How Party Purchase Works

What is a Party Purchase?

Party Purchase is a group-buying event that a seller can run during a live show. The seller sets a purchase goal, a time limit, and milestone rewards on a Buy It Now listing. Every eligible purchase during the party fills a shared progress bar, the more people buy, the more rewards everyone unlocks together.

You'll know a Party Purchase is running when you see the pinned progress bar and countdown timer in the show.

A party ends when one of two things happens, whichever comes first:

• All milestones are reached. The party ends early in celebration.
• The timer runs out. Whatever milestones the group unlocked still count; any that weren't reached stay locked.

Either way, all purchases are final and rewards are processed automatically shortly after the party ends.

For Buyers

How milestone unlocks work

As the group's total purchases climb, they hit milestones set by the seller (up to 5 per party). Each milestone unlocks a reward for everyone who participated, such as a discount on the party item or a coupon. Rewards stack, if the group unlocks multiple milestones, you get all of them. If more than one discount unlocks, the biggest one is applied to your purchase.

Most rewards are issued after the party ends. Giveaways are the exception: when a giveaway milestone is reached, everyone who has purchased so far is automatically entered and a winner is picked right away.

Your purchase is a commitment

If no milestones are unlocked by the end of the party, your order still goes through at the listed price, buying into a party is a commitment to purchase the item.

How payment works

When you buy during a Party Purchase, we place a temporary hold on your payment method for the full listed price. This is not the final charge. We wait until the party ends so any unlocked discounts can be applied, then your payment method is charged the final (discounted) amount, and the rest of the hold is released back to you automatically.

That means during and shortly after the party, the pending amount in your banking or payment app may look higher than what you'll actually pay. You're never charged more than your final order total.

If the pending amount doesn't match your order total right after the party ends, don't worry — banks can take a business day or two to update. Check back in 1–2 business days; the charge should match the total shown on your order. If it still doesn't match after a few business days, contact Support and we'll take a look.

For Sellers

Getting Beta Access

Party Purchase is currently running in Beta for a limited number of Sellers. For early access please submit a beta application.

Setting up a party

You create and start a Party Purchase from the Seller Hub on web (Dashboard → Lives → Party Purchases) parties can't currently be started from the mobile app. You'll choose:

• An eligible Buy It Now listing (one listing per party right now)
• A purchase goal, the total number of units the group is working toward
• A duration, up to 24 hours
• Milestone rewards, up to 5 milestones, each unlocking a reward: a discount on the party item (dollar or percentage), a coupon, or a giveaway

When you start the party, it pins to your live show automatically and buyers see the progress bar, timer, and milestone rewards.

While the party is running

Only one party can run per show. While it's live, starting new auctions, pinning a different product, and editing the party listing are disabled. Flash sales can still run as long as they don't pin over the party.

The buy button on the party listing is disabled before the party starts, so buyers can bookmark but not purchase early.

How you get paid

Buyers' cards are held for the full listed price at purchase, but final charges happen after the party ends, once any unlocked discounts are applied. Your earnings are based on those final amounts. If discount milestones unlock, all participating buyers get the best unlocked discount on the party item, including buyers who purchased before the milestone was reached.

Unlocked milestones are honored even if some orders are later canceled or refunded, so rewards buyers earned stay earned.