PYT break: how pick your team breaks work
A PYT break (pick your team) is a card break where each buyer chooses the exact team they want and pays that team's own price, then gets that team's cards when the product is opened live. In a random team break, every spot costs the same and teams are assigned after the spots sell. Below: how PYT pricing works, a worked example that recovers box cost and Whatnot fees, what happens to unsold teams, and the Whatnot rules that apply as of November 2026.
Written and fact-checked by an active Whatnot breaker on the BreakTemplate team. Updated November 1, 2026. How we check facts
1. What is a PYT break?
PYT stands for pick your team. The breaker lists every team in the product (an NFL break has 32) and prices each one. A buyer who wants a specific team buys that spot, and when the break runs, each card goes to the owner of the team on it.
In a random break every spot costs the same and teams are assigned after the spots sell. On Whatnot that assignment runs through the randomizer built into Whatnot's Breaks feature; the Card Breaks Policy does not allow randomizer wheels, physical or digital. New to breaks? Start with what a card break is.
As of November 2026, Whatnot's Breaks feature runs PYT spots as Buy It Now or auctions and random breaks as auctions, managed from a computer even if you stream from a phone. You can turn on offers for PYT spots when you create the break.
2. How per-team pricing works
Every PYT price answers one question: what will a buyer pay for that team's share of this box? Four things drive it.
- Team demand. Some fan bases buy every time. Your own sales history is the best guide, because it reflects your audience.
- Rookies and stars. A team with the most chased rookie in the set can outsell a bigger franchise with little on the checklist.
- Checklist depth. Count each team's base cards, inserts, and autograph or relic subjects in this exact product.
- Product cost. The whole board has to cover the box plus fees. On a cheap box, the fixed $0.30 per order takes a bigger share of each small spot.
Demand shifts with every product and season, so this guide does not publish team prices; any list of team values goes stale fast. Price from the checklist in front of you.
3. Tiers: a method, not a price list
Pricing 32 teams one at a time is slow and hard to explain on stream. Three tiers make it easier:
- Premium: the most chased rookies or stars, or the deepest checklist. These teams carry most of the revenue.
- Mid: solid checklists without the top names, priced near the average each team must bring in.
- Value: thin checklists or low demand in your room, priced to sell, because they decide whether the break finishes.
Then weight each tier. With Premium at 2, Mid at 1, and Value at 0.5, a Premium team costs twice a Mid team and a Value team half. The weights are an example: widen the gap for a product driven by one huge rookie, and narrow it when the checklist is even.
4. Worked example: pricing a PYT break to cover cost and fees
These numbers are an example, not a quote for any real product. One box costs $300 and supplies $10, so the break must recover $310. As of November 2026, Whatnot's seller fees for US sports cards at the Standard tier are 8% commission on the item price plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing per order. Each team sold is one order.
- Fees per team sold: 8% + 2.9% = 10.9% of the price, plus $0.30. You keep 89.1% of each price, minus $0.30.
- Break-even with all 32 teams sold: ($310 + 32 × $0.30) ÷ 0.891 = $319.60 ÷ 0.891 = $358.70, an average of $11.21 a team.
- Target: a profit of 20% of cost, or $62. ($310 + $62 + $9.60) ÷ 0.891 = $381.60 ÷ 0.891 = $428.28, an average of $13.38 a team.
- Tier units: 8 Premium × 2 + 12 Mid × 1 + 12 Value × 0.5 = 34 units. $428.28 ÷ 34 = $12.60 a unit.
- Tier prices: Premium is 2 units ($25.19), Mid is 1 unit ($12.60), and Value is half a unit ($6.30). Rounded up to whole dollars: $26, $13, and $7.
Check the rounded board against a few outcomes:
| Outcome | Gross | Fees | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 32 teams sell | $448.00 | $58.43 | $79.57 |
| 4 Value teams unsold | $420.00 | $54.18 | $55.82 |
| 2 Premium teams unsold | $396.00 | $52.16 | $33.84 |
Four unsold Value teams cost $23.75 of profit; two unsold Premium teams cost $45.73. The top tier carries the money, and the bottom tier decides whether the break finishes. The formula is explained in real break math.
Treat these fees as a floor: processing also applies to the shipping and tax each buyer pays. Whatnot's 0% commission on the part of an order above $1,500 excludes sports breaks, and if your sales earn a lower tier, use your rate. Run your own numbers in the Whatnot fee calculator or the break profit calculator.
5. What happens to unsold teams
Unsold teams are the main PYT risk. Whatnot's Card Breaks Policy, as of November 2026:
- One show. All product from a break must be opened in the same live show, and spots cannot be sold off Whatnot or as pre-sales.
- Refunds and later breaks. If spots do not fill, honor refund requests. You can keep selling the spots in a future break only while the product is still sealed, and you can ask Whatnot Support to cancel and refund purchases from a break that does not fill.
- No filling it yourself. You, your household, family members, and employees cannot enter your break.
- No raffles. The Gambling and Purchase-Based Prize Policy bans raffles or games of chance for unsold spots.
That still leaves choices: lower the last prices, accept offers, or combine two slow teams into one spot, since the Breaks feature lets you add, remove, or rename spots while the break fills. If you open with teams unsold, their cards stay with you and the break earns only what sold, as in the table above. Say your plan on stream before the break fills.
6. PYT vs random break: pros and cons
| PYT break | Random team break | |
|---|---|---|
| Who picks the team | The buyer, before paying | Nobody: teams are assigned after spots sell |
| Price per spot | Each team has its own price | Every spot costs the same |
| Revenue ceiling | Higher: demand for top teams sets their price | One spot price times the number of spots |
| Risk of unsold spots | Higher: the last cheap teams can stall | Lower: every spot has the same shot at every team |
| Fill speed | Fast at the start, slow at the end | Even, since all spots are equal |
| Best buyer | Collectors who want one team | Buyers who want a cheaper shot at the whole checklist |
| Whatnot Breaks feature | Buy It Now or auctions | Auctions, with the built-in randomizer |
| Prep work | Pricing every team from the checklist | Randomizing on camera |
Random suits a newer room, because every spot is the same price. PYT suits a regular audience that knows the product and trusts your prices. Mixers and division breaks are covered in break formats compared.
7. Whatnot rules that apply to PYT breaks
From the Card Breaks Policy, as of November 2026:
- Cards only: no jerseys, helmets, bats, or other memorabilia.
- No prizes handed out by random distribution inside a break.
- No paid bounties, guarantees, or bonus items tied to outcomes or team assignments, such as "hit the auto on your team and win a free spot."
- At least one card per purchase, even when a buyer's team does not appear in the box.
- Full visibility: the whole break stays on camera from the sale to the end.
- Rules in writing in Show Notes or the listings, including what counts as base or bulk and how it is distributed.
- No randomizer wheels, physical or digital.
8. Download the free PYT price sheet
The PYT price sheet runs this method for an NFL break in Excel or Google Sheets, with plain formulas and no macros:
- Inputs: box cost, supplies, commission (8%), processing (2.9% and $0.30), target profit, and tier weights.
- Team table: all 32 NFL teams with a tier dropdown, price, sold yes or no, and buyer.
- Suggested prices from your tiers and target, rounded up. The price column starts blank: the sheet values no team for you.
- Results: gross sales of sold teams, estimated fees, profit, and break-even and target averages per team.
The Breaks feature accepts a custom spot list pasted from a spreadsheet, so the Team and Price columns can go straight into your break. League roster sheets are on the free break templates page.
Running a PYT break live
Viewers want to see which teams are gone and which are left. BreakTemplate is a live break board: you type each buyer once in Break Control and the OBS overlay updates in about two seconds, with each break's revenue, logged costs, and profit kept together. It does not import Whatnot sales or calculate fees.
Running PYT live
A board that shows which teams are left.
Pro is $19 a month with a 3-day free trial, and the free tools and the price sheet need no account.
PYT break: questions
What is a PYT break?
PYT stands for pick your team. Each buyer chooses the exact team they want and pays that team's own price, then receives that team's cards when the product is opened live. In a random team break, every spot costs the same and teams are assigned after the spots sell.
What is the difference between a PYT and a random break?
Who picks the team and what it costs. PYT buyers choose a team at its own price, so the board can earn more, but cheap teams can go unsold. Random spots all cost the same and teams are assigned after they sell, on Whatnot with the randomizer in its Breaks feature, never a wheel.
How do you price a PYT break?
Find the gross the break needs: total cost plus your profit goal plus $0.30 per team, divided by 0.891 (8% commission plus 2.9% processing, Whatnot's Standard tier for US sports cards as of November 2026). Then split it across Premium, Mid and Value tiers from the checklist, and round up.
What happens to unsold teams in a PYT break on Whatnot?
As of November 2026, Whatnot's Card Breaks Policy requires all product in a break to be opened in the same show. If spots do not fill, honor refund requests; you can sell the spots in a future break only while the product is still sealed. You cannot buy them yourself, and raffles for unsold spots are not allowed.
Does Whatnot's Breaks feature support PYT breaks?
Yes. As of November 2026 it runs Pick Your Team breaks as Buy It Now or auctions, and random breaks as auctions. You manage it from a computer, can paste a spot list with names and prices from a spreadsheet, and can allow offers on PYT spots.
What if a buyer's team has no cards in the box?
They still get a card. Whatnot's Card Breaks Policy requires every buyer to receive at least one card for each break purchase, including in team breaks where a team might not appear. Say in your rules which card that will be.