A Note From Lauren: Why We're Expanding Beyond TikTok & What Comes Next for Tipsy Ricki's

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A Note From Lauren <3

Hiiiiii, all my lovely ladies! I wanted to take a second and share some of my feelings and thoughts and what we are experiencing in business. If you don’t know, we started live streaming on TIKTOK roughly a little less than a year ago. I felt that live selling was the direction my business was being called to go and I followed that as I have done everything else in business I feel called to do. We have made so many changes in the little over four years of business- some successful, others absolute failures. There was a time when a simple social media post would convert the majority of my sales for the month, and as that does tend to work sometimes, the selling climate has drastically shifted over the last little bit. I am writing this letter to share with you what I have been experiencing as a small business owner, and to give you some insight into my thoughts and the direction I see as best fit moving forward.

TikTok has brought me SO many of you I would have not otherwise had to cheer me and my small business on, and my GOODNESS I am so thankful for that. Seriously- I know all of you by name, you show up week to week for drops, and you are truly some of my best friends! With the success of TikTok, having launch days I wouldn’t have otherwise had, and getting to know every one of you has again changed my life and the course of my business. On the other side of that, my business is directly controlled by the platform itself. I have little to no say as a business owner, as to what I can say, how I choose to sell, returns, and so much more. As someone who has worked so hard to get to this point, it feels so wrong to be totally dictated by a platform in how I do business. With TikTok restrictions getting more and more harsh, and it having the ability to completely control the outcome of our reach and profitability, I have been led to seek other options and really consider the time we are putting into this app.

With that being said, no, we are not leaving TikTok, but we are, however, adding on another app you can find us on, and encourage you to join us on, because not only is it a lot more user-friendly and small business friendly- it is an app FOR shopping. It sifts out the nasty comments, those who want to shop are there exactly for that, not just social media content, and has ultimately proven to be a strategic business move on our end. We have done a total of 6 shows, and have been absolutely over the MOON with what it has brought to our small business in such a short amount of time. The app is WHATNOT. You may have heard of this, or maybe not, but I am here to tell you, it is the up-and-coming shopping app, and everyone will have it somewhere along the line as it continues to grow and e-commerce selling continues in this direction. TikTok started as a social app that was “weird” to have, and now you can’t hardly meet someone who doesn’t have the app downloaded on their phone. I believe this is the direction WHATNOT is headed after seeing what I have seen as seller for the last 6 shows.

Not only are we on the app, we feel so much more free to move as we would like, and I cannot tell you the breath of fresh air we have had after ending each show feeling like we don’t have to watch what we say like we do on TikTok. We DO have guidelines to follow, and we are not allowed to redirect purchases to our website or anywhere else (you’ll still hear me say funy things), but overall it has been much more of a likeable situation for us. We hope you would consider joining us both there, and TikTok to have two platforms (three with the website & four with our store) and help our business relax a little and reach new heights instead of having to continue to beat the bush that feels like it has been at a standstill for some time with more restrictions than we can count. TikTok is not built for success, it feels like, unless you have been selling on the app from the beginning, which is why I am feeling called to try a new app that leaves space for us to grow.

Why should you come to WHATNOT shows? Well, because on WHATNOT we are starting to do exclusive new arrival auctions with products from the same vendors you love and know we carry, and we are able to offer them at auction price points. How are we able to do this? Well, on exclusive new arrival auctions, we diligently search for items that our tried and true vendors have put on sale, which means YOU are getting them on sale, or we are choosing “hot off the press” items that fall in a wholesale cost category that we can offer on exclusive new arrival auctions because of that lower initial price point. Price point has been heavy on my heart for a little while now because, as we all know, it’s expensive out here, for everyone. I feel like prices continue to rise, and so I completely cut a lot of people out of being able to, or wanting to buy, because I have to sell items for what I do for there to be meat left on the bone for my business to operate. This way, we are able to offer a variety of items, and a variety of price points so that everyone will be able to afford a boutique outfit, because everyone deserves that. Well, what about your weekly new arrivals? Yep! We will still have them, and those new arrivals won’t change! Our weekly new arrivals are the BEST OF THE BEST from our vendors. They are the items that JUST arrived and are the newest, most trendy pieces you’ll be able to find anywhere. Drop days are the days we drop curated collections with styling in mind and plans for specific pieces/outfits.  If you’re not new to Tipsy Ricki’s, you know getting what you want on drop days is important because typically if it sells out, it’s gone, and that will stand true even moving forward with what we have mentioned above. Drop days are where you will find those unique, styled, and curated items that we have thoughtfully planned out for you- and you’ll have in your wardrobe before anyone else because we are constantly searching high and low for the latest and greatest- for you <3

What this means is there will be MORE opportunities for you to SHOP TIPSY RICKI’S <3 Which, in the end, is our goal as a growing business, and for you, the shopper, to have many options to choose from. Moving forward, we will still be on TikTok on launch days, and we will still try to plan for auction sales as we can, month to month. However, WHATNOT will likely be the platform we lean into, as we continue to see more successes there. We’re not gone for good on TikTok, you just may see us move a little differently there. This comes with much frustration, and hopefully in time, the app can evolve to be more supportive to the sellers on its platform.

We are hoping to be a leader on WHATNOT, and help pave the way for other small businesses like us. We’re sure outside of us, you will find others you love on this app, especially as it continues to grow. Women’s Fashion is the fastest growing category on the application.

This letter is not to say see you never on TIKTOK, it’s to let you know where to find us, and again allow you more options to shop! We always fall back on the fact that ultimately, we would love for you to shop on our website first and foremost. We ask you to keep that in mind on launch days. We don’t care where you shop, we’re just thankful that you do, but if we had our rathers- that would be our first choice.

WHATNOT exclusive auction items will only be accessible on WHATNOT, unless we have had it for a while, and then it will cycle over to a TIKTOK auction. You will be getting exclusive access to the app arrivals there. Buying is slightly different, but it is quite simple to figure out after you come to one show. Here’s the breakdown:

I will show an item and tell you all you need to know about the fit and material.

I will say “buyer’s choice” and let you know what sizes I have. For example, “buyers’ choice, small, medium, and large”. I run the auction at a starting bid- you and others bid on the item.

If you win the auction, drop a comment telling me what size you want out of the sizes I previously mentioned. I tag the item with your item number, and we move to the next item.

It’s super simple, and you guys will get the hang of it quickly, I know! Things are fast, fun, and I truly have been enjoying it! My first new arrivals auction, all items started at a $38 and under, starting bid- AMAZING. <3

WHATNOT offers shipping bundles. You all are familiar with this as I bundle your orders often when I can. You can bundle up to 4 items, and shipping is $9.21. This has also helped me immensely, as shipping costs have gotten so high I have honestly lost money due to it in full transparency, and I just cannot continue to do that across all platforms. So, when you bid on 1 item, you can add up to 4 more items free of a shipping charge. Once you hit that 5th item, you are charged another $9.21 and can add 3 more items to THAT bundle. Make sense?

This may seem odd, but it allows me to offer these items at a lower starting bid (giving you better value for covering the shipping) and more bang for your buck, or if you are someone who spends over x amount to get free shipping & 15% off on the website, this will be adjusted to offer that on WHATNOT, since you are covering shipping on auction start prices. WHATNOT purchases are also final sale- that’s the app’s terms and regulations.

I hope I have made sense, and I hope you all are understanding and open to this new shift, which is just adding another platform to find us on. I hope this does nothing but allow my small business to grow and flourish- and allows you to find more from us that you love along the way. You all have a piece of my heart, and I have done and tried it all. This is just one more piece to the puzzle, and im feeling super confident and hopeful for it to be as successful as I believe it can be. I love you all so much!

Our EXCLUSIVE NEW ARRIVAL AUCTION will be tomorrow at 10 a.m. CST on WHATNOT, and our WEEKLY NEW ARRIVALS will be live on THURSDAY at 9:30 a.m. CST, & we will be live on TikTok at 10 a.m. to showcase that collection (since we got restricted 3 times today lol)! We hope to see you both tomorrow and Thursday with all your love and support for my small business! 

xo, Lauren <3