Start a Giveaway during your show Start a Giveaway during your show
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Start a Giveaway during your show

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Start a Giveaway during your show to offer an item for free, thank your community, and keep viewers engaged.

Before you can run a Giveaway, you'll need to create a giveaway listing for your show. Learn how.

After your giveaway listing is published, you can start a Giveaway from the app or on whatnot.com during your show.

On this page: 

What to expect during your Giveaway

  • Giveaways run for 5 minutes. 
  • Only sellers can see the countdown timer. 
  • End a Giveaway early, or let the timer finish. 
  • Winners are selected randomly by Whatnot and announced live. 
  • To win, entrants must be present in your show when the winner is selected.
  • Once a Giveaway starts, it can't be paused or canceled. 
  • You can only run one Giveaway at a time.

Note: Sellers are responsible for the shipping costs of Giveaway items. These costs are deducted from your account balance when you run the Giveaway.

Learn more about requirements, eligibility, and policies in About Giveaways on Whatnot.

How to run a Giveaway 

Run a Giveaway on the app
  1. From your show, tap the Shop shop icon. 
  2. From your show's inventory, tap the Giveaway tab.
  3. Create a Giveaway listing if you don’t already have one.
  4. Next to your listing, tap Run Giveaway Run Giveaway. 
  5. Choose to: 
    • Wait for the 5-minute timer to finish; a winner is drawn automatically.
    • Tap the Giveaway box > End Giveaway to draw a winner early.
Run a Giveaway on web
  1. Open the Shows page in Seller Hub. 
  2. Open your active show.
  3. In the left panel, click the Giveaways tab.
  4. Create a Giveaway listing if you don’t already have one.
  5. Next to your listing, click Run Giveaway Start Giveaway.
  6. Choose to:
    • Wait for the 5-minute timer to finish; a winner is drawn automatically. 
    • Click End Giveaway in the right panel to draw a winner early.

Tip: You can continue running auctions while a Giveaway is active. Buyers can enter the Giveaway and bid on auction items at the same time.

After the Giveaway

Once the Giveaway ends:

  • An order is created for the winner: 
    • You’ll see it in your Shipments page in Seller Hub.
    • The recipient can find it in their Activity tab. 
    • The item may ship on its own or be bundled with other items for that buyer. 
  • Ship the Giveaway item within the two-business-day window, like any other order on Whatnot.

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