Today’s packing was the easy kind. No glassware, no books, no death-desk briefcases — just a tidy stack of orders that mostly slid into poly mailers and ground advantage boxes. Which is fine, because I needed the brain space for two things I’ve been chewing on for a week: eBay’s new AI live-show ads (still mad about those), and whether Candice and I should finally take a swing at live selling on Whatnot or Poshmark.

I came out of this packing session no closer to a decision on the second one. But we did pack a 5-pair Lucchese boot-shaft-cover bundle that’s worth talking about. So fair trade.

eBay’s AI live-show ads — what are y’all doing?

[12:05] Candice opened up the eBay app, looked at her screen, and went “Oh my gosh.”

The live-show ads. Every single thumbnail is AI-generated. Not “stylized,” not “rendered,” not “we touched up the lighting.” Bold, obvious, wax-figure-finger AI. And eBay is plastering them across the homepage to push their live-selling tab.

I get it. Live shows on eBay are new and they’re trying to drive eyeballs. But the buyers are coming to eBay because eBay sells real things photographed on real folding tables under real ring lights. The whole brand is “this is a real item that a real person has.” A row of obvious AI thumbnails advertising live shows is exactly the wrong signal — it makes the homepage feel like a slop-pile instead of a marketplace. We’re all out here fighting for our listings to look authentic so buyers trust us, and the platform itself is leading with stable diffusion. Make it make sense.

I’d actually thought, briefly, that eBay pushing live-show ads might not be the worst thing for sellers like us — if eBay can pull Whatnot’s livestream sellers over to eBay, more buyers might end up thinking of eBay first the next time they want to buy. That’s the optimistic take. The pessimistic take is that the AI thumbnails are going to chase those buyers off both platforms before they get the chance.

Should we just try Whatnot already?

That bleeds into [14:25] the bigger question Candice and I have been chewing on: should we just try a Whatnot show?

The case for: every reseller channel I respect has either already done it or is publicly weighing it. The numbers some people quote are wild. Live-selling is supposedly where the audience is going, and if it’s where the audience is going, that’s where the buyers are going. Even Poshmark has live shows now, and those are a softer entry point.

The case against: y’all have heard us talk about this before. Our shed runs on a rhythm — list, pull orders, pack, ship — and a Whatnot show is a different muscle. It’s stand-up comedy with a sales counter attached. I’d want to be confident I could carry an hour or two of camera energy without getting bailed out by Candice every five minutes. (To be clear, I would get bailed out. Candice is fine.)

Your mileage may vary on that. We share what we do here. We don’t tell others to do what we do because it’s not always the best.

I’ll let you know if we crack the question. The fact that I’m bringing it up on camera again means it’s still in my head, which usually means we end up trying it eventually.

The new Lonnie & Ryan podcast — John flew across the country for one million postcards

[1:42] Quick plug: the new Lonnie & Ryan podcast episode is up, with John from Popeye’s Postcards. The man literally flew across the country to buy one million postcards. I am not exaggerating. The episode tells the story.

And then there’s a Tesla Picker episode coming out in about a week — [20:49] “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll give stuff away.” That’s Ryan, refusing to spoil it. Tesla Picker is back. That’s all I’m saying.

The packs

Lighter inventory pass today since the day was easier. A few worth pulling out:

[25:34] Carnival Cruise Line porthole picture frame — went into the new 14×14×10 Zoro box. We’ve sold this exact picture frame before, but this one was big enough that I had to walk over and grab a different size box than I’d pre-set. Worth flagging because the box decision is half the pack quality on something like this. The frame is light but bulky, which means it wants a box that holds the dims without expecting the cardboard to do the structural work.

[31:08] Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner — the $1 buy that won’t stop earning. We picked these up for a buck apiece and they keep going out the door. Tonight I started using painter’s tape as a temporary seal on the poly mailer when I know I’ve got a same-buyer combine coming — that way I’m not committing to the seal until I’m sure all the items are in. Small trick. It saves me from cutting a fresh mailer when a second order from the same buyer rolls in fifteen minutes later.

[36:30] Pink Floyd baseball hat — paid $4, sold quick. An adult fitted, not the wide-brim kind. Going to a girl, which is good — most of our hat buyers skew the other direction.

[36:30] 5-pair Lucchese boot-shaft-cover bundle — $125+ as a single listing. We’ve been collecting these for a minute. Lucchese is one of those names I still mispronounce in three different ways depending on what mood I’m in (Lucasy, Lucassey, Lookhayze — only one of those is right and it’s not the one I usually pick). Cover bundles aren’t glamorous but they pack flat and the buyer pool for boot accessories is patient.

We also moved a Pop Mart “Twinkle Twinkle Little Superman” pendant, a Cody Jinks 3 LP vinyl set in a vinyl mailer, a Harley-Davidson rain suit, and a few smaller orders. The video has the running tally if you want the full list.

That’s it. Easy pack day. We earned that one — the encyclopedia run from earlier in the week is still in everybody’s lower back. We’ll see y’all in the next one.