Seller Verification

  • How Whatnot verifies sellers

    Before any new seller goes live on Whatnot, they've completed ID verification and been screened against fraud and safety signals. For categories that take specialized knowledge – like Luxury Bags & Accessories – there's additional approval required.

  • Why verification matters

    Live shopping puts the seller in front of the buyer, and it's a big part of why people trust what they see here. Verification is how we make sure the person on camera is who they say they are, before they ever go live. And everyone in our community benefits from a platform where every seller has been verified.

  • What we check before a seller can go live

    • Identity: Every new seller completes ID verification before they can go live through our leading third-party identity verification partner. We confirm they're who they say they are, that they're at least 18, and that the ID matches the account they're setting up.

    • Risk signals: We run dozens of signals against known risk patterns – things like device, location, and payment patterns, plus behavioral signals tied to accounts that've caused problems before. If an account is flagged during that review it has to go through additional verification. And if it doesn’t pass, it doesn't get approved.

  • Some categories require more approval

    Verification confirms who a seller is. For some categories, we also want to confirm the seller can sell there successfully – with the authenticity expertise, sourcing, or specialized knowledge that it takes. Luxury Bags & Accessories is one: sellers apply, share their business and sourcing details, and have to be approved before they can list. Wholesale uses similar gating, and other categories on Whatnot follow the same approach.

  • Trust doesn't stop after onboarding

    Approving a seller is the start of trust on Whatnot, not the end of it. Once a seller is live, we keep checking:

    • Real-time monitoring: Our systems flag suspicious activity – like behavior changes and signals tied to known bad actors – and either remove or investigate the account behind it. We catch a lot of these before anyone files a report.

    • Account Health: Every seller can see how they’re tracking on shipping, order completion, and policy compliance through their Account Health dashboard. Sellers who don't meet our performance standards can't keep selling. 

    • Visibility for the sellers buyers can rely on: Top-performing sellers earn more visibility through our Premier Shop Program, and buyers leave public reviews on every seller’s profile. Together, these make it easier to find sellers you’ll want to come back to.  

    Sellers earn the ability to keep selling, and they keep it by continuing to deliver.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes. Every seller verifies their identity through our leading third-party identity partner and clears a check against risk signals before they're approved to sell live. Some categories – like Luxury Bags & Accessories  or Wholesale – require additional approval on top of that.

  • Sellers must be 18 or older, complete verification, and follow our Community Guidelines – the rules that cover how shows are run, how orders ship, and what's allowed on the platform. Some categories – like Luxury Bags & Accessories or Wholesale – require additional approval on top of that.

  • We use a leading third-party identity verification partner to confirm a seller's government-issued ID matches the person setting up the account. The check also confirms the seller is at least 18 years old. ID information isn’t stored on Whatnot servers beyond what's needed to complete the check.

  • Verification doesn't stop after a seller is approved. If our systems flag suspicious activity – behavior changes, signals tied to known bad actors, or signs they're breaking our rules – we investigate quickly. Depending on what we find, that can mean asking for additional verification, restricting the account, or removing it from Whatnot immediately.