When you schedule a show, you can make it private to go live without appearing in the Home feed or notifying followers.
Private shows are a useful way to test your setup on a real show, either on your own or with a team member.
Keep in mind that private shows aren’t fully restricted:
- Anyone with the show link can join and share it with others.
- If you make a show private after it was public, users who bookmarked it will be notified and can join.
- Purchases made during a private show are real, and buyers will be charged.
Tip: Use Rehearsal Mode to practice with simulated buyers and bids.
Schedule a private show
Turn on private mode when scheduling a new show or editing an existing one.
While scheduling a new show:
- From the app or whatnot.com, open Seller Hub
- Schedule a show
- Under Show Discoverability, select Private
- Fill out the rest of your show details
- Tap or click Schedule
For an existing scheduled show:
- From the app or whatnot.com, open Seller Hub
- Open the Shows page to view upcoming shows
- (On mobile app) Open the show > tap the ... More icon
- Select Edit Show
- Under Show Discoverability, select Private
- Save your changes
To turn it off, follow the same steps and choose Public instead of Private.
Share your private show
Share your private show with friends or team members so they can join once the show starts.
Share show link from the app:
- Tap Seller Hub
- Tap the menu icon in the top right
- Open the Shows page and find your show
- Tap Share on the right side
- Choose how you’d like to share the link
Share show link from whatnot.com:
- Open the Shows page and find your show
- Click Copy show link next your show's name
- Share the link
Note: Anyone with the link can join your show and share it with others. This means people you didn’t send the link to can still join if someone else shares it with them.
Start a private show
- Open your scheduled private show
- Select Start Show
Tip: If the show is private, you’ll see a lock icon next to the viewer count.
If needed, you can restart a show within 2 hours after it ends.