WhatsApp Commerce Policy

The Commerce Policy governs what products and services businesses can sell using WhatsApp Business. If you do any of the following to sell your products and services, you must comply with the policies and prohibitions listed below:

• Use product and services catalog
• Use payment features
• Provide any commerce experiences (such as promotional messages)

If you do not comply with the policies, WhatsApp may prohibit you from using some or all of the WhatsApp Business products.

If you sell prohibited products along with permitted products, you may use WhatsApp Business for the permitted products only. If a customer initiates a conversation about purchasing your prohibited good or service, you must ask them to connect with you on a different channel for those conversations. For example, alcohol is a prohibited product under the Commerce Policy, but if you sell alcohol along with wine glasses and bottle holders, you may use WhatsApp Business for messaging and its catalog and payment features for bottle holders and wine glasses only. You may not use them for alcohol.

You are solely responsible for your transactions and for providing any sales terms, privacy terms or other terms applicable to your interactions with users.

WhatsApp is not responsible for processing, paying for, or fulfilling any sales relating to your transactions.

You are solely responsible for determining, collecting, withholding, reporting, and remitting all applicable taxes, duties, fees, and additional charges for sales relating to your transactions.

Below is the list of prohibited products and services under the Commerce Policy. The examples are representative and not exhaustive:

Community standards

Policy: Commerce listings must not violate our Community Standards.

Adult products

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying, selling or use of adult products.
• Not allowed:
• Sex toys
• Sexual enhancement products
• Sexually oriented adult products such as pornography, or used or worn underwear
• Images of nudity, including partial child nudity, even if not sexual in nature
• Allowed:
• Educational material promoting weapon safety, training and licensing

Alcohol

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of alcohol.
• Not allowed:
• Sale of alcoholic drinks
• Kits for making alcohol
• Allowed:
• Books or DVDs about alcohol
• Alcohol-related items, including glasses, coolers, and wine bottle holders

Body parts and fluids

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of human body parts or fluids.
• Not allowed:
• Blood
• Urine
• Body parts
• Organs
• Human tissue
• Teeth
• Looking for organ donors
• Allowed:
• Hair extensions and wigs

Digital media and electronic devices

Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of devices that facilitate or encourage streaming digital content in an unauthorized manner or interfering with the functionality of electronic devices.

• Not allowed:
• Sale of streaming devices loaded with software that facilitates unauthorised access to content
• Jailbroken or loaded devices
• Jamming or descrambling devices, including devices claiming protection from Wi-Fi signals
• Wiretapping devices
• Allowed:
• Add-on equipment for streaming devices such as keyboards and remotes

Discrimination

• Policy: Listings, and commerce Messenger threads, must not wrongfully discriminate or suggest a preference for or against people because of a personal characteristic, including but not limited to, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, marital status, disability, or medical or genetic condition. Listings must comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination. This includes but is not limited to discrimination for housing listings.
• Not allowed:
• "Only looking for Christian renters"
• "Must be under the age of 35 to purchase"
• "No Hispanic tenants welcome"

Documents, currency and financial instruments

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of real or fake documents, currency, financial instruments and virtual currency
• Not allowed:
• Real and replica documents such as passports, IDs or certificates
• Real money (cash or cash equivalent instruments and coins)
• Replica or prop money
• Digital or cryptocurrency
• Active bank credit or debit cards
• Store credit cards or coupons
• Pre-paid credit or debit cards
• Cheques or chequebooks
• Equipment to create counterfeit currency or financial instruments
• Financial services, including accounting, insurance, banking, and loans

Gambling

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying, selling, or facilitation of online gambling for money or money's worth, including digital currencies. Online gambling includes gaming, betting, lotteries, raffles, casinos, fantasy sports, bingo, poker, and sweepstakes in an online environment.

Hazardous goods and materials

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of hazardous materials and substances.
• Not allowed:
• Chemical pesticides and insecticides
• Asbestos, cyanide, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride
• Corrosive substances
• Flammable and combustible substances and products

Human exploitation and sexual services

• Policy: Listings may not promote any form of human trafficking, prostitution, escort or sexual services.
• Not allowed:
• Persons for sale
• People smuggling
• Escort agencies
• Commercial sex
• Live shows for adult entertainment
• Sexually suggestive services (For example, "texts to send her to get her in bed")
• Domestic helpers and personnel services, including the hiring of maids and other workers
• Dating and matchmaking services
• Child pornography

Ingestible supplements

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of ingestible supplements.
• Not allowed:
• Anabolic steroids
• Chitosan
• Comfrey
• Dehydroepiandrosterone
• Ephedra
• Human growth hormones

Jobs

• Policy: Listings on commerce products may not promote job opportunities. This prohibition includes job opportunities that fully describe the associated product or business model, as well as job opportunities that are misleading, deceptive, fraudulent or have an unclear business model.
• Not allowed:
• "Get rich quick" schemes
• Multi-level marketing opportunities

Jobs may only be promoted on Jobs on Facebook, Pages and Groups as allowed by the Community Standards and the Jobs Policies.

Land, animals and animal products

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of animals or animal products, or land in ecological conservation areas.
• Not allowed:
• Medicines, medical devices and veterinary services
• Any product or part from dogs, cats, or endangered or threatened animals such as leather, skin, hide, fur, wool or hair
• Animal parts, including, but not limited to, bone, teeth, horn, ivory, taxidermy, organs, external limbs, secretions or carcasses
• Products from animals intended for consumption, such as raw fish, meat or eggs
• Live animals including livestock and pets
• Land or property of any type in ecological conservation areas

Medical and healthcare products

• Policy: Listings may not promote medical and healthcare products and services, including medical devices or smoking cessation products containing nicotine.
• Not allowed:
• Contact lenses and reading and prescription glasses
• Thermometers
• Testing kits for medical conditions or diseases
• First-aid kits
• Breast pumps
• Allowed:
• Lifestyle and fitness accessories, including watches
• Ovulation and pregnancy tests

Misleading, violent, or hateful products and offers

• Policy: Listings may not contain misleading, violent or hateful products and offers.
• Not allowed:
• Listings may not promote the buying or selling of hate material, which includes, among other things, literature, memorabilia, symbols and slogans associated with extremist or racist ideologies or holocaust denial.
• Listings that are misleading, shocking, sensational or portray excessive violence.
• Listings may not solicit ratings or reviews
• Posts must not imply or attempt to generate negative self-perception in order to promote diet, weight loss or other health-related products.
• A person showing how loose-fitting his or her clothes are
• A person with clothes that are too tight

No item for sale

• Policy: Listings may not promote news, humor, or other content that does not offer any product for sale.
• Not allowed:
• Donations
• Jokes and memes
• Lost and found posts
• News and awareness posts
• Listings in search of, in need of or looking to buy

Prescription products, drugs, and drug paraphernalia

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of drugs, drug paraphernalia, or prescription products.
• Not allowed:
• Drugs, including marijuana and marijuana products
• Drug paraphernalia, including pipes and bongs
• Prescription products, including prescription drugs

Recalled products

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of recalled products.
• Not allowed:
• Inclined sleepers for babies and crib bumpers
• Bumbo baby seats
• Boppy loungers
• Specific IKEA chests and dressers
• Lane and Virginia Maid cedar chests

Services

• Policy: Approved services may only be offered through catalogues on the WhatsApp Business app or through Appointments in Facebook or Instagram. Services may not be offered through other commerce surfaces.
• Not allowed:
• Automotive services, including maintenance
• Event services, including photography and party and wedding planning
• Fitness services, including gyms and trainers
• Home maintenance services, including cleaning, construction, painting, plumbing, electricians and lawn care
• Non-veterinary animal services including grooming, training, pet-sitting and walking
• Personal wellness services, including hair and nail styling, spas and salon services
• Travel services, including airline services, hotel accommodation and car rentals

Sexually positioned products

• Policy: Listings may not position products or services in a sexually suggestive manner.

Stolen goods

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of items that have been stolen.

Subscriptions and digital products

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of downloadable digital content, digital subscriptions and digital accounts.
• Not allowed:
• Listings with downloadable content, including PDFs, music, games, films etc.
• Digital accounts, including Netflix accounts or games accounts
• Digital subscriptions and Internet streaming services, including television subscriptions, mobile phone service subscriptions, Netflix subscriptions, Spotify subscriptions etc.
• Digital coupons and download codes
• Allowed:
• Authentic audio or video CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray
• Digital devices, including smartphones, video game consoles and TVs

Third-Party Infringement

• Policy: Listings may not contain content that infringes upon or violates the intellectual property rights of any third party, including copyright or trademark. This includes, but is not limited to, the promotion or sale of counterfeits, such as goods that copy the trademark (name or logo) and/or distinctive features of another company's products to imitate a genuine product.
• Not allowed:
• Counterfeits, knockoffs or replicas of branded goods, or posts offering goods that are likely to confuse consumers about the source, sponsorship or affiliation of those goods.
• Unauthorized or pirated copies of copyrighted works, such as videos, films, TV shows and broadcasts, video games, CDs or other musical works, books etc.

Tobacco items and related paraphernalia

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia.
• Not allowed:
• Cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco
• Tobacco pipes and paraphernalia
• Tobacco-rolling machines
• Hookahs and hookah lounges
• Bongs
• Rolling papers
• Electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes) or tobacco devices
• Allowed:
• Clothing featuring a tobacco brand logo

Used cosmetics

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of cosmetics that have been used, or that are not sold in their original packaging.
• Not allowed:
• Used make-up and make-up brushes
• Used shampoo
• Perfume testers

Vehicle parts and accessories

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying, selling or trading of certain vehicle parts and accessories.
• Not allowed:
• Catalytic converters
• Vehicle airbags
• Products intended to alter or bypass emissions control systems

Weapons, ammunition, or explosives

• Policy: Listings may not promote the buying or selling of weapons, ammunition and explosives.
• Not allowed:
• Weapons and weapon parts
• Weapon accessories such as grips, sights, scopes, magazines, lasers and lights
• Ammunition, including ammunition components
• Bows, crossbows and their parts and projectiles, such as arrows and crossbow bolts
• Paintball, airsoft and BB guns, and their parts and projectiles
• Explosives and fireworks, including their components and ingredients
• Pepper spray, tasers and other products designed to stun or incapacitate
• Edged weapons, including swords and utility, hunting, combat and self-defense knives
• Historical, antique and collectible weapons
• Gun ranges and gun shows
• Allowed:
• Educational material promoting weapon safety, training and licensing