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  • Seven-year study uncovers the holy grail of beer brewing

    Seven-year study uncovers the holy grail of beer brewing

    For many people, a glass of beer feels incomplete without a thick, creamy layer of foam resting on top. Yet anyone who enjoys beer knows that this foam often disappears quickly, collapsing before the first sip. Some varieties, however, manage to…

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  • Real Estate, Solar energy firm emerge for Pakistan Super League’s new franchises

    Real Estate, Solar energy firm emerge for Pakistan Super League’s new franchises

    LAHORE – The race for two new franchises in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is heating up, with a number of domestic and international companies expressing interest in acquiring teams.

    Among the potential bidders are a real estate firm and a…

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  • Beauty Marks: The Best Beauty Looks of The Week

    Beauty Marks: The Best Beauty Looks of The Week

    Welcome back to Beauty Marks: Vogue’s weekly edition of the best moments in celebrity beauty, from Vogue editors’ IG feeds, and all the glam of the fashion and pop culture landscapes. Each week, we curate the nail art to pin for your next…

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  • Inside the World of Live Selling on TikTok, Whatnot, and Other Apps

    Inside the World of Live Selling on TikTok, Whatnot, and Other Apps

    If you watched TV at odd hours in the 1990s and early 2000s, you probably remember QVC, the home shopping network selling viewers everything from kitchen appliances to kids’ toys, often for several “easy” payments over time.

    Well, there’s a new age version of that phenomenon that’s found a home on TikTok and other platforms, but instead of broadcasting for an hour between the nightly news and sitcom reruns, some sellers are streaming for hours.

    It can also be incredibly lucrative if you find the right niche.

    Live selling on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram combines livestreaming and e-commerce. Sellers are hosting live “shows” and chatting with their audience in real time, while viewers are buying directly from the stream without leaving the app.

    “It’s like QVC to a new generation,” e-commerce veteran Leo Limin, who started selling smart light bulbs on Amazon in the mid-2010s, told Business Insider. “Some brands sell through thousands and thousands of items in a matter of a couple of hours, like $50,000 worth of products, for example, in two hours.”

    Harry Luu is one of those sellers. He brought in $42,000 in one day by selling two rare plants — one for $26,000 and the other for $16,000 — on Palmstreet, a live shopping app for rare plants and other unique goods.

    “I would call myself a plantdemic baby,” said the former mathematician. “During COVID, a lot of people picked up a hobby of some sort, and plants were my escape at the time.”

    His plant collection and cultivation hobby quickly evolved into a lucrative side hustle and, eventually, a sustainable career. He left academia in 2024 to run Plant Zaddy Therapy full-time.


    harry luu

    Harry Luu cultivates and sells rare plants on a platform called Palmstreet.

    Courtesy of Harry Luu



    Clinton Benninghoff runs Golf Headquarters, a Midland-based brick-and-mortar store that sells golf apparel and equipment. Last summer, after hearing about an auction-style platform called Whatnot, he downloaded the app out of curiosity. He signed up to be a seller and, using his iPhone, set up his first stream from his office.

    “I just set up the camera by my door, pointed it toward all my bags full of golf clubs, and clicked to go live. I had no idea what I was doing,” he told BI. “That first day, I think I was live for like 20 minutes. I sold a putter, and everybody in my stream was actually telling me how to stream.”

    Less than a year later, in February 2025, he sold over $100,000 in products in a six-hour live show, a Whatnot record at the time in the golf category.

    “Everybody was recording on their phones when we finally hit it. I was so hoarse. I didn’t have a voice,” he recalled. “That February 8 show let us know that we can do this at a high level.”

    Business Insider confirmed the claims made by each seller featured by reviewing screenshots of their sales dashboards.

    The unique advantage of live selling: Convenience plus knowing exactly what you’re getting

    Before joining Palmstreet, Luu said that he and other plant collectors primarily listed their products on Facebook. But, as live selling platforms started to gain traction, “there were quite a few of us who migrated, because it was a lot faster, it was a lot easier, and it was a lot more interactive and fun.”

    Selling online is loads cheaper than owning and operating a brick-and-mortar — and, depending on the platform you’re using, potentially easier to acquire customers, he added.

    “If you open a store, you are still subject to the fact that people have to walk into your store. When you’re on a major platform such as Palmstreet, and they have already built up a good enough clientele, you have a lot more walk-ins, quote unquote.”

    Benninghoff said that during his most-viewed Whatnot stream, he had 1,600 potential buyers in the room. He has sold and shipped products to buyers across the lower 48 states, as well as in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and South Africa.

    Of course, you don’t get the same face-to-face interaction as you do with a brick-and-mortar, and customers can’t pick up products with their two hands, but it’s the next best thing. Consumers can ask questions in real time and see the product from all angles.

    “It gives you the convenience of being at home, but also allows the buyer the flexibility of actually interacting and clarifying before they pull the trigger,” said Luu. “And I think that is one of the greatest advantages of live selling.”

    Not every e-commerce business has bought in. Jonathan Cohen, the CMO of two eight-figure Amazon brands, uses TikTok live, but not because he thinks it’s the wave of the future or even a particularly effective way to move product.

    “We do live selling, not so much to generate huge amounts of revenue, but to talk to our customers. We get our R&D and our customer feedback directly from people who are inside our live chat rooms,” he said, and warns against putting all of your eggs in the live selling basket. “I wouldn’t say it’s going to be any single person’s ticket to success.”

    What it takes to succeed as a live seller

    Benninghoff describes Whatnot as “an entertainment app” as much as it is a marketplace.

    “You’re building this community of people that are following a personality,” said the part-time pastor, who thrives in a public speaking environment. For him, setting up a camera and talking to strangers came naturally. It was the juggling of multiple pieces that took some getting used to.

    “The biggest learning curve was how to run an auction and stay engaged with people that are asking questions in the chat while holding up the item at the right angle and just doing it all at the same time.”

    It helps to be extroverted and a bit of a “performer,” said Luu, who had experience managing large Zoom lectures in his previous career, but it’s not essential. “Different people resonate with different people. You will inherently attract your own crowd.”


    casey wehr

    Casey Wehr started streaming on Whatnot with his two sons, who discovered the platform and convinced him to use it to sell sports cards.

    Croutesy of Casey Wehr



    Casey Wehr, who works full-time at a private equity firm and has built a seven-figure side hustle selling sports cards with his two sons on Whatnot, has mastered the art of building excitement throughout live shows.

    There are two main ways he’s earning money on Whatnot. There’s the live auction format, in which he’ll grab an item, put it in front of the camera, and start a 15-second auction. “It’s very fast paced, it’s fun, it’s engaging,” he said.

    Viewers can also buy packs of cards directly from his store, Krunk Cards, at any point during the stream, and he’ll do a “sealed wax opening” on camera. “What’s fun about the sealed wax is that it’s a community event. It’s fun to open product just when you go buy it from the store and take it home, but there’s a whole other level of excitement opening a box with 100 other people in the room.”

    As Wehr says, “inventory is key.” You want to be selling something that generates enough excitement that viewers will want to bid.

    But it’ll only get you so far in the live selling space.

    “You can have a great product, but to have big viewership and a big community, you’ve got to engage with those people,” said Benninghoff. “You’ve got to make them feel like they are family — not just a person buying items from you.”


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  • Afghan forces open fire across border to facilitate infiltration of terrorists into Pakistan: DG ISPR – Dawn

    1. Afghan forces open fire across border to facilitate infiltration of terrorists into Pakistan: DG ISPR  Dawn
    2. Taliban accuses Pakistan of killing 10 – including nine children – in strikes on Afghanistan  The Guardian
    3. Afghan regime poses threat to…

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  • Inside The DogTown Collection And Inside Out Clothing Project

    Inside The DogTown Collection And Inside Out Clothing Project

    Across two continents, two visionary initiatives are proving that creativity can be a lifeline for young people facing some of life’s toughest challenges. In the United…

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  • China launches nationwide fire safety inspection following Hong Kong fire – Reuters

    1. China launches nationwide fire safety inspection following Hong Kong fire  Reuters
    2. Hong Kong mourns victims of blaze that killed 128 and counting  Dawn
    3. Video shows speed fire spreads in Hong Kong tower block  BBC
    4. Binance Charity Donates 10 Million…

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