Small Sellers, Big Paydays: Live Auction App Lets Ordinary People Earn Hundreds of Thousands Monthly

Tilt’s platform turns everyday resellers into high-earning merchants through real-time auctions and flash sales; a handful of users now clear seven figures annually without celebrity followings.

A growing number of small-scale merchants are turning their bedrooms and garages into lucrative storefronts thanks to Tilt, a live-shopping app launched in 2023. The company says one top shop brings in roughly $260,000 a month, while another operator—who runs sales from home while managing chronic illness and hearing loss—records about $70,000 monthly. In all, a group of 13 sellers on the platform now exceed $1 million in sales a year, and between 1,500 and 2,000 sellers complete at least one transaction on Tilt each month.

Tilt was built on the idea that live, hosted selling could democratize commerce for people without massive online followings. Co-founder and chief executive Abhi Thanendran, who emigrated from Sri Lanka to Canada as a child, says the product was designed for sellers who want to build a business from scratch. He credits an upbringing in a working-class Toronto neighborhood and an education in mathematics at the University of Waterloo for shaping his approach. After stints in actuarial work and trading, Thanendran moved into fintech in London, where he led data and machine learning before starting Tilt with a former colleague.

The app’s original focus on branded “drops” didn’t catch on, company executives say. Tilt shifted toward timed auctions and secondhand goods, and the response changed the product’s trajectory: streams featuring auctions of used items consistently produced far stronger sales results than the earlier format, prompting the company to broaden into sneakers, watches, collectibles and other resale categories. Tilt now operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain, and its team emphasizes training and tools for sellers rather than celebrity partnerships.

What unites the platform’s most successful sellers, according to Thanendran, is grit rather than follower counts. He describes top performers as young, driven and prepared to put in long hours to build trust with buyers. “Live selling isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it business,” he says, noting that hosts who engage regularly and cultivate a personality tend to retain customers. An independent retail analyst interviewed for this story added that live auctions can create a sense of immediacy and community that boosts buyer conversion, especially for unique or limited items.

Tilt’s model raises questions about sustainability and margins as more sellers scale up. Industry observers point out that live commerce can be resource-intensive—requiring inventory sourcing, on-camera hosting skills and fast shipping—so earnings vary widely. Tilt is betting that by giving tools and education to modest sellers, it can continue to grow a market niche that rewards hands-on sellers rather than polished influencers. The company plans to keep refining the product and expand seller support as it pursues broader adoption.