HOARD VS WHATNOT · COMPARISON
WHAT YOU KEEP
WHEN NOBODY
TAKES A CUT.
Whatnot takes about eleven percent all in. The Hoard takes 1.5% collector to collector, 5% if you sell commercially, and nothing else. Full fee math, both sides.
VERIFIED 2026.08.03· CARDS · LIVE COMMERCE
WHAT A SALE COSTS
~11%
WHATNOT, ALL IN1.5%
COLLECTOR TO COLLECTOR5% if you hold any commercial role. Plus 2% of shipping when shipping is charged.
If you sell on Whatnot you already know the number. Eight percent commission on the item price, plus 2.9% and thirty cents in payment processing calculated on the whole order including shipping and tax. Most sellers land around eleven percent all in on a normal order, higher on cheap items, because that flat thirty cents does not care how small the sale was.
That is not a scandal. It is a price, and for plenty of sellers it is a fair one. Whatnot gives you an audience that shows up, a live video stack that works, and buyers who arrive already holding a card. You are not paying eleven percent for nothing.
The question this page answers is narrower. What happens to that eleven percent if you already have the audience. If your buyers follow you rather than the platform, if they came from your show table or your group chat or the last three cons you set up at, then most of that percentage is a toll on a road you built.
The Hoard charges a fee too, and it is worth stating plainly rather than burying: 1.5% on the item when a collector sells to a collector, 5% if you hold any commercial role, plus 2% of the shipping if you charge the buyer for shipping. One fee, published, and it does not stack with anything else. The rest of this page is what that difference looks like in dollars.
SIDE BY SIDE
HOW THE TWO ARE STRUCTURED.
Commission on a sale
WHATNOT
8% of item price in the US, Canada, Australia. 6.67% plus VAT in the UK and EU.
THE HOARD
1.5% collector to collector. 5% if you hold any commercial role. Plus 2% of shipping when shipping is charged.
Payment processing
WHATNOT
2.9% plus $0.30 on the full order value including shipping and tax.
THE HOARD
Stripe’s rate, paid by you directly to Stripe. The Hoard does not add a markup to it or take a share of it.
Who holds the money
WHATNOT
Whatnot. Funds release to your bank on their schedule.
THE HOARD
Nobody but you. Payment moves buyer to seller through your own Stripe Connect account.
Payout timing
WHATNOT
ACH to a linked bank. New sellers and accounts with elevated dispute rates can see holds up to fourteen days.
THE HOARD
Your Stripe payout schedule. The Hoard is not in the path and cannot delay it.
Cost to run
WHATNOT
No listing fees, no subscription. You pay when something sells.
THE HOARD
Free profile for collectors, vendors, stores, and brands. No listing fees either. Pro tiers exist and none of them are required to sell.
High value orders
WHATNOT
Since 14 January 2026, 0% commission on the portion of an order above $1,500 in select categories.
THE HOARD
Same rate at every price. No tier, no threshold, no category carve out to keep track of.
What it is
WHATNOT
A live shopping marketplace.
THE HOARD
An all encompassing fan network. A social market where collectors, vendors, showrunners, and brands sit on the same pedestal, with The Market handling the selling and the record sitting under all of it.
BOTH SIDES, HONESTLY
BOTH PANELS ARE REAL.
WHERE WHATNOT WINS
Discovery. Whatnot brings you buyers you did not have. That is the whole product and it works. The Hoard does not hand you an audience.
Reach without effort. A show puts your inventory in front of people who were not looking for you. Building an audience anywhere else is work you do yourself.
The live stack. Streaming, bidding, giveaways, breaks, chat moderation, all built and tuned. Nothing on The Hoard replaces a live show.
Buyer protection. Buyers get a dispute process backed by a company holding the funds. That is value The Hoard structurally cannot offer, because it never holds the funds.
Category authentication. Whatnot runs authentication on eligible categories. The Hoard does not authenticate anything, ever.
WHERE THE HOARD WINS
Most of the sale stays with you. 1.5% against roughly eleven percent. On a $2,000 order that is the difference between thirty dollars and two hundred and nineteen.
You keep the relationship. The buyer is your buyer. Their contact, their history with you, their repeat purchases.
The show is part of it. Waves handles live drops and events, with RSVP, check in, and a numbered coin minted to whoever shows up. Free to attend, the host pays.
Nobody holds your balance. Non custodial by design. The fee comes off at the transaction and the remainder settles to your own Stripe account, so there is no payout hold to wait through.
The record outlives the sale. Every item carries its documentation, history, and record history whether it sells or not.
No AI, no house, no narrative. Nyami Nyami, Gideon, and Linda are algorithmic. Nothing here takes a position against you or generates an opinion about your item.
One number, published, on a free profile. No seller level, no category rate, no promotional threshold, no flat per order charge. You can work out what a sale costs before you list it.
WORKED MATH
FOUR SCENARIOS, IN DOLLARS.
ONE, THE $50 CARD
A single card sells for $50 with $5 shipping.
WHATNOT
Commission 8% of $50$4.00
Processing 2.9% of $55$1.60
Flat fee$0.30
Platform take$5.90
THE HOARD · COLLECTOR TO COLLECTOR
Facilitation 1.5% of $50$0.75
2% of $5 shipping charged$0.10
Platform take$0.85
THE HOARD · COMMERCIAL ROLE
Facilitation 5% of $50$2.50
2% of $5 shipping charged$0.10
Platform take$2.60
On one card the gap is five dollars, or three if you sell commercially. That is not a reason to switch by itself. It becomes one at volume: forty of those a month is about $236 to Whatnot against $34 or $104 here, on cards sold to people who already follow you.
TWO, THE $2,000 PIECE
A single high value item at $2,000, buyer pays shipping.
WHATNOT · STANDARD CATEGORY
Commission 8% of $2,000$160.00
Processing 2.9% plus $0.30$58.30
Platform take$218.30
THE HOARD · COLLECTOR TO COLLECTOR
Facilitation 1.5% of $2,000$30.00
2% of $25 shipping charged$0.50
Platform take$30.50
THE HOARD · COMMERCIAL ROLE
Facilitation 5% of $2,000$100.00
2% of $25 shipping charged$0.50
Platform take$100.50
Whatnot’s high value promotion narrows it: in select categories it charges nothing on the portion above $1,500, which removes $40 here and leaves $178.30. Against that, a collector selling this piece here pays $30.50 and a commercial seller pays $100.50, at every price, with no category to check first.
THREE, THE VENDOR DOING $3,000 A MONTH
Thirty items averaging $100, running steadily.
WHATNOT
Commission 8%$240.00 / mo
Processing on ~$3,240$102.96 / mo
Annualized platform take$4,115.52
THE HOARD · COMMERCIAL, FREE PROFILE
Facilitation 5% of $3,000$150.00 / mo
2% of $240 shipping charged$4.80 / mo
Subscription required to sellnone
Annualized platform take$1,857.60
Roughly $2,258 a year in difference at this volume, on a free vendor profile. Note the honest part: at 5% a commercial seller is not paying nothing here, and if your whole business is discovery driven then Whatnot’s percentage is buying you customers that this one does not.
FOUR, THE COLLECTOR WHO SELLS TWICE A YEAR
Two items, $300 total, and a collection of four hundred pieces that are not for sale.
Whatnot costs about $27 in fees on those two sales and nothing else. Here the same two sales cost $4.50, on a free collector profile, and nothing else either.
The four hundred items that are not for sale are the actual difference. Documented, organized, and on file, with the record following each piece if it ever changes hands. Whatnot has no product for those, because Whatnot only exists at the moment of sale. Collector Pro adds Nyami Nyami appraisal and valuation on top, and it is an upgrade rather than a requirement.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
10 QUESTIONS.
01
Is The Hoard cheaper than Whatnot?
Yes, at every volume, because there is no crossover point. Whatnot’s effective rate lands around eleven percent on a normal order. The Hoard charges 1.5% collector to collector or 5% commercial, plus 2% of shipping when you charge it, and selling does not require a subscription. Both platforms cost nothing if you sell nothing.
02
Does The Hoard take a cut of my sales?
One facilitation fee, and it is published: 1.5% of the item collector to collector, 5% if you hold any commercial role, plus 2% of shipping when shipping is charged. It is derived from your role at the moment of sale, it never stacks with a second fee, and it is the only cut. The remainder settles to your own Stripe account.
03
What are Whatnot’s seller fees in 2026?
Eight percent commission on the item price for US, Canadian, and Australian sellers, or 6.67% plus VAT in the UK and EU, plus 2.9% and $0.30 payment processing on the total order value. Effective rates run around eleven percent on a hundred dollar item and higher on cheap ones. Since 14 January 2026 there is 0% commission on the portion above $1,500 in select categories.
04
What does The Hoard charge on a sale?
1.5% of the item price when a collector sells to a collector, or 5% when the seller holds any commercial role such as store, vendor, runner, show runner, or brand. If shipping is charged to the buyer, 2% of that shipping charge is added. Nothing else, at any price.
05
Do I need to pay to sell on The Hoard?
No. Collector, vendor, store, and brand profiles are all free, and selling on a free profile costs the facilitation fee and nothing else. Collector Pro and the operator tiers are upgrades you can take or ignore.
06
Can I use both?
Most people should. Run shows on Whatnot for discovery, keep the record and the repeat buyers on The Hoard. They are not the same product and they do not cancel each other out.
07
Does The Hoard do live selling?
No. There is no live video auction product. If live is your channel, Whatnot is better at it and this page is not going to argue the point.
08
Who handles disputes on The Hoard?
Stripe, through the normal chargeback process, between the buyer’s bank and your account. The Hoard is not the counterparty. That is the direct consequence of being non custodial and it cuts both ways: no holds on your money, and no platform sitting in the middle when something goes wrong.
09
Does The Hoard authenticate items?
No, and it never will. The Hoard operates on record quality instead: how thoroughly an item is documented, on a ladder from Draft to Basic to Documented to Export Ready. It is a record of what is known about an item, not a claim about the item.
10
How long until I get paid?
Your Stripe payout schedule, because the money is already in your Stripe account. The Hoard is not in the path and has no ability to hold it.
THE SHORT VERSION
Whatnot sells access to an audience and charges around eleven percent for it. The Hoard sells a record and a set of tools, charges 1.5% collector to collector or 5% commercial on a free profile, and publishes the number. If you need the audience, pay the higher percentage, it is worth it. If you already have the audience, stop paying eleven percent on people who were already yours.