Whatnot glossary

A to Z

• 1099-K

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  IRS form Whatnot issues to sellers exceeding payment thresholds in a tax year. Reports gross transaction volume to the IRS.

• AOV

  Average Order Value. Total revenue divided by number of orders. Useful for comparing show formats.

• Auction

  Live bidding format. Seller sets a starting price, buyers bid in real time, highest bid wins when timer ends.

• BIN

  Short for Buy It Now. See Buy It Now.

• Boost

  Whatnot's paid ad placement. Promotes your show to more viewers during a chosen window. Cost varies by category and time.

• Booster box

  A sealed retail box containing a fixed number of TCG packs (Pokemon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh). Sold whole or broken pack-by-pack.

• Break

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  A live show where a sealed case or box (sports cards, Pokemon) is opened pack by pack. Buyers buy slots representing teams or cards. Whatever's pulled in your slot is yours.

• Buy It Now (BIN)

  Fixed-price item, no bidding. Buyer clicks, pays, ships. Common for high-volume sellers running set pricing.

• Buyer Paid

  The total amount the buyer paid: item price + shipping. Whatnot calculates fees on this number, not just item price.

• Chase

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  A short-printed variant. In Funko, ratios like 1:6 or 1:36 indicate chase rarity. Chases are usually the most valuable in a release wave.

• COGS

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  Cost of Goods Sold. What you paid for inventory. Subtracted from revenue to compute true profit. Essential for Schedule C.

• Commission

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  Whatnot's cut of each sale. Standard tier is 8%, sneakers and select premium categories are 10%. Always calculated on Buyer Paid.

• Deadstock

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  Brand-new, original packaging, never worn or opened. Used in sneakers and fashion. Higher value than worn or used.

• ETB

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  Elite Trainer Box. Pokemon TCG product containing booster packs, dice, sleeves, and accessories. Common Whatnot product.

• Giveaway

  A free item the seller ships at no cost to a viewer. Whatnot has rules around giveaway frequency and disclosure. Seller pays shipping out of pocket.

• GMV

  Gross Merchandise Value. Total dollar value of items sold before fees, refunds, or returns. Whatnot reports GMV publicly.

• Grail

  A high-value, hard-to-find collectible. Used across cards, Pokemon, sneakers, Funko. Personal-grail vs market-grail can differ.

• GU

  Game-used. Card or memorabilia featuring a piece of equipment used in a game.

• Hit

  A valuable or rare card pulled from a pack. 'Got a hit' = pulled an autograph, refractor, or rare insert.

• Lot

  A bundle of items sold together at one price. Common for cards, beauty, fashion. Sometimes refers to a wholesale lot purchased to break down for resale.

• Mystery box

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  A sealed bundle the buyer can't see inside. Seller specifies value range or theme. Common in Funko, beauty, cards.

• Net payout

  What you keep after Whatnot takes commission and processing. Then subtract shipping (if you absorbed it) and COGS to get true profit.

• Pack war

  Format where two or more buyers each open a sealed pack, biggest pull wins all packs. Card-game specific.

• Payout schedule

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  Whatnot pays out weekly. Sales from a given week typically clear the following week. Holds may delay payouts.

• PPU

  Per-piece unit. Slang for the price-per-piece in a lot or break. A 50-piece thrift haul at $200 has PPU of $4.

• Processing fee

  Payment processor cut. Whatnot's processing is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on Buyer Paid. Independent of commission.

• PSA / BGS / CGC

  Card grading companies. PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) is most common, BGS (Beckett) and CGC are alternatives. Cards graded 1-10.

• Raffle / Raze

  Buyers each pay a fixed price for a slot, then a random draw decides the winner of a single item. Whatnot has compliance rules around raffles.

• Razz

  Same as raffle. Common term in card-collecting circles. Each spot is a fixed price, random draw decides winner.

• RC

  Rookie card. A player's first official trading card, usually from their first pro season. RCs typically command premium over later years.

• Refractor

  A card with a refractive shiny finish, typically Topps Chrome or Bowman Chrome. Numbered parallels (e.g., /99) carry premium.

• Refund

  Money returned to buyer. Whatnot returns commission and processing on full refunds, but seller may still be out shipping cost.

• Schedule C

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  IRS form filed by sole proprietors (most resellers). Reports business income and expenses. Aftershows generates a Schedule C-ready CSV.

• SE tax

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  Self-employment tax. 15.3% on net Schedule C profit. Covers Social Security and Medicare for self-employed.

• Single

  An individual card pulled from a pack and sold on its own (vs. selling sealed packs).

• Slab

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  A graded card or coin sealed in a hard plastic case by a grading company (PSA, BGS, CGC for cards; PCGS, NGC for coins).

• Sniping

  Last-second bidding to win an auction at lowest possible price. Whatnot's auction timer extends a few seconds on late bids to discourage extreme sniping.

• Tip

  Optional buyer-to-seller tip during a live show. Has its own Order ID in Whatnot's CSV exports. Always taxable income.

• Total Take

  Slang for net payout. What you actually keep after fees and processing.

• Vaulted

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  Funko: Pop officially out of production. Vaulted Pops typically jump 3-10x retail. Whatnot sellers chase vaulted lines for margin.

• VNDS

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  Very Near Deadstock. Sneaker/fashion term for items worn 1-2 times, near-perfect condition.

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