General & Germany-specific shipping guidelines
By default, shipping is completely free for the seller. Whatnot will provide you with prepaid shipping labels to ship your items. The shipping label provided covers the aggregate weight & dimensions of the items in the package as well as the weight of the packaging.
You can find a general shipping FAQ here. It covers common questions sellers on Whatnot have about shipping. There are however a few nuances to how German shipping works. For shipping outside the EU, please jump to the end of this article.
Shipping in Germany
Shipping in Germany is based on both weight and package dimensions.
Whatnot’s algorithm bundles orders into the smallest possible package when a buyer purchases multiple items from the same livestream. Our algorithm will try to fit as many items as possible into a letter or a package. Once either the weight or dimension limit is exceeded as a result of bundling, we will automatically switch to the next package size. Buyers will then see in real time the incremental shipping fee to cover the difference between the cost of the two package formats.
Example of how bundling might work:
| Total Items Bundled in Shipment | Items Added | Bundled Item Weight (g) | Package dimensions (cm) | Chosen package | Additional Shipment Cost to Buyer | Total Shipment Cost to Buyer |
| 0 | Weight buffer | 8 g | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Single card | 18 g | 23.5 x 12.5 x 0.5 | Letter | €1.19 | €1.19 |
| 2 | Single card | 28 g | 23.5 x 12.5 x 0.5 | Letter | €0.18 | €1.37 |
| 3 | Pack of cards | 178 g | 23.5 x 12.5 x 2 | Letter | €0.88 | €2.25 |
To minimize shipping costs when bundling items in a livestream, we use shipping profiles through which you let us know the weight and size of your item.
How do shipping profiles work
When you list items, you are going to be asked to utilize “shipping profiles” which specify the weight and dimensions of the product at hand. Whatnot has pre-defined shipping profiles for you for ease. These profiles are a best-effort to accurately reflect both the dimensions & weight of commonly shipped items on Whatnot. We will continuously update (and add to) these profiles as appropriate. You can find a list of all existing standard shipping profiles for Germany here.
In case you sell items for which we do not have predefined Standard shipping profiles you can create your own. We call these “Custom shipping profiles”. See a detailed walkthrough here.
Shipping profiles for breaks
We are aware that buyers participating in formats such as breaks may be entitled to varying numbers of cards. Since sellers cannot know how many cards each buyer will receive prior to creating a break spot, we have created a set of break spot profiles that should cover the vast majority of scenarios. You can find our break spot profiles here.
How to know which letter/ parcel to use for an order
In order to determine what parcel/letter size to use for a bundled shipment, you should refer to the “dimensions” column on the shipment dashboard in Seller Hub.
This chosen parcel/letter is what the buyer has paid for and is what Whatnot expects the seller to use for the shipment. You can see below the different formats as well the cost of each for domestic shipments.
| Format | Max Weight | Dimensions | Price (incl. VAT) |
| Letter | 20 g | 23.5 x 12.5 x 0.5 cm | €1.19 |
| Letter | 50 g | 23.5 x 12.5 x 1 cm | €1.38 |
| Letter | 500 g | 35.3 x 25 x 2 cm | €2.25 |
| Parcel | 1 kg | 35.3 x 25 x 5 cm | €4.07 |
| Parcel | 1 kg | 120 x 60 x 60 cm | €5.82 |
| Parcel | 2 kg | 120 x 60 x 60 cm | €5.95 |
| Parcel | 5 kg | 120 x 60 x 60 cm | €6.32 |
| Parcel | 31 kg | 120 x 60 x 60 cm | €7.45 |
Sellers may sometimes need to adjust the weight or dimensions of a package. They can do so by following the instructions in this article.
International shipments
Intra-EU shipments are supported within the app. The formats used will be the same as in Germany. Costs will however vary depending on the destination country. Buyers can see actual shipping costs within the app before they place an order. Our international shipping costs can also be found here.
Shipments outside the EU re currently only supported through Bring Your Own Label (BYOL) Please follow the BYOL help article for more information on fulfilling international shipments.