Questions are the whole advantage of selling live. A buyer who asks is a buyer close to bidding — and a question answered in the open is answered to everyone watching.
Answer out loud, by name
Read the question aloud and answer it. Two reasons: the room hears it, and the person feels seen. A chat answered by name is most of what turns a viewer into a follower.
If the room is fast, people can mention you to get your attention, which is how a question surfaces out of a scroll. How the chat in a show works
The awkward question is the useful one
"What is the worst thing about it?" Answer it straight. The flaw you name costs you nothing; the flaw a buyer finds costs you a return, the postage both ways and a mark on your record.
A seller who answers that well sells more, not less — because everybody watching now believes the rest of what you say.
Answer with movement, not words
Most questions are really requests to see something. Turn it over, tilt it to the light, hold it against your hand for scale, read the label out. Two seconds each and worth more than a paragraph.
You can attach a photograph to an answer, so what one person asked for ends up visible to the room. How to ask a seller about an item, live
What to do with "what is it worth?"
Say what you know and no more. "I paid X" or "similar ones have gone for around Y" is honest. A confident valuation you cannot support is how an item sells high and comes back.
When you do not know
Say so. "I do not know — it is unmarked, and I would not want to guess" is a better answer than a guess, and buyers trust it.
What you must not do is guess confidently. A spoken claim in a show is part of the description, and a dispute is decided on the description. What if the seller lied about the item?
Questions you should not answer
Price haggling mid-auction. The price is the room's. On a fixed-price item there is a proper offers mechanism instead. Can I negotiate with a seller?
Anything that moves the sale off Metzee. Say no publicly — it is against the rules and the room should see you refuse.
Personal questions. Decline pleasantly and move on.
Keeping the show moving
Batch them. Answer a few between items rather than stopping mid-auction with a clock running.
Flag the ones you will come back to. "Good question — I will show you properly when we get to it."
Have a second person on the chat if you can. A co-host reading questions while you sell is the single biggest quality jump a busy show can make. Can someone else talk during my show?
More: how to go live, keeping your chat civil, what to say on camera.