The Commanders are my team. It was my birthday, so I treated myself to a break. I checked eBay and Card Shop Live, but I didn’t find a pick-your-team (PYT) happening right then. So I ended up on Whatnot.
You could argue that getting into a break on Whatnot was my first mistake. The platform has had its fair share of controversy in recent months, but it is by far the most accessible platform out there. It’s immediate, and it’s ultra-convenient.
As luck would have it, I found a PYT football break and was able to purchase a Commanders multi-year mixer that included Panini Select, Prizm, Mosaic, and Donruss Optic blasters and mega boxes. The list price was $50, but the breaker hooked me up since it was my birthday and offered the Commanders for $40.
After completing the purchase, I followed up with my standard line…
“All cards ship, right?”
I fully expected a yes, but the breaker told me their policy was that only hits like rookies, parallels, numbered cards, autos, memorabilia cards, and a few superstar players like Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady ship out, and the rest get donated.
After a beat of awkward silence, he did say that he would ship base cards to anyone who wanted them — as many as he could fit in the package. I politely requested that all of the Commanders cards pulled during the break get shipped to me, and then a handful of other guys in the chat requested the same.
It was odd that I had to ask to receive all of the cards that I paid a premium for. Even with the $10 discount, I was likely overpaying for Commanders cards. Yes, I am also paying for the experience, which I admit is fun and exciting and worth the money. But unless an autographed Chase Young, Terry McLauren, or Sam Howell card is pulled, I’m likely overpaying for a handful of base rookies and parallels, if that is all that gets shipped.
Had I known up front that the policy in this particular Whatnot break was that all cards do not ship, I would have moved on.
Card Collectors Collect Cards
It shouldn’t matter what types of cards get pulled in a break because I PC the Commanders and I have a Chase Young, Scary Terry, Antonio Gibson, Brian Robinson, Jahan Dotson, and Montez Sweat PC going.
I’m a collector.
I grew up collecting cards. I love opening packs. In the modern era, I think it’s fun to buy into breaks. It’s fun to watch the breakers rip packs. I get excited when the cards arrive in the mail. I look forward to opening bubble mailers and organizing my collection.
I want all of my cards!
You know, the ones that I paid for. Not just the “hits.”
Hits or Miss
This is a bit of a digression, but I’ve entered my fair share of box breaks — mostly baseball and football. The thing that drives me absolutely crazy is when the breaker rips open a pack and skips over the base commons and goes directly to the middle or back of the pack for the rookies and parallels.
If I buy a team in a break, part of the entertainment is seeing what cards I’ll be getting. Even if it’s showing all of the cards and highlighting some of the bigger-name vets, at least you’re seeing the cards you’re getting.
Of course, this assumes there’s a policy that all cards ship.
Round Two
The next day, I treated myself again. I returned to Whatnot, but I couldn’t find a PYT that was scheduled to break any time soon. I did find a stream that had the Commanders still available in a random team retail blaster / mega break — along with just three other teams. I could pay $75 to draw two random teams and then choose one of those teams. I figured my chances of landing the Commanders at that price were very good. So I pulled the trigger.
Nope!
I took a risk, and it did not pay off the way I wanted it to. But I was able to secure the Lions — not a terrible team to land at that price point. I knew I could get some value out of the Lions, and at least I’d get some nice cards, right?
I typed my standard line into the chat: “All cards ship, right?”
This breaker informed me that it was “the company’s” policy to only ship rookies, parallels, numbered cards, autos, mem cards, and a few big-name players.
Whether he meant it was the company’s policy that he worked for or that it was Whatnot’s policy, he did not specify. And I did not follow up because I was more concerned with acquiring ALL of the cards I paid for. He stated that they send base veterans to a charity. I asked him to please ship all Lions cards to me, but then I started getting some push-back from the breaker.
Some guys in the chat asked for their base cards, too. Other guys didn’t care for their base commons or vets.
I had to insist on receiving mine. I was told that he would try to include some base cards when they shipped the cards out. Why wouldn’t I receive all of the cards that I paid $86.57 for (including tax and shipping)? I asked.
He assured me he would do his best.
A Hot Debate
Many hobbyists that enter into box breaks are only after the hits. But as I found in the two recent breaks I bought into, I was not the only one who wanted all of my base cards to be shipped to me.
Whether or not all cards should ship — there’s been some debate.
The primary argument against shipping all cards is that it can be incredibly time-consuming for the breaker. Of the eight or so blasters and megas ripped during my Lions break, there were maybe a couple hundred cards total pulled in that break. At the time, I was certain that there weren’t more than a dozen Lions cards total pulled during that entire livestream.
That doesn’t seem like it’d be that much of an issue to sort those and ship, right?
Baseball is a different story. When it comes to a product like Topps Baseball Hobby Jumbo Box, there are potentially thousands of cards that a breaker would need to sort and ship. According to the chatter on Blowout Forums, many buyers that enter breaks want their hits as soon as possible, and waiting for the breaker to sort through all of the cards and ship would extend the time that your package ships.
Sports card box breaking has evolved over the years, but there are still old-school collectors out there PC’ing their favorite teams, favorite players, and building sets. There are also reasonable folks in the hobby that simply want all of the items that they paid for.
In the following days, I polled card collectors in a Facebook group and on IG with a simple question:
When you enter a break, what are your expectations for cards received?
- All cards ship
- Hits only
Of the people who responded, 92% in the Facebook group expected all cards to ship. On Instagram, it was 100%.
By no means was this a scientific poll, but it takes the temperature in terms of expectations.
The Results of My Commanders Break and Lions Break
The first break I bought into was on a Thursday afternoon and I won the Commanders. The second break I bought into was on a Friday night and I won the Lions.
I received a message from Whatnot on Monday that the Lions package had shipped (three days after the break). On Tuesday, I got the message that the Commanders package had shipped (five days after the break).
Based on the deportment of the breaker in each break, my expectations were that I’d receive all of my Commanders base cards and maybe some of my Lions base cards in addition to the higher value cards pulled in each break.
Both packages arrived on Thursday (so much for the speedy delivery argument).
In the package with the Commanders cards, I received some Commanders base cards along with 15 base cards from other teams including a Mahomes, a Burrow, a Josh Allen, and a John Elway. I don’t hate that, but the football card collectors that won the Chiefs, Bengals, Bills, and Broncos might have something to say. So given the fact that I received some other people’s base cards, I don’t suspect I received ALL of the Commanders cards pulled in the break, which was all that I wanted. In addition to the higher value parallels and rookies, I received base cards of Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gibson, and Carson Wentz. But I did not receive a single Chase Young or Montez Sweat that was pulled. I know with 100% certainty that I did not receive all of my base cards as I requested.
In the package with the Lions, I initially thought I’d get about a dozen Lions cards. I got 8. And, yes, some of them were base cards. I do actually think I might have received all of the Lions cards out of that break. However, there was a giveaway following the break for a parallel of I don’t remember what player or on what team. I won it, but that card was not in the package with the Lions cards, nor did it arrive separately in the following days.
Prior to receiving my packages, I reached out to Whatnot Support to request their official policy. My first message got an autoresponder reply that would “launch a claim” and that I just needed to submit the date and time of the livestream, order number, photo of what I received, a detailed description of the issue encountered, evidence (conversation with seller/buyer, or any relevant screenshots), and any other information that would allow them to better assist me.
I responded to this message clarifying that my inquiry was not regarding a specific order or a package received and that I just wanted to know what the Whatnot policy is regarding what cards will be shipped to buyers. I noted that I was under the impression that all cards pulled in a break would be shipped to the buyer and that two breakers that I recently interacted with said that they do not ship all cards — only hits like rookies, parallels, numbered cards, autographs, etc.
I received the following message the next day:
“We encourage you to review our Community Guidelines in which has an explanation of what is allowed and not allowed on Whatnot. If you have any doubts whether something is against policy, we encourage you to not engage in the situation or behavior.”
I reviewed the Community Guidelines and found no mention of whether all cards need to ship. Under the Sellers section there was a link to the rules around breaking and mystery boxes, where there is also no explicit policy that all cards must ship. In fact, the closest policy around this is that “All buyers in a break must receive an item.”
Like, one item, minimum.
According to the policies, Whatnot does not require its breakers to ship all cards to paying customers.
A Slippery Slope
All of this got me thinking about Whatnot and box breaking in general — and also some of the heat that the industry has been taking and the debate over whether the modern pastime of box breaking is either a value-based experience or downright gambling.
I’d argue it’s both.
Who Do You Collect? And Why?
Guys like me are okay with overpaying for cards so long as all of the cards are shipped. If you’ve ever seen my Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok then you know I have a little Etsy side business in which I repurpose the junk wax from my childhood card collection into handmade greeting cards. I also have a blog where I provide gift ideas for people searching for gifts for the men in their lives, like gifts for card collectors, and other hobby-related musings like this card case review. It’s more of a passion project than a full-time operation. I don’t earn much from my hobby side hustle, but I’ve processed more than 700 orders since I started in January 2021.
As a perk, I like to include a few loose cards of the team that my customers order. I include a couple old school junk wax and a couple of modern cards. When I run low on modern cards of a given team, I’ll hunt down a team lot on eBay or buy into a PYT break if the price is right.
When I buy into a break, any card that doesn’t go into my PC or any card that might be valuable enough to be sent in for grading goes in the Etsy perk pile in my Monster quadruple shoe.
Because of this, I must insist on receiving all of the cards that I buy in a break.
I bought the cards. I own the cards. Ship me my damn cards.
Crap Shoot
And then there are the high-rollers.
Gambling is defined as taking a risky action in the hope of a desired result.
At the very top of the Whatnot breaking policies page, it says in bold, “Sellers may not engage in or facilitate gambling on Whatnot.”
Per the Whatnot policy, breaking is therefore not gambling.
But if guys are paying big money to roll the dice and chase hits like a one-of-one or an RPA or a logoman and are willing to risk hundreds of dollars to land a card like that, then breaking is absolutely a form of gambling.
Anecdotally, at the time of this post, 2022 Panini National Treasures Football is one of the hottest products going in breaks. A four-box case of 2022 Panini National Treasures Football goes for about $12,000, and individual hobby boxes are about $3000 each. There are 8 cards per pack and 1 pack per hobby box. So in an entire $12,000 case, there are 32 very high-end cards — i.e. guaranteed hits.
Grabbing a spot in a National Treasures single hobby box break would set you back hundreds of dollars. The cards pulled are guaranteed hits, yes, but you are not guaranteed a single card from that product. You’re risking hundreds for one spot in a 32-team random break for exactly 8 cards.
And if there are two teams represented on a card? Duck race.
That’s a risky action in the hope of a desired result. That’s gambling. The go-to duck race is basically roulette.
Whatnot’s Policy
According to Whatnot’s policy on breaking, “sellers may only sell as many spots as there are cards available so that each buyer receives an item” and that “all buyers in a break must receive an item.” So breakers will run a full case NT break, but it’s still not guaranteed that a buyer will receive a card from a team purchased. The workaround for that? Free cards from the breaker’s stash to ensure that everyone receives something.
To Ship All Cards, or Not to Ship All Cards
I mentioned this earlier — If there was clear messaging that neither of my breaks had any intention of shipping base commons, then I would not have bought into those breaks.
It was not clear in these two instances, so I expected I would receive all of my cards when I bought in.
If there was a way I could opt in or opt out of receiving all of the cards pulled in a given break — say, in the platform settings as a part of my user profile — then I could enter a break without having to ensure that all cards ship. It would be automatic.
Midwest Box Breaks’ Policy
On Midwest Box Breaks, the across-the-board policy is that all cards ship. According to Midwest Box Breaks founder Ben Smith, “It has always been our policy at Midwest Box Breaks to ship all cards from a break, including base, commons, and Bowman paper. Our break listings usually include ‘all cards ship’ in the description but it is always implied regardless. Our belief is that you work hard for your hobby spending money and you should receive all the cards from the team you purchased. We do offer our customers the option to donate unwanted break cards to kids in our collecting community. Those cards are given away at ball games, in classrooms, and by our Break Club members who lead youth and church groups. It should be noted that some customers don’t want all of their cards, but it should be considered a best practice by the Breaker to disclose up front if they are not shipping all cards.”
Card Shop Live’s Policy
I’ve never heard about any issues trickling out of TheCardShop Live regarding what cards ship. I reached out directly but didn’t get an official response.
Fanatics Live’s Policy
I recently jumped into a 10-box Topps Chrome retail blaster box stream on Fanatics Live. A break like this is extremely low stakes compared to many of the breaks out there, and spots could be nabbed for as low as $8. It was also hosted by a very low-key, laid-back breaker. I submitted my standard line asking whether all cards shipped, and the breaker explained that all cards always ship, and if it were the case where he was breaking a particular Bowman product, he would create a spot in the live auction for the paper commons. He assured me that everyone in the break would know that well ahead of time.
I popped over to another stream. It was a more lively break with a pair of breakers that were preparing to open a full case of Topps Finest Baseball hobby boxes. A case goes for about $1600 and there are 8 boxes per case. Spots in this break went for $19 on the low end (Cleveland Guardians) and $259 on the high end (Baltimore Orioles). I asked whether all cards ship, and the guys immediately responded yes.
I was put in touch with the Vice President of Brand and Communications at Fanatics to confirm whether the “all cards ship” is the standard policy at Fanatics Live. After providing some additional context about my story and noting Whatnot’s policy, I was ghosted. I followed up and asked for a link to the Fanatics Live policies page but did not get a response.
I did some digging and found in the Terms of Sale section on the Terms of Use page that Fanatics Live leaves it to the breakers to define the Terms of Purchase at the point of sale, and that breakers “will not be able to hit the ‘go live’ button unless the content description is submitted either in advance and accessible to the Fans through the information button on the platform” and that “Break descriptions must include: the year, set, manufacturer, and league” (as per Seller Guidelines), but nothing about whether all items in a break would actually ship.
So I did some more digging and found that the Fanatics Live Seller Guidelines include the same policy as Whatnot — that “All fans who buy into a break must receive a physical item.” As with the Whatnot policy, this suggests that breakers on Fanatics Live do not need to ship all items from a break and that all cards pulled in a break are not required to ship to buyers.
All Cards Must Ship
As I noted earlier, Whatnot is not necessarily my first choice when it comes to breaking platforms, but it is the most accessible and controls most of the breaking market. On a recent Friday night, the platform hosted hundreds of live break streams. Fanatics Live, which is positioning itself to become one of Whatnot’s primary competitors, had 6 live streams that same night.
So to Whatnot and any other live breaking platform that doesn’t explicitly disclose whether all cards ship or all cards do not ship, consider creating a policy for your breakers to make it 100% clear whether all cards ship or not in the product or auction listing.
Or consider creating an opt-in or opt-out checkbox in each user’s profile to let the breaker know whether to ship all cards to that customer or not. With hundreds of thousands of dollars being exchanged for services every single week, the stakes are only getting higher.