07/30/2026
A post for every new Whatnot seller… ❤️
I recently saw someone post that they felt like they were failing on Whatnot. And we sellers who have survived through the first few months of “take-off” have read many a post like this! My heart honestly went out to all of them because…
I’ve been there.
My first shows?
Crickets. 🦗😂
So if you’re feeling discouraged, let me ask you a few questions—not as criticism, but because they helped me.
Why should someone come to your show?
What makes your products worth the price you’re asking?
How is your show different from the hundreds of other shows selling similar items?
Those aren’t rhetorical questions. If you really wrestle with them, you may discover the answers that help your business grow. Or you may decide this isn’t the business for you. And honestly? Both are okay.
One of the books that changed how I think about business is Built to Last, along with Good to Great, by Jim Collins. They aren’t books about Whatnot—they’re books about building something worth coming back to.
And here’s the funny part…
I’ve read those books.
I’ve read hundreds of business and sales books.
I still struggle on Whatnot.
The shipping settings alone are enough to make a grown adult like me question all of their life choices. 🤣
I genuinely want to see people succeed. ALL people succeed.
But success on Whatnot isn’t magic.
It’s work.
It’s luck.
It’s persistence.
And it’s a whole lot of stamina.
Take my little corner of Whatnot.
I’m fortunate to sell something fairly unique—leather jackets. There’s demand for them, and I can usually offer a fair price.
But I don’t rely on the jackets alone.
I try to bring entertainment.
It’s a live show, after all, so I draw on my past 30-year theater experience and lean into being the lovable goofball. 😂
People sometimes ask, “What do leather jackets have to do with comedy?”
I ask myself the same thing. 😂
Maybe that’s exactly why it works.
Come for the comedy…
Leave with a ridiculously good leather jacket. 😂
(And no… don’t even THINK about selling leather jackets. That’s my territory. 😤😂)
Just kidding.
Sort of. 😆
“But John, you’re just lucky.”
Fair enough.
Maybe I am.
But luck still has to meet effort.
I’m not sitting on a beach sipping Mai Tais while my business prints money. At least not yet. 🍹🏖️😂
Instead, I’m pulling inventory, curating, unbagging, hanging, storing, making show posters, trying to decipher Whatnot shipping (😵💫), buying boxes, testing boxes, watching other sellers, learning from people like MellowState - Kelsey and Rnzy, supporting my Whatnot friends, supporting my Cincinnati community, setting up shows, running shows three or more times a week, restocking racks, taking out the trash, recycling bags at the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub ♻️, raiding other shows, packing orders, scanning packages, answering messages, and hunting down that one specific “women’s medium green leather bomber jacket” someone asked for three weeks ago.
The list never really ends.
Fifty hours a week?
At least.
And after eight months…
It still barely pays the bills.
That’s the reality.
My first months looked a lot like yours might look today.
Crickets.
So I studied.
I watched other sellers.
I experimented.
I failed.
I changed things.
I failed again.
I kept asking one question:
“How can I make this experience just a little more valuable and a little more memorable?”
Then May, June, and July rolled around.
Jacket season faded.
Sales slowed.
I pivoted.
Again.
Cue the Rocky training montage. 🥊😂
Now, here we are in late July.
I can almost feel that first hint of autumn in the morning air. 🍂
To me…
It smells like opportunity. People are gonna need jackets! (And hoodies from Rnzy, y’all! Crazy good ones at crazy good prices — at a show with SO much heart! ❤️)
I’ve spent the last eight months preparing for the season when jackets come back.
And really…
I’ve spent the last 56 years becoming the person who could build this little business.
Maybe this fall is my rocket launch. 🚀
Maybe it isn’t.
Either way, I’m showing up.
So if you’re new…
Keep learning.
Keep experimenting.
Keep asking questions.
Keep improving one tiny thing every show.
And if, after giving it your very best, you decide your talents belong somewhere else…
That’s okay too.
There is absolutely no shame in discovering what you’re not meant to do.
But if you’re staying?
Pull up a chair.
I’m building Cardboard Comedy to help sellers like me figure this crazy thing out together.
Ask questions.
Share ideas.
Steal my good ones.
Just leave the leather jackets alone. 😂❤️
