From her Sioux Falls basement, thrifter finds following on fast-growing app

What does it take to sell a roll of toilet paper online to a stranger?

Apparently, a personality like Bailey Tschetter’s.

It happened earlier this month after Tschetter had been selling merchandise live from her Sioux Falls basement for eight solid hours on an app called Whatnot, which she describes as “TikTok and eBay had a baby.”

Whatnot is an online marketplace and live auction platform that started with selling collectibles and limited-edition items — think Pokemon and sports cards.

It since has expanded to include many e-commerce categories and has a reported valuation of almost $5 billion after launching six years ago. Its annual gross merchandise value for livestream sales surpassed $3 billion in 2024, according to PitchBook News.

The roll of toilet paper represents only a $4 sale — but still.

“I planned to go two hours,” Tschetter explained. “That’s my standard. I go live on Sundays at 5 p.m. and try to do two to three hours, or if the vibes are good, you’re not going to get off because you’re making money.”

The vibes were good, and about an hour into the show, viewers began requesting items she hadn’t planned to sell.

“So I’m grabbing a frame here and a little shelf here, and people were buying and paying the (price) I wanted,” she said.

Then, fellow sellers, a husband-and-wife team called House of Coop, sent their viewers into her online show as theirs ended and “told everyone to ask me for the most ridiculous things, and someone said, ‘Do you happen to have some toilet paper?'” she said. “And I said I do have a roll of toilet paper … and that’s the social aspect. People just wanting to participate because we’re just having fun.”

She’s also making money — $1,500 in revenue that day — though she’s working harder than ever. “And I grew up on a farm picking rocks,” she said. “This is by far the hardest, most amount of work I’ve ever done in my life.”

Tschetter is a Huron native whose career includes working as a bank teller. After her father died in 2015, she moved to Sioux Falls to attend beauty school. She’s now a cosmetologist by day, who unabashedly details her expertise in Brazilian waxing for her followers by night.

“I’m very real with people,” she laughed. “That’s what I remember — just be yourself and you’ll be great.”

It started with her own shopping. She’d post her finds after an estate sale or visiting an antique mall, and people responded on social media.

“It’s just the thrill. Am I going to find something for $2 I can flip for $100?” she said. “That’s the best part.”

She does some thrifting every day, sometimes running into a Goodwill store with an hour to spare or browsing Facebook Marketplace. She’ll go outside Sioux Falls for a trip to a Goodwill outlet center, where she dons gloves and sorts through bins of merchandise.

“Who would have thought there’s such a resale market?” she said, adding that because she just started selling in November, she hasn’t even hit the rummage sale circuit yet.

On Whatnot, she schedules shows and provides a preview of what merchandise will be included. Followers can place bids ahead of time or be notified when her show begins.

Auctions on the platform last only 15 seconds, so bidding can be fast and furious.

There’s also a growing sense of community, Tschetter said. She plans to compete in a “Vintage Wars” event Saturday — her sales slot is at 1:30 p.m. — where sellers will vie to see who brings in the most buyers.

“It goes all day, and for every dollar you sell, you get a point. And for every two items you sell, you get a point, so you want your ‘buy it now’ to be loaded because all purchases count,” she said.

In her first few months of selling, she already has had memorable sales. Her biggest profit was a 1960s agriculture yearbook — a retro book she bought for less than 80 cents and sold for $39.

Then there are the brass swans she found in Minneapolis. She bought them for $40 and sold them for $100.

Through the app, shipping is tallied and charged, and it’s her job to mail out orders. That’s one reason she’s hoping to grow her local pickup business.

“The more I grow the customer base here, the less I have to ship,” she said.

Tschetter is on Whatnot under the name “baileycheddar,” where she already has amassed 3,200 followers in about four months and holds a perfect five-star rating.

She has sold 1,600 items so far — and 150 of them came on that one memorable eight-hour day, which happened to be the anniversary of the day she lost her dad, James.

“It was my best show and biggest ever,” she said. “I don’t know if that man had anything to do with it, but I just can’t help but be thankful.”

She’s grateful for far more than the extra cash, though.

“I was depressed as could be before I found Whatnot,” she said. “It’s been the best, most healthy outlet for me. It has really blossomed into a lot.”

Her mom now has joined her as a seller, specializing in miniatures. Tschetter estimates that she puts in a solid 50 hours a week and could see it becoming more of her full-time work, balanced with her part-time salon business.

“Some days I’m like, is this actually happening or is this just one big, long dream?” she said. “It’s the most fascinating thing I’ve ever been a part of.”