Surprise Products Policy

At Whatnot, we craft our policies to ensure our community feels confident in their purchases. In order to maintain a trustworthy buying experience, we’ve created guidelines for sellers to demonstrate that they are acting fairly and transparently when selling Surprise Products (formerly referred to as Mystery Games). Failure to follow these rules, or engaging in any fraudulent or deceptive behavior, will result in account penalties, including permanent bans.

• Surprise Products are a type of sale where an individual does not know exactly what they will receive until after the purchase.
• A Surprise Product can include one or more individual items/products, all of which will be received by the purchaser.
• Surprise Products can be sold either individually as a Single Surprise Product (for example, when a single blind box, bundle, or pallet of unknown items is sold to one person) or as a Set of Surprise Products (where multiple Surprise Products within the set are distributed at random to multiple purchasers).
• This policy does not apply to the sale of: 
  • Card Breaks, which are subject to their own policy
  • Personal shopping, or “Build-Your-Own-Box” offers, where items are assembled after purchase

Single Surprise Products

When Surprise Products are sold individually, the following rules apply:

• Single Surprise Products cannot be presented to buyers with the possibility of a prize. For example, sellers cannot claim that a surprise product sold in a show may contain a very rare item.
• Sellers must include an accurate description of the contents of the Single Surprise Product with enough detail that individuals know what to expect from their purchase. For example, the brand, item type, condition and quantity. 

When selling pallets, casepacks or bundles, please also check out our Wholesale Policy. 

Set of Surprise Products (Surprise Sets)

When Surprise Products are sold from a set, the following rules apply: 

• Randomization and visibility: 
  • Distribution of Surprise Products cannot be randomized through a physical machine. In other words, distributing items based on results from items like a vending, gumball, pinball machine, or a raffle drum is not permitted.  
  • All Surprise Products sold must be opened and shown during the show.
  • All Surprise Products must be kept on screen during the show.
  • You can only sell as many Listings for Surprise Products as there are in the Surprise Set. 

• Full detailed list required: In the listing description sellers must provide a full detailed checklist of all the items in each Surprise Product within each Set. This policy applies regardless of the number of items in a Set or Pull Game. This policy also applies to each Surprise Set, rather than a broader list across a whole show or multiple sets. The description of each item in the checklist must include the following details:
  • Brand/Manufacturer (where relevant)
  • Title/Product Name
  • Condition
  • Quantity, if more than one of the items is available

If you include any additional details (for example, whether an item is graded) you must include that detail for all your item descriptions for consistency.

• In a Surprise Set, an example compliant listing could look like:
  • One Pink Brand Necklace, NWT. One Blue Brand Necklace, Condition: Fair 
  • Two Pink Brand Necklaces, Condition: Fair
  • Two Blue Brand Necklaces, Condition: Good
• No prize: Sellers cannot include a prize in their Surprise Set. Sellers also cannot provide or describe the floor, ceiling, or average of the items in their Set. 
• Same product only: Sellers must include only items of the same type in a Surprise Set. For example:
  • Sports Cards: A Set cannot contain a single Sports Card as one product, and an autographed photo as another.
  • Coins & Money: A Set cannot contain a coin and paper money. 
  • Beauty: A Set cannot contain lipstick as one product, and blush as another.
  • Electronics: A Set cannot contain headphones as one product, and a cell phone as another.
  • Jewelry: A Set cannot contain a bracelet as one product, and a ring as another.
  • Drinks & Snacks: A Set cannot contain coffee as one product, and potato chips as another.
  • Fashion: A Set cannot contain leggings as one product, and a tank top as another.
  • Plants: A Set cannot contain a plant as one product, and a plant pot as another.
  • Toys: A Set cannot contain a plush as one product, and a doll as another. 
  • Trading Cards: A Set cannot contain Digimon cards as one product, and Naruto cards as another. 
• Minimum value requirements: In only the following categories, the value of each item in a Surprise Set must be above a certain threshold.
  • Bags & Accessories: $150 for Bags, and $50 for Accessories.
  • Sneakers & Streetwear: $50 for Sneakers & Streetwear.
  • Sports Memorabilia: $35 for Sports Memorabilia.
• Gated Categories requirements: Selling Surprise Product in Bags & Accessories, and Sneakers & Streetwear requires approval. Click here to learn how to sell Surprise Products in Bags & Accessories or Sneakers & Streetwear. 

UK Only Surprise Set Rules  

These changes are being rolled out in the UK first, with other markets shortly. There are times that we roll out policies in phases to test and monitor performance.     

• Surprise Sets in-app randomizer required: Sellers must use the Surprise Set Feature to list and distribute Surprise Product Sets. All other forms of randomization are prohibited. The use of physical randomizers, third party randomizers, and concealed containers like bags, boxes, or drawers are not permitted when selling Surprise Sets.
• Full detailed list required: When using the Surprise Set Feature, descriptions must include a full detailed checklist of all the items in each Surprise Product within each set. This detailed checklist must be directly inputted into the feature; proxies such as “tickets 1” or “item #1” are not permitted, even if disclosed elsewhere. This policy applies regardless of the number of items in a set. This policy also applies to each Surprise Set, rather than a broader list across a whole show or multiple sets. The description of each item in the checklist must include the following details:
  • Brand/Manufacturer (or unbranded, if relevant), 
  • Title/Product Name
  • Condition
  • Quantity, if more than one of the items are included in a single surprise product

If you include any additional details (for example, whether an item is graded) you must include that detail for all your item descriptions for consistency.

• Here's an example of how a Sports Cards Surprise Set Feature might look:

Listing Expectations for Coins in Surprise Sets

When listing coin conditions in surprise sets, all graded coins must have their grade listed within the surprise set. If a coin is ungraded or raw, the seller must provide an assessment of the coin’s condition within these three groups:

• Poor - Fair (includes Poor, Fair)
• Good - Extremely Fine (includes Good, Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine)
• Uncirculated - Mint (includes About/Almost Uncirculated, Uncirculated, Mint State)

See below as an example of a compliant Surprise Set list. Notice that each item is the same type and there are clear explanations of the conditions of each coin even if they are not graded.