At Whatnot we’re always working to keep the platform a fun and trustworthy place to buy, sell, and participate in social communities. In our view, you can’t have fun without trust – whether that’s trust you’ll receive the product you buy, trust you’ll receive payment for the product you sell, or trust to engage with other users safely. 

We’ve developed these policies to protect and foster this trust, based on feedback from our community, reports received, and the specific considerations of Whatnot as a livestream shopping platform. As Whatnot evolves, these policies will change and adapt too.  

When a user violates these policies, we take proportional action based on that user’s previous violations, and the severity of the violation. In some cases this means removing access to Whatnot features, while in others it means more severe account penalties. In most circumstances, we warn users and send educational messaging before penalizing your account. For more on how we enforce users, check out What Actions We Take.

Seller policies

If you’re a seller on Whatnot, our primary goal for you is to help you grow your business - whether it’s your full-time passion, a burgeoning side hustle, or an occasional hobby. We have seller policies to maintain a high quality user experience on Whatnot, and to protect you, your buyers, and Whatnot. These policies cover what you can sell, how you can sell, live selling requirements, and what happens after the sale. 

What can you sell on Whatnot? 

Prohibited and restricted items

While we encourage Whatnot sellers to offer a diversity of items on the platform, there are some items that Whatnot cannot support at this time, or that have to follow certain requirements to be sold on Whatnot. Check out our Prohibited & Restricted Items Policy to understand what you can and can’t sell on Whatnot.

Counterfeit items and intellectual property 

Respecting the intellectual property of others is important to maintain a fair and creative environment. You may not sell any form of counterfeit item on Whatnot, nor may you use another’s IP, such as images or video, without authorization. For more on how we approach counterfeit items and intellectual property issues on Whatnot, please see our Counterfeit Policy and our Intellectual Property Policy. 

Comply with laws and regulations 

Each seller is responsible for complying with all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations, both in their and their buyers’ jurisdictions (including tax, consumer protection, data privacy, and intellectual property laws). Whatnot is unable to provide sellers with legal advice -- we encourage sellers to speak to their own legal advisor(s) if they have questions about how laws and regulations may apply to their business. 

How do you sell on Whatnot? 

Accurately represent the condition of your items

In order for buyers to make an informed purchase, you must honestly describe the condition of your items. This includes disclosing any flaws and showing the item on all sides. In addition to corrective action, sellers may be billed back for items that are misrepresented.

Gambling, purchase-based prizes

We strictly prohibit gambling activities and purchase-based prizes.Check out our Gambling, purchase-based prizes policy to learn more. 

Breaks and mystery games 

In order to maintain a trustworthy buying experience, we have requirements for the sale and auction of card breaks and mystery boxes. To understand Whatnot’s rules and requirements for these selling formats, check out our Breaks and Mystery policy. 

Sell from a supported country

To ensure Whatnot follows local laws, we only let users operate out of specific countries. Sellers must operate out of the country they registered with in their seller application. For a list of supported countries, check out our list of supported countries.

Off-platform grading

We cannot track the delivery of items sent to third party grading services; therefore we do not allow sellers to offer grading services on Whatnot. We allow some exceptions for pre-approved livestreams hosted at live comic book events.

Listing requirements

When listing items on Whatnot, please review and follow Whatnot’s Listing Guidelines. 

Gated categories

Selling in certain categories requires some additional know-how to ensure everyone has a good time—sellers and buyers alike. That's why we have specific access requirements for selling in the following categories:

• Luxury Bags & Accessories
• Mystery Games in Sneakers & Streetwear and Luxury Bags & Accessories

Sellers interested in selling in the above categories should review Gating at Whatnot to understand the category-specific requirements. Selling in a gated category without authorization will lead to corrective action. 

Category best practices 

Each Whatnot category has its own unique community, common practices, and requirements. For some of our most popular or specialized categories, we have the following tailored expectations for sellers:  

• Luxury Goods Best Practices
• Coins and Money Best Practices
• Plants Best Practices
• Electronics Best Practices
• Card Breaks Policy Compliant Set-ups

Active show 

To keep Whatnot shows engaging and entertaining, we do not allow inactive shows on Whatnot. When hosting a show, we require you to be actively engaged during the entirety of the show, whether displaying and selling products, answering questions in the chat, or in conversation with your co-host or users in chat. Inactive shows include the following, even if buy-it-now items or a giveaway is pinned to the stream: 

• Shows displaying a blank, still, or frozen screen for an extended period of time 
• Shows without any individual present on screen for extended periods of time

Reckless and dangerous behavior

To ensure sellers remain in control of their show, and to keep Whatnot users and others safe, we do not permit reckless and dangerous activity on shows, and we will end shows if individuals become unable to manage their show. This includes activities that could seriously injure a user, put a user's life in danger, inspire others to participate in harmful physical behavior, or otherwise lose control of their show. This includes:

• Life-endangering pranks or stunts, including the dangerous use of props or weapons
• Incapacitation from alcohol or drug use
• Operating a vehicle while streaming 
• A user losing control of their show

While we want our users to have fun and express themselves, this behavior can put both the show host, and others at risk of harm.

Sensitive content toggle  

All sellers must toggle on the “sensitive content” toggle if their show contains repeated profanity, displays items with permitted nudity (e.g., comics), or if their show is otherwise sensitive for certain audiences. See also our Adult and Explicit Items Policy for more on what content or items are permitted on Whatnot. 

Smoking or vaping around inventory 

To ensure the quality of items sold on Whatnot, you (and your co-hosts) may not use smoke products, including cigarettes and vaporizers, while in a live show  around inventory. This includes auction items, sold items, and giveaways.

What happens after the sale? 

Shipping requirements 

To maintain a positive buyer experience, we require that sellers ship items within two business days of the sale. Please carefully package your items to ensure they arrive safely and on time. There are a few instances where you may have extenuating circumstances, or an item you are selling may exceed our shipping drop-off guidelines due to the nature of the item, such as customized goods (e.g., art pieces). In these cases, please email trustandsafety@whatnot.com, detailing why the shipment of these items may be delayed. When listing the item, indicate that the item is customized in the product description.

Given the special nature of shipping plants, they are subject to different shipping timelines. Please see the Plant Shipping Guidelines for more information on shipping plants. 

Fulfillment, cancellations, refunds, and seller rating requirements

We want all buyers to trust that sellers will ship items sold on the platform and provide a positive buyer experience. It follows we issue warnings, and eventually account for penalties for sellers who do not fulfill orders, cancel a high rate of orders, high rate of refunds, or have an exceptionally low seller rating. 

Similarly, buyers must honor their purchases, and buyers with high rates of cancellations or refunds will receive penalties against their account and may be denied refunds in the future.

Whatnot’s High Value Loss Reimbursement Policy  

In order to maintain a trustworthy marketplace where people feel secure and protected in their purchases, Whatnot will reimburse buyers at the market price of a high-value hit card if it is missing, and bill back the seller. For more information, check out Whatnot’s High Value Loss Reimbursement Policy. 

All bids binding 

All bids on Whatnot are binding. While buyers can request order cancellations in the app, sellers are entitled to decline such requests. Similarly, sellers are not permitted to cancel orders due to purchase price. If there's a problem with an order, please contact our support team. Buyers submitting payment disputes for reasons other than credit card theft may be subject to corrective action.

All community policies

Every user on the platform plays a part in making the Whatnot community what it is. Whether buying, selling, or viewing – all users deserve a safe and enjoyable experience, without being subject to conduct or content that is unsafe or disruptive. We have these community policies to foster a positive and safe online experience for all our users. 

Hate and harassment: 

Hateful conduct and harassment erode trust, disrupt communities, and discourage participation. To ensure a safe and respectful environment for everyone, we strictly prohibit hateful behavior and harassment, including sexual harassment. Learn more about what we consider hate and harassment.

Self-harm 

To foster the safety of the entire Whatnot community, we don’t allow content that glorifies, promotes, or encourages self-harm. Self harm includes suicide, self-injury, and promoting eating disorders or other self-destructive activity. While we want our users to be comfortable expressing themselves, content glorifying, promoting, or encouraging self-harm puts both you and others at risk of harm. 

Explicit content: 

We want our users to express themselves, while still ensuring others aren’t shocked or negatively impacted, especially considering the diversity of ages and cultural backgrounds on Whatnot. Please see our Explicit Content Policy which sets out Whatnot’s restrictions on both Sexual content and nudity and Graphic or obscene content.

Sharing unauthorized personal information 

Sharing someone’s private details without their consent, such as their email, phone number, or home address, can be upsetting or even dangerous. That's why we don't allow sharing another user's personal info without their approval. For example, we don’t allow the following:

• Sharing a buyer’s address without their permission while hosting a show
• Sharing a buyer’s email address in chat without their permission

Illegal, harmful, and violent activity

Illegal, harmful, and violent content and activities are not allowed on Whatnot, and as needed, we report violating activities to law enforcement organizations. We do not allow the following:

• Adult sexual violence and exploitation
• Child sexual exploitation, abuse, or grooming 
• Violence or credible threats of violence 
• Promotion of terrorist organizations 

Fraudulent activity and scams 

To protect our community, we do not allow users who engage in deceptive account practices. This includes the following: 

• Fraudulent activity and scams, including filing fraudulent payment disputes
• Using stolen payment information 
• Phishing behavior 
• Bot activity; including bot bidding, or bot spam
• Impersonating others or deliberately misrepresenting your identity

Off-platform activity 

If we are provided with verifiable evidence of off-platform coordination of abuse to occur on Whatnot, we may take action. 

Additionally, in rare instances, we may take action against individuals because of behavior off of Whatnot if the behavior poses a significant threat to the health of the Whatnot community or individuals. When evaluating these cases, we take into account the severity and timeframe of this behavior, and the likelihood of that behavior occurring on Whatnot. 

Enforcement evasion

To maintain the integrity of our platform, we do not allow users who have been banned or suspended to use Whatnot with a different account, or otherwise circumvent our enforcement actions. If you think we made a mistake, please email us at trustandsafety@whatnot.com to appeal.

There are times when we may allow individuals to have their account reinstated. In evaluating cases, we look at many different factors, including severity of the user's past actions and how much time has passed since the violation.

Misinformation

Misinformation can negatively impact online communities. If content is found to be detrimental to our community on Whatnot, we reserve the right to remove it. This may include widely debunked content, such as misinformation promoting violent conspiracies, health-related misinformation, and hate-driven misinformation.

Account sales

Accounts should only be used by the account owner. We prohibit selling or transferring your account to another user, including selling or buying Whatnot features such as raids and follows, or advertising the sale of Whatnot features.

Fee avoidance

In order to honor the protections we offer on Whatnot, transactions must be conducted through Whatnot. Any method of circumventing Whatnot’s platform fees is strictly prohibited. Sellers must exclusively process payments for items sold on Whatnot through the Whatnot platform, and under no circumstances accept or solicit off-platform transactions. Users may not redirect to purchases on another platform and may not use Whatnot to promote live shows on other platforms

Teens and people under 13

You must be 13 years of age or older to use Whatnot. For those aged 13-17, we require that you operate under an account owned by a parent or legal guardian aged 18 years or older, with permission and supervision. Learn more about Whatnot’s requirements for teens.

Unsolicited messages 

Sending repeated messages to other users can come across as spam and degrades the overall experience on Whatnot. Because of this, we don't allow users to repeatedly send the same unsolicited message to others. This includes, but isn't limited to:

• Sharing a link to your upcoming show with all of your Whatnot connections through direct message 
• Repeatedly sending promotional material to the same user

Usernames and profile content

Your username and all profile content must comply with Whatnot’s policies. We won’t allow usernames or profile content containing content that is explicit, harassing, violent, hateful, impersonating, or that otherwise promotes illegal activity or violates our policies. 

Account responsibility 

All actions and activities that occur on your account are your responsibility and will reflect on your account record. This includes conduct by guests, content featured or rebroadcast, and employees' streaming and fulfillment. In addition to taking action on the hosting account, we may take additional action on the accounts of guests, employees, and others involved in violating behavior.

Feature abuse policies

In addition to the policies set out above that apply across the platform, Whatnot also has specific policies applicable to the use of Whatnot features.  

Troll bidding 

To ensure sellers can trust all bids are authentic, Whatnot prohibits troll bids. Troll bids are excessively high or otherwise fake bids placed by buyers to disrupt the seller’s process. Violations of our troll bidding policy include a buyer placing an unrealistically high bid to deter other potential buyers, or a fake bid with no intention of purchasing.

Shill bidding 

To ensure buyers can trust all bids are authentic, Whatnot prohibits shill bids. Shill bids are bids placed by the seller, or a user related to a seller in order to artificially inflate the item price, whether from the same or separate accounts. Users related to a seller include a seller’s employees and members of the seller’s family or household. Shill bidding may also violate laws in your jurisdiction. Whatnot monitors all bids and transactions and takes action on accounts suspected of shill bidding.

Giveaway abuse

When running giveaways on Whatnot, Sellers must use Whatnot’s Giveaway Feature, and follow all policies as set out in the Giveaways Overview. We strictly prohibit any form of automated or programmatic giveaway entry. All entries made by these methods will be voided, and your account access may be limited if found utilizing these methods.

Tipping abuse

When using the tipping feature, users must follow all rules set out in the Tips Terms and Conditions, including not using tips to circumvent otherwise applicable fees on Whatnot (which we need to run the app), or tips for content or services that are sexually explicit, or that otherwise violate the Whatnot’s policies. 

Referral abuse

When participating in the referral program, users must not create multiple accounts to receive additional referral credits. If you are found in violation of this rule, you may be subject to a permanent ban from Whatnot. For more information, see Whatnot’s Seller Referral Program. 

Abusing Whatnot products and features 

In order to protect the integrity of our platform, we prohibit any abuse or manipulation of products or features of Whatnot. This includes abuse of our support processes, shipping pricing, paying for reviews, excessively rescheduling shows, deceptive manipulation of discovery or ranking (such as intentionally mistagging content, or excessively rescheduling shows), as well as abuse of specific features.