just a natural kind
[44:43] of bolt-on to what you're already doing and try and move some inventory in a audience is clearly there. There's an appetite for this stuff and it's working really well for for sellers like you. >> For sure.
[44:57] >> Uh so, we're this year we're scaling our Whatnot to about 3 million plus. Uh that's that's our goal. Um now, with that comes huge logistics because we obviously are bringing in
[45:13] pallets of stuff at a time now instead of just boxes of stuff. And so, we're the warehousing has become a headache trying to figure that out. Um so, we're trying to scale this to 3 million and beyond. Um and then a big thing is
[45:25] bringing new brands onto the Whatnot platform that have have not They don't know anything about it. Uh one of the big things that we set out to do early transparency. Um because major manufacturers have map
[45:39] pricing or MSRP pricing where you have to you have to abide by their pricing >> Sure. Well, I think if it's a brand new Scotty Cameron putter, >> you can't advertise it less than whatever retail.
[45:51] >> Correct. So, we we actually invited all the major manufacturers onto the app to watch our shows so that they know it's a safe space for their new product. Uh we invited Titleist on, TaylorMade, Callaway, Ping, all those companies to
[46:05] come watch and see that we're abiding by MAP policy on new product and we want them to see that it is a safe space for them to uh, sell their product on. Uh, conversation around that is um, are you guys going to abide by MAP
[46:20] policy? Are you going to protect our brand, protect our value? And that's something we we aim to do is we we protect value and and we want them these companies to know that this is a safe space for their product.
[46:33] 10 second auction. You got to say this is this is the sticker price on here. >> You set it at you start it at a price or you put it in the buy it now at a price >> Okay. Yeah, but for the used clubs or anything
[46:46] have some fun with those. >> Yeah, absolutely. out. The GHQ crew, you can check out their The GHQ crew, you can check out their Whatnot store over there. ghqcrew.com.
[47:03] consistently, so I'll have to check it out. Um, let's wrap this up with your number one tip for Side Hustle Nation. >> Whatever idea you have in your mind, whatever entrepreneurial thing I call it
[47:17] entrepreneurial but I call it pioneering because entrepreneurs are pioneers at heart. Whatever you have in your heart and is in your mind to do, just start now. Um, don't wait. Don't wait till you have
[47:31] everything figured out because you're going to get into that that that moment wasn't on my list of things that I figured out. So, just start. Don't wait. Start right now. Whatever that looks like, take the step and do it.
[47:46] stood out to me the most is like, you know, the moment from discovering that like [laughter] it was 30 seconds. Like, oh, let's hit shoot, I'm on. Oh, there's people watching. Oh, uh here, you want to buy
[48:00] How do I buy this thing?" So, like, don't let yourself overthink it. And I think there's a level of forgiveness when something is live. It doesn't have be the level of production that you might expect from longer-form content or
[48:13] Hollywood movies. It's just, you know, people talking to people. Um and the audience is there looking for whatever it is you can source. I think that's really really interesting. What a time to be alive.
[48:27] Again, GHQ crew, you can check Clinton out over there. Before you go, make sure to grab your free listener bonus for this week. That is my AI-assisted business idea brainstorming worksheet. How it works is
[48:40] you answer a few short questions and it spits out this um prompt that you can paste into the AI of your choice because you're going to get much more you're going to get much more personalized actionable ideas than just
[48:52] asking for generic side hustle ideas. So, tell it a little bit about you, your uh and you get much better results there. So, just hit the show notes for that. We've also got a $15 coupon for the GHQ crew store that we'll link up
[49:06] up. I'll be trying to use it myself for that uh for that three-wood. Um but uh in any case, the hit the show notes for both that and that uh free listener bonus, the AI-assisted brainstorming worksheet.
[49:19] insight. Big thanks to our sponsors for helping make this content free for sidehustlenation.com/deals for all the latest offers from our sponsors in one place. Thank you for supporting the advertisers that support
[49:33] That is it for me. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you find any value in the share with a friend. Fire off that text check it out. Until next time, let's go out there and make something happen. And
[49:47] I'll catch you in the next edition of The Side Hustle Show. Hustle on.