Shipping Policy for Sellers

To maintain a high-quality marketplace and ensure buyer satisfaction, sellers are required to ship orders within two business days (excluding weekends and holidays).

This guide outlines our shipping expectations for sellers along with best practices and what happens when these expectations aren’t met. 

Shipping expectations

Sellers are required to ship every order within two business days of sale:

• What counts as "shipped"? An order is considered "shipped" once it has received a dropoff scan.  Dropoff scans may include a carrier acceptance or kiosk scan, a carrier manifest scan (e.g., USPS SCAN form), or a scan using the Whatnot in-app scanner or Whatnot Manifest.
• Business days: This window excludes weekends and public holidays. For example, if an item sells on Friday, it should be dropped off and scanned by the end of day on Tuesday.

How to confirm shipment

Sellers have multiple options for confirming an order has been shipped:

• Whatnot in-app scanner (*recommended*): A simple, reliable option to confirm your own package drop-offs using the Whatnot app right before carrier hand-off. See here for more info on how to use the scanner and best practices.
• Whatnot Manifest: Available to a small set of very high-volume sellers and allows you to bulk confirm dropoff for multiple shipments with a single scan using the Whatnot app. See here for more info on the Whatnot Manifest.
• Carrier acceptance and kiosk scans:  Package scans from a carrier, postal employee, or self-serve kiosk.  
• Carrier manifest scans: Bulk scans using a carrier manifest, such as a USPS SCAN form.

Why confirming shipment matters

Confirming shipment helps you and your buyers in a few ways:

• Ensure your ship time is accurately counted:  Your average ship time and on-time scan rate (part of your Account Health seller performance rating) are determined based on the time at which shipment was confirmed.  Making sure your shipments receive shipment confirmation helps to keep these metrics as accurate as possible.
• Avoid unnecessary cancellations and charges:  If Whatnot does not receive evidence of shipment within the timeframe, and a buyer’s inquiry is escalated to us, we may cancel the order and refund the buyer.
• Keep buyers in the loop: Timely confirmation helps build buyer confidence that their order is on its way.

To determine the time a package was shipped, we look at the first timestamp across these different options.  For example, if you use the in-app scanner at 1:00PM on Tuesday, and the carrier also scans the package at 1:05PM on Tuesday, we will use 1:00PM as the shipment time, which will then be used for metrics like average ship time and On-time Shipment  rate.

While any of these options will be considered evidence of shipment confirmation, we strongly recommend using the Whatnot in-app shipment scanner.  This puts the seller in full control over their fulfillment metrics (without relying on carriers to scan), and gives buyers the best experience with a real-time update and photo so they know their package is on the way.

Requirements for Whatnot in-app scanner and Whatnot Manifest

Whatnot In-App Scanner

• Attach the label first. Only scan a package once the label is attached and you're ready to drop it off.
• Don't scan from a screen. Don't scan labels on your computer or phone. The label must be attached to the package.
• Scan as close to drop-off time as possible. Scan at the carrier site or pickup spot, within a few hours of hand-off. 
• Scan only the package. The image is shared with the buyer, so avoid showing other packages, personal items, or people (including yourself).

Whatnot Manifest

• Scan only when everything on it is ready to ship. If you are only ready to ship some of the shipments on the Manifest, you can either generate a new manifest, or scan those packages individually with the in-app scanner at drop-off.
• Scan as close to carrier hand-off as possible. Scan within a few hours of drop-off or pickup. 
• Scan where the carrier takes possession of shipments. Scan at the drop-off location, or at your pickup spot if the carrier comes to you.
• Only scan when all labels are attached and everything is ready. Make sure every package or envelope is labeled before you scan. 

What happens if these expectations aren’t met:

Our shipping policy is designed to protect both buyers and sellers. If these guidelines aren’t followed, or if we see attempts to manipulate the system, we may take the following actions:

• Impacted shipping metrics: Shipments that are shipped late, or do not have evidence of shipment at all, will be considered delayed. Delayed shipments will negatively affect a seller’s average ship time and on-time scan rate, which are used for Premier Shop eligibility and Account Health seller performance rating
• Cancellations and refunds: Buyers may cancel an order or receive a refund if no label has been generated, or if we don't receive valid shipment confirmation, within the required timeframe. If cancellation or refund is issued for these reasons, the amount will be billed back to the seller.
• Loss of Early Payout and account penalties: Sellers who repeatedly fail to ship on-time or provide accurate and on-time shipment confirmation may temporarily or permanently lose Early Payout, and may receive additional account actions, including temporary or permanent suspension. 

Recommended options for confirming shipment by carrier and service level

Where does Whatnot ship to?

Whatnot ships to most countries around the world. Please write to our support team to request shipping to your country (if not available) and we will work on it!

International Shipping

Here are a few things you should know about our international shipping:

• The buyer is responsible for all local customs fees and taxes.
• Shipping time depends on the country, but typically takes 1-4 weeks.
• Cost varies by location.
• Please note, some carriers do not have a guaranteed delivery time for international packages using this service, and depending on your country's postal and custom services it can take a longer period of time.

Other things to know 

• Whatnot offers free local pickup for certain sellers. For more information on local pickup please visit Free Pickup on Whatnot.
• 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.