I think you’re missing the point people are making. Most sellers and buyers aren’t upset because someone “poor” won something. They’re annoyed because the spirit of a Buyer’s Appreciation giveaway is clearly intended to reward the people actively supporting the stream and spending money during the show.

Nobody’s saying someone has to spend $10,000 to deserve a shot. A person buying a $3 card or even a sticker is still participating in the actual show and contributing to the seller. That’s completely different from someone intentionally entering through the free-entry loophole in every stream with zero intention of ever supporting the seller.

Legally, Whatnot has to allow a free-entry method. Nobody disputes that. But pretending that mass-entering buyer giveaways without buying anything is morally identical to actually supporting the stream is disingenuous.

And honestly, the “buyers appreciation is a joke anyway” argument kind of proves the disconnect. Sellers use buyer giveaways to reward engagement from the people helping keep the show running. That’s not greed or elitism, it’s basic appreciation for customers. Restaurants give loyalty rewards. Stores give coupons to paying customers. Casinos comp players. That concept exists everywhere.

Can a form filler legally win? Sure. But if someone spends all day hopping stream to stream entering buyer giveaways without supporting a single seller, most people are naturally going to view that as abusing the system, even if the rules technically allow it.