AI Staging
A phone photo goes in; a gallery-ready lot comes out. Backgrounds lifted, frames squared, every piece set on the same signature stage.
Photo → listing
Commerce that runs deep.
Whaleworx builds shops that see, listen, appraise and sell. Phone photos become staged listings, a spoken story becomes a polished description, and AI sets the value before the auction opens. Built in Chicago on WooCommerce and Square.
● Live from the hold
Lot 164
Blue Grid with a Spiral Moon
Lot 132
Aristide Bruant, Gilt Frame and Linen Mat
Lot 176
Printer’s Block, Metal Plate on Wood
Lot 163
Grey Rings over Coral
Lot 165
Two Portholes on Navy
Lot 151
Carved Comb in a Grasscloth Shadowbox
Lot 160
Urge Overkill Deep Sea Adventures Poster, 2011
Lot 148
White Irises in an Ornate Gold Frame
Lot 158
Pastel Paisley in a Carved Frame
Lot 184
Grand Duke Wood Cooking Stove Trade Card, J. S. & M. Peckham
Lot 186
The Duck Inn “Meatloaf Madness” Menu
Lot 156
Blue Rings on Red
Lot 167
Still Life with Brass Ewer, Gilt Frame
Lot 152
Empty Wood Frame with Linen Liner
Lot 133
The Chap-Book, Framed Poster
Lot 190
Buddha Head Planter
Lot 170
Lidded Clay Pot with a Yellow Glyph Lid
Lot 161
Two Green Eyes Over a Torn Old Master
01 · The EngineSix instruments,
Six instruments,
one vessel.
Every Whaleworx shop runs on the same intelligent core. It does the tedious parts of selling one-of-a-kind things, so the people can do the fun parts: finding them, and telling their stories.
The Deckhand
An AI appraiser that reads the photos, the size, the signature and the owner's story, then posts a likely resale range on every lot.
Auto-appraisalCaptain's Log
Ring the bell and talk. Keep your exact words or let the crew tidy them; the particulars fill in and the piece is re-valued.
Voice → copyLive Auctions
Hidden max bids, soft close, secret reserves, pay links and sound. Auction-house mechanics on your own domain, with your own customers.
Proxy biddingConsignment
Sellers upload from their phone. The engine stages it, drafts it, prices it and lists it; everyone gets their split when it sells.
Seller portalAsk the Deckhand
An on-site assistant that knows every lot, every rule and every pickup time, in the shop's own voice, around the clock.
AI concierge02 · How a lot surfacesFrom the basement
From the basement
to the block.
Four soundings take a piece from a phone in a storage unit to a live auction anyone can bid on. Most of it happens while you are hauling the next one.
10 ft · Snap
Shoot it
A few phone photos, any background, any light.
2−40 ft · Stage
Stage it
Cut out, squared up and set on the house stage.
3−200 ft · Sound
Value it
Particulars filled, story logged, range appraised.
4Surface · Sell
Auction it
On the block with a seven-day clock and a soft close.
03 · The AI crewOne crew,
One crew,
tuned to every shop.
The appraiser, the writer and the concierge run on the same engine in every vessel. Each shop sets its own dials: the voice they write in, the market they price against, whether buyers see the estimates, and how the auctions run. All of it lives in the shop's settings. No code.
House voiceHow the crew writes listings, replies and notes
Moby-Dick × Chicago loading dockCrew nameWhat the appraiser and assistant go by
The DeckhandMarket guidancePlain-English notes the appraiser prices against
“Sold as-is from a Chicago resale dock. Lean toward realistic resale, not gallery retail.”Show estimates to buyersThe “What's it worth?” panel on each product
Appraise on first viewOne AI call per piece, then cached
Per-lot overrideHand-set or hide any estimate, any time
Every lotSelling modeAuctions, fixed price, or both
Auction · $10 open · 7-day clockConciergeOn-site assistant that knows every lot and rule
Ask the Deckhand
Real lot · live now
What the Deckhand read
Lot 051 · Two Discs in a Gilt Frame
Photos36 × 48 inArtist: Charlie BurnsAcrylic, carved gilt frameOwner's storyShop's market notes
$400–$800likely resale · confidence: medium
“Its size at 36 x 48 inches gives it a solid presence, and the dynamic abstract composition is eye-catching.”
04 · Captain's LogSay it once.
Say it once.
Sell it honestly.
Walk the floor product by product, ring the bell and describe each piece the way you'd tell a friend. Keep every word exactly as you said it, or let the crew tidy the ums. Either way, buyers hear it from the person who found it.
- 1
Ring the bell
Right on the product, on your phone or laptop. Next lot is one tap away.
- 2
It writes down what you said
Fast transcription, primed with the shop's name and city so local names come out right.
- 3
Your words, or a light polish
Keep my exact words uses no AI at all. Polish trims filler and fixes grammar, and is told never to add a fact you didn't say.
- 4
Particulars and value update
Maker, size and materials fill in from what you said, and the appraiser takes a fresh sounding.
- 5
A signed note on the listing
“From the Captain's Log” sits on the product page, in your voice, next to the photos.
Why it mattersBuyers of one-of-a-kind things are buying the story as much as the object. A real person's own words, unpolished if you like, is the strongest trust signal a small shop has.
Captain's LogLOT 214 · 12 OF 129
Ring the bell and talkTap to hear how it works
Your words
From the Captain's LogVerbatim
— In the seller's own words
Materials · BrassEra · 1960s (seller's guess)Re-valued · $60–120
05 · ThemesYour thrift store.
Your thrift store.
Your character.
Weird Whaleworx is one personality: Moby-Dick by way of a Chicago loading dock. Every shop on the engine gets its own look, its own type, its own name for the crew and its own way of talking to buyers. Here is the same lamp, with the same facts, in five example shops.
WEIRD WHALEWORXThe HoldAuctionsSell
Lot 214
Brass Gooseneck Lamp
A 1960s brass gooseneck, freshly rewired, bending wherever you point her. A little patina on the hull, plenty of light left in the lantern.
Deckhand's soundings$60–120
Place a bid
Thrift & resaleVintage & mid-centuryEstate salesAntiquesArt & studio salesRecords & mediaToys & collectiblesBooks & ephemeraSalvage & industrialYour weird thing →
06 · The FleetShops under
Shops under
the whale.
Whaleworx is the umbrella. Each vessel is its own shop with its own voice and its own catalogue, running on the shared engine.
Live · Auctions open
Weird Whaleworx
Weird things for good folks.
Art, oddities, toy armies and curiosities hauled up from Chicago estate sales, alleys and attics, every one a live auction from a South Loop loading dock. 139 lots in the hold right now.
Dive into the hold+
Next vessel
Your shop, your character.
A thrift store, an estate, a studio, a record bin? We launch new shops on the Whaleworx engine, each with its own theme and voice.
Talk to XBLU139one-of-a-kind lots live in the first vessel
100%of lots AI-staged and AI-appraised
1brass bell to dictate a whole listing
7 dayauction clock with a five-minute soft close
07 · Powered by
The builders · Chicago
Built on solid decks.
One Chicago crew, two proven platforms. Here's who keeps the ship afloat.
The builders · Chicago
Developers. Chicago dudes.
XBLU is the dev shop that designed, coded and launched Whaleworx: the brand, the store, the auctions and the AI crew. We're right here in Chicago, and we keep her running.
Square PaymentsSuper secure. Plays nice with everything.
Card details are tokenized and never touch the store's servers. Square connects with CRMs, point of sale, accounting, shipping and hundreds of other business apps, so checkout fits whatever system you already run.
WooCommerce Store engineThe fast way to sell online.
One of the best shopping carts going for businesses that want to get on the market quickly. Open source on WordPress, endlessly extendable, and the catalogue, orders and customers stay yours.
Weird things.
Smart ships.
Bid on something strange today, or bring us the collection that deserves a shop of its own.