Auction vs Buy It Now on Whatnot: which format earns more per order, and how to check

Every Whatnot order carries a BUY_FORMAT (auction, buy it now, giveaway) and a SALE_TYPE (livestream, marketplace, DM). Those two columns settle the most common argument in live selling: auctions or buy it now? The answer is per shop, and the report will give it to you in one pivot.

What the format columns can tell you

• Average order value by format. Auctions, especially $1 starts, produce more orders at lower prices. Buy it now produces fewer, larger orders. In the sample data the gap was wide: auction orders averaged well under half of buy-it-now orders.
• Revenue share by format. Which format is carrying the show, by dollars, not by count.
• Live vs offline. Orders placed during a livestream against marketplace and DM sales. A shop with strong offline sales is selling while it sleeps, and that is worth protecting.
• Price distribution. How many items sold in each price bracket. If most of your items sit under $10, the flat $0.30 processing fee is a bigger share of each sale than the headline rates suggest.
• Coupon impact. How often coupons are redeemed, how much you gave back, and whether coupon orders were larger than non-coupon orders.

The long way: pivot the CSV by format

1. Stack your weekly earnings CSVs. Keep paid ORDER_EARNINGS rows.
2. Pivot by BUY_FORMAT: count of orders, sum of POST_COUPON_PRICE, and average. That is your auction vs buy it now comparison.
3. Pivot by SALE_TYPE for live vs marketplace vs DM.
4. Bucket POST_COUPON_PRICE into brackets (under $10, $10 to $25, $25 to $50, over $50) and count items in each.
5. Filter rows where COUPON_COST is not zero. Compare their average to the rest.
6. Repeat by month. Format mix drifts as your audience changes, and one month can mislead.

The short way: the Overview tab

MARGN.PLUS builds all of it from one upload. The Overview tab shows Format Performance (click any cell to see every order that format brought in), Auction vs Buy It Now, Live vs Offline, Price Distribution and Coupon Impact with redemption rate, money given back and the average-order lift or drop on coupon orders. The Products tab adds profit margin by item and the top phrases in your titles by revenue, so you can see which formats and which words sell.

What to do with the answer

• Use $1 starts to fill the room, then sell the room. Auctions bring buyers in; buy it now and mid-priced auctions are where the average order climbs. Plan the show in that order.
• Raise the floor on auctions that never climb. If a category’s auctions close near the start price every week, start higher or move it to buy it now.
• Protect offline sales. Keep the marketplace stocked between shows; those orders carry no show time cost.
• Test coupons against the numbers. A coupon that lifts average order is a tool. One that only gives money back to people who were buying anyway is a discount.

Upload one weekly report and the format breakdown is waiting on the Overview tab. Run the next show with it open.

MARGN.PLUS is independent and not affiliated with Whatnot, Inc. Whatnot is a trademark of Whatnot, Inc.