How the Semi-Live Sale Works

     OK, I promised I would do a post that exhaustively states how a semi-live sale works. So here we go. The sale is a week away which should give people enough time to see this post, ask question, and hopefully have a good idea of how it all works. But trust me, it's actually pretty easy. 

     My plan is to have a sales catalog published, here in the blog, next Friday. That will give me enough time to finish up the projects I am working on (hopefully), get all the photos, and put a post together. So Friday is the goal. I will also post the photos of available items on my studio page. Likely also on my Instagram. The blog catalog and other advertising photos will be posted in groups, like the photo below. 

     The order I have them posted in the catalog will be the order the photos will go up on my studio page next week. I will have claim codes on the photos so when the photo pops up all you have to do is comment UNDER THE PHOTO the claim code. If you are the first to claim that particular item it goes to you. No matter what your internet speed, 2:00 (or the comparable time in your time zone) is 2:00 for everyone. The photos show up at the same time for everyone. Since you will have already seen the groups and how they are laid out you will know exactly where to look in each photo so you can see the claim code (which is not easily guessable, for fairness) and then just type that into the comments. 

     Remember I said this was going to be exhaustive? I am going to see if I can think of every way that this can be misunderstood and explain it before sale day. At 2:00 next Sunday, August 15th, I am going to go live on my studio page on Facebook. I will not be showing you any of the items I have for sale. At 2:05(probably) group A (which is not the group A from this post, these photos are all from my test sale) will be posted on my studio page. You are more than welcome to watch me dance around in my room and pack bags. I am sorry to say I am much more chill during a semi-live sale. I still try to keep it fun. I still sing the alphabet and I will drink seltzer (note to self, get some more seltzer...). Can you claim items by commenting on my live post. No. You cannot. No claims count if you say them to me. Literally the only reason to watch me do the live is to have some interaction and for trivia. Probably. You never know if I might come up with some surprises. But to be clear, you do not actually have to WATCH me at the live sale to claim things. 

      So let me now explain in greater detail how you claim an item. Let's say you are looking at the micro pouches in group B and you absolutely LOVE the pouch with the pink unicorns. You know that is one you want to try for and the schedule tells you group B will be posted at 2:10 (I really am hoping to post a schedule of when every group is scheduled to go live on the studio page). So at 2:10 you are refreshing your device like a crazy person and I am hanging out in my room talking to myself and calmly drinking my seltzer (though my current favorite is Lemoncello La Croix...). You hit refresh over and over and then the group B photo is up! You see that the pouch you want is 55 so under the photo of group B (the photo with the claim codes) you comment 55. Really, it is that easy. And if you were the first person to comment 55, you will be the one that gets the pouch. Which I will say out loud on the live portion of the sale where I am chilling and casually packing bags and not running around like a crazy person. I will also "love" your comment so you know you are in fact the first person and the winner of the item. Easy, right?

      My plan is to probably have groups post about every 5 minutes. My plan is to keep the groups somewhat small so I have enough time to write on bags and sort items before the next batch comes up. I will also schedule in 5 minute breaks where no photos are going up but I will be doing trivia on the live. The basic rule is the first person to claim (It may or may not be the same order on everyone's device so I am still going by what shows first on my screen) will get the item. In the first 5 minutes the group is listed you may only claim one item from the group. So let's say group A goes live at 2:05. You can only claim one of the bareback pads. When group B goes live at 2:10 (so, 5 minutes later) if there is anything unclaimed from group A you can make a second claim from that group. I am hoping that doing it this way makes it a bit easier for more people to get what they want. 

     So that is the basic idea. Claims only count if they are comments on the photo (the one with the claim codes, not the one with the group name) on my Facebook studio page, and if they are the first one. You may only claim one item per group for the first 5 minutes the group is listed (I may change my timing a bit so I don't get overwhelmed, I'm thinking on it). After the first 5 minutes anything unclaimed is fair game, even if you already claimed an item from that group. 

     It really is pretty simple. All of the available items will be posted, with prices, in multiple places, prior to the day of the sale. Hopefully I will get a schedule out too so you know exactly when you need to check my studio page for what you want. You are more than welcome to watch the live portion, which is me hanging out in my room, singing the alphabet, and drinking seltzer. You don't actually have to. All the claiming will be done on my studio page. If you only want to watch me dance around, you can. There will still be trivia. But there won't be anything to claim (unless I start selling some of my plethora of micros, which might happen). 

     So another burning question might be, how can we be in two places at once? How can we watch the studio page for the photos and also watch the live stuff? HOW??? Well, the easiest way is to have 2 devices, which is what I will have. I do the filming with my phone on a tripod and I put my laptop on a box and watch the page that way (remember, I have tested this type of sale already). Two devices is super easy. OR you can split your screen. I don't think you can do that on a phone or a tablet. But I know for a fact you can do it on a computer. And I am not going to teach you that. I taught enough people how to split their screen. You are on your own to Google that one. 

     Please let me know if you have any questions on how the semi-live sale works. Also, let me know if I should make any micro pouches. I currently don't have any but I can make some if people are interested.