Co-Hosting Live Streams
How to invite co-hosts, set permissions, and collaborate with brands, creators, and other sellers during live streams.
What Is Co-Hosting?
Co-hosting allows you to invite other sellers, brands, or content creators to join your live stream as collaborators. Co-hosts appear in the Co-Host Bar at the top of the stream with their name, role badge, and profile photo. This is a powerful way to cross-promote — a brand representative can demonstrate products while you handle sales, or a popular creator can bring their audience to your stream while you provide the inventory. Co-hosting creates a more dynamic, entertaining stream and can significantly increase your viewership and sales.
Inviting Co-Hosts
When creating or editing your stream, use the Co-Host section to search for and invite other WeaponDepot users. You can search by username, store name, or browse from your contacts. Each co-host invitation includes permission settings that you control: 'Can Sell' allows them to activate and manage their own products in the queue, 'Can Chat' lets them send messages in the stream chat with a co-host badge, and 'Can Moderate' gives them the ability to manage chat messages and enforce stream rules. Set permissions based on the co-host's role — a brand partner might get 'Can Sell' and 'Can Chat,' while a community moderator might only need 'Can Moderate.'
Running a Co-Hosted Stream
During a co-hosted stream, all co-hosts appear in the Co-Host Bar so viewers can see who is participating. If a co-host has 'Can Sell' permissions, they can add their own products to the stream's product queue and activate them for auction or fixed-price sale. Revenue from their items goes to their account (minus the platform fee), while revenue from your items goes to yours. Coordinate with your co-hosts before the stream to plan the product lineup, decide on presentation order, and assign roles. Successful co-hosted streams feel like a curated shopping event with multiple expert voices, not a disorganized marketplace.
Split-Screen & Picture-in-Picture
When a co-host has their own video feed, viewers can switch between three layout modes using the toggle buttons in the bottom-right corner of the video player. 'Single View' shows the main host's feed full-screen (default). 'Split Screen' divides the video area side by side — the host on the left and up to three co-host feeds on the right — perfect for product demonstrations where a brand rep shows their product while the seller provides commentary. 'Picture-in-Picture' keeps the host's feed full-screen with a co-host's feed in a smaller floating window in the corner; if multiple co-hosts have video feeds, viewers can cycle through them in PiP mode using the 'Next' button. To enable split-screen, enter the co-host's HTTPS video/stream URL when adding the co-host during stream creation.
Co-Hosting with Brands & Creators
Co-hosting is especially powerful for sponsored events. A brand can send a representative to your stream as a 'Brand Rep' co-host — they appear with a branded badge and can demonstrate products while you handle the sales process. Creators can co-host with sellers or FFLs to bring their audience and provide entertainment while the seller manages inventory and shipping. Use the Creator Portal to establish partnerships first, then invite your partner as a co-host when creating the stream. Split-screen view is ideal for sponsored events because it gives both the creator/brand and the seller equal visual presence, creating a professional broadcast experience.