What you cannot sell or promote on WhatsApp
If your category is on this list, no amount of careful template wording will fix it. Better to know before you build.
Meta's Commerce Policy defines what may be bought, sold or promoted across its platforms, including WhatsApp, and it applies to your catalog, your message templates, your business profile and your ordinary conversations alike. A restricted category is not a wording problem you can solve with a better template.
This page exists because merchants in these categories often discover the restriction after building an entire automation strategy. Ten minutes now saves that.
The prohibited categories
From Meta's Commerce Policy, the categories that block a WhatsApp commerce setup include:
- Weapons, ammunition and explosives
- Tobacco products and vaping products
- Alcohol
- Drugs, including recreational and unsafe supplements
- Adult products and services
- Real money gambling
- Counterfeit goods
- Multi-level marketing schemes
- Body parts and fluids
Meta's policy enforcement documentation separately names high-risk categories — adult content, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling and unsafe supplements — among the triggers for account-level enforcement, which runs from a warning through 1 to 3 day message-type blocks, 5, 7 or 30-day full blocks, an appealable indefinite lock, and permanent removal.
Where the policy applies
| Surface | Covered? |
|---|---|
| Your WhatsApp catalog | Yes |
| Message templates | Yes |
| Your business profile and description | Yes |
| Ordinary chat messages with a customer | Yes |
| Your website, linked from a message | Judged in context |
That fourth row is the one merchants miss. A compliant catalog does not license a non-compliant conversation.
The grey areas that catch people
- Supplements. Ordinary vitamins are generally fine; anything positioned as a weight-loss, muscle-building or health-outcome product moves toward the "unsafe supplements" line, especially with before-and-after claims.
- CBD and hemp. Treated as sensitive and heavily jurisdiction-dependent. Do not assume local legality settles it.
- Alcohol as a gift item. A hamper containing wine is still alcohol.
- Vape hardware without liquid. Still vaping products.
- Replica and "inspired by" fashion. Counterfeit, in Meta's reading, whatever your product page calls it.
- Anything financial that resembles gambling. Prediction games and paid contests need care.
Do not try to route around this. Selling a restricted product by describing it obliquely in templates is the behaviour enforcement exists to catch, and losing the number costs more than the category is worth. If your category is restricted, WhatsApp is not your channel.
If you are adjacent rather than prohibited
Plenty of stores sell one restricted line among many. Three things help:
- Keep restricted items out of the catalog even if they are on your website.
- Do not reference them in templates. Order confirmations can give an order number and total without itemising.
- Do not promote them in chat. Answering a direct question factually is different from marketing.
What happens if you get it wrong
The enforcement ladder above is graduated, so a first problem is usually a warning or a short block rather than a ban. That is worth knowing, because the panic response — creating a second WhatsApp Business Account to keep trading — is far more likely to end in permanent removal than working through an appeal.
Appeals go through Business Support Home and are typically decided in 24 to 48 hours. Our guide to what to do when your account is restricted covers the process.
Check before you build
If any part of your range appears above, read the Commerce Policy itself before you invest in templates, flows or a number. It is the shortest document in this entire subject and the one with the largest consequences.
Frequently asked questions
What products are banned on WhatsApp Business?
Meta's Commerce Policy prohibits weapons and ammunition, tobacco and vaping products, alcohol, drugs, adult products, real money gambling, counterfeit goods, multi-level marketing and body parts or fluids.
Does the Commerce Policy apply to normal chat messages?
Yes. It covers your catalog, message templates, business profile and ordinary message threads — a compliant catalog does not license a non-compliant conversation.
Can I sell supplements on WhatsApp?
Ordinary vitamins are generally acceptable, but anything positioned around weight loss, muscle building or health outcomes moves toward the unsafe-supplements restriction, which Meta names among its enforcement triggers.
What happens if I break the Commerce Policy?
Enforcement is graduated: a warning, then 1–3 day blocks on a message type, then 5, 7 or 30-day blocks on all messaging, then an appealable indefinite lock, then permanent removal.