Whatnot Debuts Premier Shops With Perks For Sellers Who Offer Best-In-Class Experiences
Livestream selling platform Whatnot introduces Premier Shops, promoting and rewarding sellers who go above and beyond to provide best-in-class customer experiences with fee discounts, increased visibility, priority support and more!
Eligibility for the new program will first be recognized on December 1, 2024, based on the period of October 22 through November 30 and will be open globally to sellers in good standing who have been active on the site for at least 90 days, generated at least $50,000 in sales/at least 250 orders, and hosted ten live shows in the last 90 days.
Liz Goodno
Evaluation occurs automatically on the first of each calendar month, based on performance over the prior three months, with performance measured based on the following criteria:
- You create accurate listings: At least 80% of the listings you sell contain an accurate title, at least one real photo of the item, product condition, and an accurate shipping profile.
- You ship on time: At least 95% of your orders are shipped within 48 business hours. (Shipping timeframes may differ for carriers outside the United States.)
- You reliably fill orders: Maintain at least a 99% order success rate: no cancellations (by you or by Whatnot due to your error) and no Whatnot-issued refunds.
Starting on January 1, 2025, sellers in Whatnot's beta Customer Service program will also have to meet the following criteria to be eligible for Premier Shops.
- You respond quickly when buyers have Customer Service issues: You respond to at least 95% of buyer requests within 48 business hours, or have no more than three requests responded to outside this timeframe. A response counts as either replying to an order message or completing a Customer Service action, such as issuing a full or partial refund, providing a replacement item, or declining the buyer’s refund request.
- You respond thoughtfully when buyers have Customer Service issues: You should have no more than three refund escalations overturned. If you exceed three refund overturns, you will still qualify if at least 99.97% of your orders have been completed without an overturned escalation.
Sellers will be able to tracking their progress in a special dashboard in the Analytics section of their accounts.
Qualify Premier Shops sellers will receive the following benefits:
- Reduced Commission: Whatnot will reduce its commission for Premier Shops by 10% (e.g., our standard 8% commission becomes 7.2%).
- Premier Shop Badging: The Premier Shop badge will be prominently displayed across Whatnot, including on the seller profile and in show thumbnails.
- Increased Discoverability: Premier Shops’ products and shows will feature more prominently in search results and recommendations
- Prioritized Support: Premier Shops will receive prioritized Seller Support from the Whatnot team.
Whatnot has provided a full help article with FAQ about the new program that sellers are highly encouraged to read - especially the parts that spell out how Whatnot defines "quality listings".
Quality Listing Criteria
Q: What is a “quality listing”?
To qualify for Premier Shop, at least 80% of your sold listings must be considered “quality,” meaning they each contain:
- An accurate title that describes the item being sold (not “Random Pull” or “Item #1”)
- Completed product “condition” field, if applicable
- At least one real image of the item (stock photos are only acceptable if the item’s condition is “new” and undamaged)
- Accurate shipping profile that represents the appropriate weight of the shipment
Q: Why does Whatnot care about quality listings?
Detailed listings help buyers make more informed purchase decisions, increasing their satisfaction and reducing the likelihood or disputes around variants such as condition or size.
Q: What listings will be considered in my evaluation period?
When we evaluate your Premier Shop performance over the prior three months, we will look at all listings sold during that time period. For example, when we evaluate your Premier Shop status on April 1, we will review listings from all orders that were completed from January 1 through March 31 (even if the original listing was created before that timeframe). This includes orders that were eventually canceled or refunded.
Q: How do you consider listings with multiple quantities?
Each quantity sold from a listing will count as one listing, for the purposes of Premier Shop quality listing evaluations.
For example, let’s say I create two listings:
- (A) One quality listing with quantity = 50
- (B) One low-quality listing with quantity = 50
- In a show, let’s say I sell 30 products from listing A (the quality listing), and 10 products from listing B (the low quality listing). This means that out of all my listings sold, 30 out of 40 were “quality,” meaning my listing quality rate is 75%.
Q: What does this mean for listings I create from Quick Add?
In order to meet the 80%+ quality listing requirement, we recommend using the standard “Create Quality Listing” flow.
Please note that the Temporary Listing (formerly “Quick Add”) flow does not give you an opportunity to add an image to listing, so these listings will not be considered “quality” unless they are retroactively updated after creation.
Premier Shops comes at a time of explosive growth for the company, with Whatnot reporting in early October they had already racked up over $2 Billion in GMV so far this year.
Liz Morton
Whatnot product teams have been swiftly working to iterate and improve their product offerings, showing how nimble scrappy up and comers can often move faster and do more innovative things than large, established legacy players in the same space, though eBay seems to finally be getting serious about ramping up their livestream selling efforts after 2+ years of beta testing eBay Live.
Liz Morton
Whatnot launched Rewards Club in September, giving sellers access to VIP program levers to help drive repeat sales and buyer loyalty.
Liz Morton
They've also recently introduced new seller tools, a seller API, improved discovery, new ways to refer new sellers, tools to help new sellers get comfortable going live, non-live Auctions and Video listings, and a Free Pickup option and enhanced card breaking experience.
If you're a Whatnot Premier Shop seller, I'd love to hear about your experience with the platform and the program - leave a comment below or contact VAR!
