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by addandsubtract 68 days ago
This whole concept of selling things in video format seems so alien to me. I didn't believe when someone told me they shop on TikTok now. It already takes me ages to browse through a gallery of items, I couldn't imagine going through items video by video.
3 comments
vel0city 68 days ago
Some people watch TV channels which do nothing but present things to buy with a phone number to order. Lots of live shows as well, its not just non-stop pre-recorded infomercials. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest such an idea would move to short form video content as well. People trying on makeup or showing off clothing with their affiliate links down below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSN

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zemo 68 days ago
that's more or less how I felt about it, but someone I know worked at Whatnot and liked working there so I tried out the app before applying and then applied because the product clicked for me. I wouldn't have joined Whatnot if I didn't like the product.

> I couldn't imagine going through items video by video.

That's fair, it's just not how people use it and it's not the concept. It's primarily a browse experience, not a search experience. You can search but that's not the core experience.

I buy vinyl records and retro games. There are sellers that I like. When I open the app I see which of my preferred sellers are live and I tune into their stream and hang out and watch them. If something I'm interested in pops up, I'll bid on it. Live shopping is not trying to be "ebay but video", it's a different experience.

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Maken 68 days ago
The digital Yellow Pages were replaced by streaming teleshopping.
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SpicyLemonZest 68 days ago
I’ve been car shopping recently, and I’ve found myself deliberately seeking out videos, because I’ve found that it’s very hard to get a sense of what the thing is really going to look like from static photos. Unstaged photos make everything look uglier, staged photos require adjusting for the unknown staging.
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addandsubtract 68 days ago
Oh, I definitely look up products I intend to buy on YouTube. But I don't go there (or any other video platform) to discover them.
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