Your starting bid is the lowest price you will accept. Whatnot's own help page says as much: set it to "the lowest amount you're comfortable accepting." Once an auction starts it can't be canceled or stopped, so the number has to be right before you tap start.
Here is how to get there in four steps.
Your floor is the sale price where you make zero profit. Start with what Whatnot takes.
Worked example. You paid $12 for an item and charge the buyer $5 for shipping, which covers your label. The break-even price is about $13.97. At a $30 sale, fees come to $3.72 and you keep $14.29 after your $12 cost.
Run this math for each item type once, then keep a floor next to every item in your inventory.
Look at recent sold prices, not asking prices. Skipping this means pricing against a gut feeling instead of the market. For sports cards and other graded or raw singles, pull comps from a pricing source before the show and write the number down. Caddie Pro includes Card Hedge market pricing data, so the figure sits next to the item when you search for it live.
There is no single right answer. These are the approaches reseller guides most often describe, and they trade off in predictable ways:
| Approach | When it fits | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Low start ($1 to $5) | Items that draw several bidders and sell above your floor | Some items close near the opening bid |
| Start at your floor | Higher-cost items where a low close would lose money | Fewer people bid at first |
| Bundle low-value items | Several small items worth little on their own | Takes longer to set up |
| Tiered blocks | Mixed inventory, ordered cheap to premium | Needs a plan before you go live |
| Buy It Now alongside | Items with a firm ceiling price | Can end the bidding early |
One reseller guide, Underpriced, suggests starting most auctions at $1 or $5 and moving to $10 to $25 for items worth $100 or more. Treat that as one seller's rule of thumb, not a Whatnot recommendation. Your own sell-through data matters more.
Chat tells you what is wanted before the bidding starts. If three people ask about the same card, raise the opening. If nobody reacts, drop it or bundle it. A reseller pricing guide gives an example of a card opening raised from $28 to $43 after three viewers showed interest.
This only works if you can find the item fast. If you are digging through a bin when the chat reacts, the moment is gone. That is the problem Caddie was built for: Caddie Watch reads the chat, matches the request against your inventory, and puts the card, name and price on screen. Our inventory management guide covers how to set that up before you go live.
After each show, note the starting bid, final price and number of bidders for each item type. Patterns show up within a few shows, and they replace guessing.
Full Pro, no card required. Caddie reads your chat, matches requests against your inventory, and puts the item on your stream.
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