Five words, one meaning each
Every figure in Aucta carries a small tag saying what kind of number it is. There are five, and each means one thing everywhere.
- EXACT: a figure we hold exactly -- a fee Whatnot charged, what your stock cost, a tier measured from your weekly report.
- ESTIMATE: our best figure for something that exists now but that nobody has told us exactly, such as the sales tax on a sale, or your tier before a report.
- PROJECTED: a figure for something that has not happened yet -- what a show plan should bring in, a deal's profit per unit, tonight's show. A projection is never a promise.
- SOLD: a sale -- one of yours, one pooled across Aucta sellers, or one measured on eBay.
- ASKING: a live listing's price. Somebody wants this for it; nobody has paid it.
SOLD and ASKING appear in Comps, the eBay finder and the product page. "How Comps weighs evidence" has the detail.
A comp shows two ESTIMATE figures: MARKET, from what sold on eBay, TCGPlayer, Mercari and Poshmark, and AUCTA, the Aucta comp that also counts your own reports and the pool.
What is exact and what is an estimate
About the fees. Commission and the flat fee on every sale are exact -- they come from Whatnot's published rates and the number of separate sales you recorded. Sales tax is an estimate, because Whatnot has not told us the real figure yet.
Your Whatnot tier
Whatnot charges commission at a rate set by your tier, and your tier is set by what you sold in the four weeks before. If you do not know, that is the right answer: your first weekly report tells us exactly what Whatnot charged.
Where a tier comes from, case by case:
- Measured from your weekly report: that is the rate Whatnot actually charged. EXACT
- You told us. Your next weekly report will check it against what Whatnot charged. ESTIMATE
- Nobody has told us yet, so every fee is priced at Standard, the base tier and the highest rate. Your first weekly report sets it from what Whatnot actually charged, or you can tell us now. ESTIMATE
Whatnot counts a four-week period on its own calendar, so this sets the tier you are likely to unlock next, not the rate you are paying now.
Sales from this date on are priced at the new rate. Nothing before it changes.
A custom rate
Custom rate -- when Whatnot charged a percentage in your report which is not a tier on its card, we price at the card's rate and do not guess at the rate.
Projected profit on the Wholesale Desk
About these numbers. Projected profit is what we expect a lot to make based on our estimate of the sale price and Whatnot's current fees. It is a projection, not a promise -- what you actually make depends on your audience and how you run your show. The break-even price is the one to weigh it against: that is what you need to average just to get your money back.
Projected, based on our expected sale price and Whatnot's current fees. Actual results vary with your audience and how you run your show. The break-even price is the number that matters if a sale goes softer than projected.
Figures frozen at claim time
These figures were frozen when you claimed. Editing the deal later does not change what you agreed to.
What your shelf is worth
That is what you paid for the lots you are still holding -- your cost basis, not what they are worth.
Giveaways and losses
No Whatnot fees on a giveaway, and it still counts toward your order total. What the items cost you stays in your numbers -- it is what actually happened.
Giveaways and anything lost are inside the figures above. They used up stock you paid for and brought nothing in, which is the truth of the night.
Money in, less Whatnot's fees and what the stock cost you. Giveaways and anything lost are counted in here too -- they used up stock you paid for.