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.  

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 visible and 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 checklist of all the items in each Surprise Product within each Set. This 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 prices 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 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. 

Note: We are unable to pre-approve specific planned shows or the items that a seller may wish to include.  If you are unsure whether your planned show or included items complies with this policy, we encourage you to err on the side of caution.