E-commerce giant accused
Multiple arbitration complaints have been filed against international live shopping giant Whatnot claiming that its e-commerce platform is a “front” for an addictive, “unregulated online casino.”
$8bn in sales for 2025
Whatnot’s sports card category is the firm’s best revenue generator, with a monthly purchase rate of 6.4 million cards, giving the e-shopping platform $8bn in sales for 2025.
As collectible media site cllct shared on X, Whatnot, is being accused of violating the RICO Act and conducting an illegal gambling scheme:
According to The New York Times, St. Louis-based attorney Paul Lesko said he has filed 15 arbitration demands on behalf of “30 clients with claims against Whatnot” and its sports card platform.
Lesko’s arbitrations accuse the e-marketplace of making millions of dollars from “encouraging compulsive spending […] without providing the safeguards required of regulated gambling operations.”
Gambling on the cards
According to The New York Times, the arbitration claims came after multiple Whatnot customers approached Lesko at the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention.
It’s just that dopamine hit”
Lesko said that the plaintiffs’ use of Whatnot began solely to buy cards, but that they “quickly found out that that’s not what it is. It’s gambling.” The attorney said his clients quickly got hooked and stopped “caring about the cards.” He added: “It’s just that dopamine hit from bidding and actually winning an auction.”
Lesko was referencing the sports cards auctions at the heart of the arbitrations, whereby Whatnot’s hosting sales of randomized box breaks or repack breaks of the cards allegedly violates California’s ban on illegal lotteries and constitutes unlawful “grab bag” lotteries.
“We think randomized breaks […] anything that basically starts off with a casino game before you actually get to the cards is illegal gambling.”
Lesko added that the addiction led to “difficulties with their relationships, with their significant others, with friends, with jobs. They’re in debt, living on their credit cards, and it’s just this endless cycle that keeps repeating.”
For and against
The plaintiffs are demanding the court rules Whatnot’s randomized box breaks and repacks “unlawful lotteries/gambling and unfair business practices” and are seeking “restitution/disgorgement of all monies wrongfully obtained” and more, including a requirement to self-issue consumer warnings.
In a statement, Whatnot rejected the claims outright, stating that card breaks were a long-established genre in collecting and that: “Gambling isn’t allowed on Whatnot, and we strictly enforce this policy.”
The company said that “sellers face real consequences when they break our rules,” while adding that its “break” sellers only make up 4% of the merchants on its e-platform.
President of sports card trading company Upper Deck, Jason Masherah, however, stated last year: “These repacks, they’re determining the value. They’re buying and selling. They’re promising a return. It is 100 percent pure gambling the way it’s being done right now, and something bad is going to happen at some point.”
