How to Follow Your Favorite Vendors Before the Trade Fair

The worst way to experience the Bifixit National LIVE Trade Fair on 12 and 13 December 2026 is to stumble onto a seller's stream halfway through their slot, watch them sell out of the one item you wanted, and then never find their shop again. With vendors going live across Fashion, Beauty, Electronics, Food & Groceries, Home & Living and more, spread over two days of scheduled slots, the shoppers who walk away with the best finds are the ones who already know who they're watching before the fair starts.

Start with the categories you actually buy from

Don't try to follow everyone. Pick two or three categories that match how you actually shop — say, Beauty and Home & Living — and work through the vendor list for those first. A trade fair with this many sellers rewards focus more than breadth; you'll remember five shops you're excited about far better than fifty you glanced at once.

Save the shop link, not just the name

Every vendor on Bifixit has a shareable shop link — a real storefront with a priced catalog, not a DM address or a WhatsApp number you'll lose in a chat backlog. When you find a seller you like, save that link somewhere you'll actually check: a notes app, a bookmarks folder, a message to yourself. A name is easy to forget between now and December; a link takes you straight back to their shop, and straight back to their live slot when the fair opens.

Check their shop before the fair, not during it

Because the shop and slot replay stay live and sellable even after the event ends, you can browse a vendor's existing catalog right now and get a feel for their pricing, their range and whether they photograph products honestly. If you like what you see in October, you'll already trust what you see live in December. Waiting until the stream is running to evaluate a seller for the first time means you're deciding under pressure, with a countdown and other buyers checking out ahead of you.

Watch for the go-live cross-posts

Every vendor's go-live moment automatically posts to Instagram, TikTok and Facebook the second they start streaming — it's built into how Bifixit runs the fair, not something the vendor has to remember to do. That means if you already follow a shop's social pages, you don't need a separate app or a special reminder system. Follow the vendor's Instagram or TikTok now, keep notifications on for that account, and the fair itself will tell you the moment they go live.

Build a short list, not a long one

A list of 40 vendors you \"might check out\" is a list you won't open on the day. A list of 6 to 10 vendors, sorted by the day and rough time you expect their category to be busiest, is one you'll actually use. Fashion and Beauty tend to draw heavier live traffic; Electronics and Home & Living buyers often shop a little more deliberately. Plan around that instead of trying to catch everything.

Remember slots and replays are not the same rush

If you can't make a vendor's scheduled slot live, you haven't necessarily missed your chance. Because replays and shops stay sellable after the fair, you can still check out from a vendor's stream after the fact — you just lose the live back-and-forth and the in-the-moment stock urgency. Following vendors ahead of time means you know who to check on the replay list, instead of scrolling through every shop that streamed that weekend.

Two days, two different shopping moods

Saturday and Sunday will likely have a different feel — treat the first day as scouting if you're not sure who to trust yet, and the second as your actual shopping day once you've seen a few vendors go live. Following ahead of time is what makes that split possible instead of overwhelming.

Getting ready for a live trade fair is really just getting ready to not miss things. Do the following now, and 12 December becomes a day of buying, not a day of searching.

Save your list this week — you'll thank yourself in December.