The auction keeps running. Bids live on the server, not in your broadcast, so a dropped connection does not pause a timer or lose a bid.
That is the important thing and it is worth knowing before it happens, because the instinct — end everything and start again — is the wrong one.
What buyers see
Reconnecting…, or The host is reconnecting. The current item carries on with its clock, and people can keep bidding on it.
Most rooms wait. A seller who comes back in thirty seconds loses almost nobody; one who restarts the show loses the room, because a restart means a new show that nobody is in.
What to do, in order
1. Do not end the show. Whatever happens, do not tap End show to "start fresh". The room is still there and the item is still selling.
2. Wait ten seconds. Brief drops recover by themselves more often than not.
3. Switch network. Wifi to mobile data, or back. Whichever you were not on.
4. Rejoin the control room. Your show is still live; you are reconnecting to it.
5. Say what happened when you are back. "Sorry — lost signal for a minute, where were we" costs you nothing and the room is sympathetic. Everyone watching has had their own connection drop.
If an item closes while you are offline
It closes normally, to whoever was highest. That is a real sale with a real winner and a payment window running — nothing about it depends on you being connected.
So check your orders when you are back rather than assuming the item needs re-running.
If you cannot get back at all
Then end the show properly from wherever you can, and say so where your followers will see it. An abandoned show that just stops is worse than a short one that ended with an explanation.
Anything queued and not reached is unsold and goes in the next show. Nothing is lost. The show ended before the item I wanted
Reducing the odds
- Mobile data is often steadier than contested wifi, which is the opposite of what people assume. Test both with a rehearsal. Can I practise before going live for real?
- Stay in one place. Walking around a shop while broadcasting is the commonest cause of a mid-show drop.
- Charge the phone, on a stand, plugged in. Low battery throttles the radio.
- A second person on a second phone can keep the lineup moving while you sort out a connection. Can someone else talk during my show?
What a buyer should do at the other end
Stay. Their bid stands, the item is still running, and leaving costs them the item. If I leave the show, do I lose my bid?
More: how to go live, camera and light, the video is green, black or upside down.