How buying works
What happens between finding something and taking it home.
Finding something
The map shows sales you can go to in person. The feed lists everything for sale near you, newest first, including single items that have no sale day and therefore no pin.
Search looks at titles and descriptions across every sale that is currently open or about to be.
Putting it in your basket
Adding something to your basket holds it for 30 minutes. Nobody else can buy it in that time. If you do not finish, the hold lapses on its own and the thing goes back on sale. Nothing is charged for a hold.
Each thing is one of a kind unless the seller said otherwise, so a hold is the only thing standing between you and somebody else buying the chair you are thinking about.
Paying
You pay WhimSale when you buy, and pick the thing up from the seller. The seller is paid once you have picked it up.
Things marked pick up in person are not paid for here. You arrange those with the seller and pay them directly.