How a plant shop sold $1,100 in one hour on Whatnot

Most plants on Whatnot sell for little money, so a $1,100 hour sounds unlikely. We recorded one show from coldandcozy, a US plant shop, and their best 60 minutes brought in $1,107 in sales. It came from three things: selling related items that cost more, buyers who kept coming back, and a few surprise listings that drew a crowd.

The numbers behind the hour

We recorded five US plant shops on Whatnot, one show each, in early October 2026. coldandcozy had the best single hour and the highest average per hour.

	coldandcozy
Best 60 minutes	$1,107
Average across the whole show	$745 per hour
Pots' share of the best hour	$724 (65%)
Plants' share of the best hour	$383

Two things to keep in mind. This is sales, not profit: fees, stock and shipping still come out. And it was the best hour, not every hour.

1. Sell related items that go for more

The plants were cheap. Across 108 plant auctions, the median sale was $13. The pots did better: across 46 pot auctions, the median was $20.50, and big pots went as high as $61.

So the plants pulled people in, and the pots made most of the money. In the best hour, pots made almost two dollars for every one dollar from plants. If your main product sells low, look for the item that goes with it. For plants, it is the pot.

2. Look after your repeat buyers

Repeat buyers made up most of this show.

• 58% of buyers bought a second item, usually within 12 minutes of the first.
• 44% bought a third item.
• Repeat buyers made 81% of all sales.

The host mentions bundled shipping in the show notes. We think combined shipping makes a second purchase easier, because the buyer has already paid to ship one box. But shipping is not in our data, so treat that part as a likely reason, not a proven one.

Repeat buying was normal at every plant show we recorded (55% to 71% of buyers bought again). So this is not a trick only coldandcozy has. Most of your money comes from people who already bought, so make it easy for them to keep going.

3. Keep a few surprise items in the show

coldandcozy ran five "Surprise Plant" auctions. All started at $1. They pulled more people into the bidding than regular plants did:

	Surprise plants	Regular $1-start plants
Different bidders per auction	7.4	5.0
Bids per auction	16.8	10.8
Average sale	$21.60	$13.40 (named 4-inch plants)

The top plant of the night, both by price ($30) and by number of bids (22), was a surprise plant. One fair caveat: the surprise plants were bigger 6-inch plants, while most regular plants were 4-inch. Size explains part of the price gap. The extra bidders are still a good sign that a mystery gets people to join in.

What to do in your own shop

1. Find your "pot". List the item buyers need next to your main product, and run it during the show, not just at the end.
2. Put bundled shipping in your show notes so a second and third purchase feels like a small step.
3. Check how much of your sales come from repeat buyers. If it is anywhere near 80%, plan your show around keeping those people engaged. A customer breakdown shows who your repeat buyers are.
4. Add a few surprise listings with a $1 start and see if they pull more bidders than your regular items.

Sources

• HypeStream recording of coldandcozy's Whatnot show, Tue 7 Oct 2026 (6:45 to 10pm ET). Prices are auction results; sales, not profit.
• Best-hour comparison: one recorded show each from five US plant shops on Whatnot, 5 to 7 Oct 2026.