Is Whatnot a scam? The Rigged Casino of Pokémon Cards
Another Moonbreon being switched out… ON CAMERA (oops!),
A Yu-Gi-Oh pack being opened with scissors when the scissors never touched the pack. It’s magic!
A mystery bag being switched out when the streamer picks up the wrong phone (literally illegal).
The whatnot wheel being rigged yet again again (didn’t you know you could easily do that? Please look into it for once).
A guy literally sending the wrong stuff to a buyer who spent $1900, and ignoring all messages. There’s 30 bad reviews on his page, but he’s not shut down for some reason.
A “guess the energy and you win” game, when the audience doesn’t know the energy cards were mappable.
A pack that happens to have the streamer’s name written on an energy card that came out of the pack- but it’s totally a coincidence and not resealed, right? It doesn’t matter that he deleted his response and changed the story. Totally a coincidence.
Literally fake packs with fake cards being sent.
A giveaway where the streamers literally says “uh, that’s too valuable for you to win. We’ll send something else.” Did they just change the rules because they didn’t like the result? Literally, yes. Do something about it. Good luck.
This is what I found in 3 minutes. THREE MINUTES. These are only examples of people scamming terribly and getting caught. On camera. Let that sink in. These are only the examples that got caught. You see where I’m going with this?
At some point, you have to start blaming the platform for not doing anything about the widespread scam problem.
My Conspiracy Theory
Whoops, how’d that energy card with the streamers name end up in that “totally not resealed” pack?
People who have been scammed talk about how hard it is to actually get something done about their situation. I wonder why.
A little bit of background. I’m a business student. I’ve ran ads. I also have a Digital Marketing Strategy certification from Harvard Business School Online. Did you know that money spent on ads makes a company money, while spending money on scam conflict resolution can lose a company money? I can’t prove this is the case with whatnot, but you can put 2 and 2 together. Is their customer service is a joke? Do they spam ads? Is that a customer-first approach, or not?
Welcome to the Wild West
How’d that Umbreon switch to a less valuable Lefeon after the pack left the camera? Weird.
Ah, Whatnot. The Wild West of live shopping, where you can watch your money evaporate in real time while some guy in a snapback tells you, “Bro, this next pack is gonna be fire.”
But wait! Someone just pulled an alt-art Charizard. Your fingers start twitching. You could be next.
So you buy a pack. Just one. Then two. Suddenly, you’ve spent your money chasing “last pack magic.” But don’t worry. This is totally fair, right?
Yeah, about that…
Selective Hype
You have to understand something. Whether they’re scamming or not, Rip-and-ship sellers are masters of dopamine manipulation. They’ve studied Twitch streamers with their flashing lights and endless “Oh my god, dude!” reactions. And they use every trick in the book. Fast-paced openings makes sure you have no time to think, just buy, buy, buy. Fake scarcity (“Only 3 packs left!”) gives you a fear of missing out.
Selective hype is insane. If you pull a dud? Silence. Quickly move on. As fast as they can. The next pack is already being opened, who cares, that last pack didn’t even happen. If someone else hits? The loudest reaction of the night. A lot of stream time is spent on this pack, oddly enough. Combine that with fake giveaways and hit manipulation, and we got a problem.
Fake Giveaways and Hit Manipulation
This streamer picked up the wrong phone, while the streaming phone shows his girlfriend SWITCHING OUT PRIZES. You thought you had a chance? Cute.
Here’s the thing: casinos have house odds, but at least they don’t personally decide who wins. This one hurts. Because you at least think there’s a chance. Even in a casino, you have a shot.
You know you can rig the whatnot wheel, right?
You know that alt accounts and secret friend can be made to wins giveaway, right?
You know that packs can be resealed, right?
And don’t even get me started on the "hit manipulation" problem:
If you pull a massive hit? The seller can just… cancel your order. Refund it. Oops! Technical difficulties! But totally not a scam, because you didn’t actually lose money! Just everyone who bought a pack hoping to be as lucky as you.
Maybe your pack was “lost.” Too bad! No VOD after 60 days, no chat history in that VOD, no proof. If you’re lucky, you’re refunded. Thanks for the interest free loan, while they keep the hit!
Ever notice how some sellers always have loaded boxes for certain spenders? Are these big spenders real people? Who even knows.
Which brings us to the real magic trick of Whatnot.
No Accountability
Nothing but 1 stars. How many does it take for Whatnot to take action? Who knows.
Let’s say you get scammed. You pull a rare card, but mysteriously, the seller cancels your order. Or reseals your pack. What if that reseal is good, and the camera can’t prove it.
What do you do? Go to Whatnot customer support?
Adorable.
Why would a company want to deal with your disputes, when they could spend that energy making others spend, spend, spend, and move on. It’s the perfect playground for scammers.
FOMO FOMO FOMO!
Customer won a vivid voltage pack. Streamer grabs a Darkness Ablaze blister, somehow knowing a vivid voltage is already inside, opens it from the back in a very strange way, and slowly pulls out the vivid voltage pack that, coincidently, contained no hits. Totally normal.
“Only 5 packs left!” (Translation: I have a full case off-camera, but you don’t need to know that.)
“This could be the last chance to pull a Moonbreon!” (Because, as we all know, Evolving Skies is definitely extinct and not just marked up 400%.)
“We’re doing a massive giveaway… if you buy in.” (Ah yes, the classic spend $200 for a 0.01% chance to win something “free” that actually goes to a friend).
Why Do People Keep Falling for It?
Because gambling is addictive.
Because hope is addictive.
Because it’s easier to believe the next pack will be “the one” than to admit the game is rigged.
And that’s exactly what these sellers are counting on.
How to Not get Scammed
Bro wasn’t happy with the fake cards he won. (They didn’t pass the rip test, either). How ungrateful can you be…
Would you ever sit at a blackjack table where the dealer personally decides whether your cards are legit?
No?
Then why trust a random Whatnot seller to be in control of your packs?
Watch Where Your Pack Comes From—No Off-Camera Magic Tricks
Your pack should be pulled from a sealed booster box on camera. You should see the seal get broken, and you should see them pull from a visible stack.
What you don’t want:
❌ Reaching off camera.
❌ Packs getting "reshuffled" off-screen.
❌ The classic “Oh wait, I grabbed the wrong one, let me just…” (Congrats, your chase card just got swapped for bulk.)
If you don’t see it, don’t trust it.
Read the Darn Reviews
This one’s self explanatory. You’d be surprised how many hype streams happen, then you look at the seller and see 20 complaints of a scam in a row. Read the darn reviews.
Not all Rip-And-Shippers
At the end of the day, rip-and-ship is just a fancy way of saying, “Hey, let me take your money, shuffle some packs, and pretend it’s all random.”
Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. Know your seller.
Because some rip-and-shippers aren’t out here running a fair game. They’re out here running a con, with a side of flashy lights and hype to keep you hooked. So, yeah, trust them if you want, but just know that you’re not pulling a rare card, you’re pulling your own wallet out and handing it over with a smile.
Be smart, ask questions, and for the love of your bank account, if it smells like a scam, it probably is.