This holiday season, some busy holiday gift buyers are turning to TikTok for gifts and collectibles. But beyond TikTok Shop, users are also turning to TikTok livestreams for virtual personal shopper services without having to step foot in a store.
The livestreamers are full-time shoppers who spend hours in discount department stores like TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls on the hunt for viral products or fandom collectibles that are hard to find.
“Everyone is looking for the hot pink Hello Kitty. Valentine’s Day blankets. OK. They’re looking for any of the throw blankets, glitz-and-glam brushes,” Rita Colon said.
Colon, who lives in New Jersey, has been a full-time personal virtual shopper for a year.
This year, she said, she has shipped over 2,700 packages around the country.
As shoppers broadcast themselves sorting through items in stores, viewers who tune into her live feed type the word “reserve” in the comments to secure items. They then send Colon payment — the prices of the items, her finders fee of up to $20 and the cost of shipping.
She waits until the electronic payments land in her account before she heads to checkout.
“The finder’s fee covers for me, my time, my gas, obviously shipping materials, tape boxes, bubble wrap, brake wear, tire wear, oil changes,” she said.
On a good day, said Colon, who has 12,500 followers, she walks away with $500 to $700.
Dominick Palguta, who lives in Virginia, is another virtual personal shopper on TikTok.
“I think that a lot of people think that personal shopping is super easy, and it’s really not at all. It is an eight-hour full-time job,” Palguta said.
“I have a goal of around $220 a day for my quota,” he said. “So if you’re able to get 22 products with a $10 finder’s fee, then you’re able to make around $220 total a day. Usually that’s what I shoot for. I’m not always able to accomplish that.”
Palguta, who has over 15,300 followers on TikTok, said his schedule depends on the specific store he’s working in.
He said one of his customers’ top requests are Hello Kitty blankets, which are released randomly at different stores and can be difficult to find.
“Most times I’m only in the store for about five to 10 minutes, and I do the things fairly quick,
He said. “But some days, like today at Burlington [Coat Factory], I have to wait around one hour to two hours just for them to bring out the blankets, because they’re also working on a strict schedule.”
Online retail sales are expected to surpass $6 trillion this year, according to the retail platform Shopify, with sales figures having climbed steadily over the last several years as consumers have had more access to shopping directly via social media platforms.
Nearly 107 million people shopped on social media websites last year, according to the market research firm eMarketer.
The hashtag “personal shopper” is on over 300,000 videos, with “personal shopper” and “virtual shoppers” showing peaks of interest this year on Google Trends.
When the streamers aren’t live, they post content to their pages advertising their hauls or rare items that haven’t been claimed yet.
Other personal shopper creators have expanded their content, like Jenny Billingham (@jenny_billingham), who has over 210,000 followers. She posts about styling tips, fashion trends and challenges.
TikToker @DoseofKandra, who has more than 250,000 followers for her posts about being a personal shopper, has moved some of her content over to long form videos on YouTube.
But Colon and Palguta say the services aren’t just for the wealthy or the lazy.
“Some of my services are for people who are disabled. They don’t like to leave the house. They may have social anxiety. They don’t like to stand for long periods of time. They may work two jobs and they’re not able to get to the store,” Colon said.
Palgula said: “People are realizing that there’s this whole TikTok live selling atmosphere that you’re able to jump into and just shop whenever you want. … You’re sitting at the desk working and you’re able to just click it on rather than going out, sitting in the traffic and then going yourself.”
One of Colon’s repeat customers is Gerard Bautista, who lives in California and works in mental health services.
Asked how many items he has purchased from Colon, he said:
“Definitely over the hundreds of just, like, anything from big items to, you know, small little notebooks or things like that.”
Bautista said his lifestyle doesn’t allow him to shop.
“I’m working, you know, 10 hours, 12 hours at times. So I really — there is no time today, and stores are closing. I can’t even feed myself sometimes, let alone shop,” he said.
Colon said helping others brings her fulfillment.
“This customer that I am packaging for, when she first started shopping with me, she had just had surgery and she was bed-bound, so she couldn’t move at all. She couldn’t get out of the house at all. And I didn’t know that until she told me,” she said.
“You don’t know what’s going on the other side of the screen. All you see is the conversation that you’re having back and forth in the chat.”
