Hi everyone! At the start of the month, we announced that we had made some important updates to our User Agreement. If you missed that announcement, you can find it here.
There were two important parts to this announcement, each one generating several follow up questions from our players.
PART I: Archiving and Deleting Accounts
“Webkinz World accounts are no longer being archived. Accounts that have purchased pets, in-game currency or Deluxe memberships may be deleted after 24 months of inactivity. Accounts with no paid activity may be deleted after six months of inactivity.”
“Players with archived accounts will have until September 30, 2019 to retrieve them. As of October 1, 2019, all remaining accounts in the archive will be deleted. As a result, the usernames associated to these accounts will be available once again to register as new accounts.”
Here are some of the questions you asked about this updated account policy, followed by our answers:
Q: Does this mean you are deleting all free accounts?
A: No. We are only deleting abandoned accounts still in our archives as of October 1, 2019
Q: How do I retrieve my account if it is archived?
A: If you know your user name and password, just attempting to log in will automatically retrieve your account from our archives within 24 hours.
Q: What if I don’t remember part of my log in?
A: Please email Customer Support at: webkinzsupport@ganz.com. Please note though, they can only search for an account by user name, an email (if one was provided), or one of the registered pet Adoption Codes on the account.
Q: I haven’t played Webkinz in many years, but I still know my user name and password, yet when I try to log in it says that my information isn’t correct.
A: If you haven’t logged in to your Webkinz account in more than 7 years, we are currently required by online child privacy laws to delete it.
Q: What can I do if my old account has been deleted?
A: If you still wish to play Webkinz, the only thing you can do is start a new account. Starting a new Webkinz account is FREE, comes with a pet of your choice, and also includes a 3 day free Deluxe Membership trial.
Q: I’m already playing Webkinz. If I don’t log in, will you delete my account?
A: STARTING OCTOBER 1ST, 2019: If you have a FREE account where you NEVER adopted another pet, or NEVER bought eStore Points, or NEVER bought a Deluxe Membership—and then stop logging in—we will delete that account after 6 months from your last log in. If you have done ANY 1 of those paid actions—even if your account is currently downgraded to the “Free Player” tier, we will only delete that account after 2 years from the last log in.
Q: Why are you deleting paid accounts after 2 years of inactivity now instead of 7?
A: We have already proactively retrieved many of the biggest accounts from our archives, in an attempt to preserve them for players who may return within the original 7 year legal deadline. However, there are still millions of smaller accounts that add up to massive amounts of data which is no longer feasible to store. Removing these accounts also means that millions of user names will be freed up for new players.
Q: To keep my account active, do I have to log into my account through the web or the mobile app?
A: Logging in to Webkinz on web, desktop, or mobile will all keep your account active.
PART II: Selling or Trading of Virtual Items
“The User Agreement now also explicitly forbids the sale or trade of any and all virtual items, with the exception of the trading of items for items through the in-game system. Virtual items may not be sold for cash, traded for eStore points, or traded for any equivalent service or consideration. Accounts violating these terms may be permanently banned.”
Here are some of the questions you asked about this updated virtual item policy, followed by our answers:
Q: Can we still trade items in the Clubhouse Trading Room?
A: Yes. Using our in-game trading system is still allowed.
Q: Can we still send items through KinzPost?
A: Yes. See more about this below.
Q: Can we still sell items for KinzCash back to the WShop?
A: Yes. Selling items in the WShop is still allowed.
Q: Can we still arrange for trading items on the Webkinz Newz trading forums?
A: Yes.
Q: What if a trade of virtual items was arranged between two players outside of Webkinz World, like on Facebook?
A: As long as it is a straight trade of virtual items through the Clubhouse Trading Room —not involving eStore Points, real money, or equivalent services—where the trade was arranged doesn’t matter. Remember KinzPost is for gifting ONLY, not for trading.
Q: Can we still gift items to friends and family through KinzPost?
A: Yes. Anything sent as a true gift is fine. But if that “gift” was sent in exchange for real money, eStore Points, or equivalent services–THAT is not allowed.
Q: Does this mean we can’t buy or sell any virtual Webkinz items on sites like eBay?
A: Correct.
Q: Can we trade codes for virtual items or virtual pets for real money, eStore Points, or equivalent services?
A: Codes are yours and can be sold/traded as you see fit. Just remember that you can’t trade the codes for virtual items in an any way, as virtual items can only be traded through our in-game trading system. Also, if you trade codes for any service that breaks our Terms of Service, your account will be considered to have broken our Terms of Service as well.
Q: I paid real money for some of the virtual items and pets on my account. Doesn’t that mean I own them and can do anything I want with them?
A: No. Please refer to our User Agreement which states that all game content “is owned, controlled or licensed by or to Ganz”.
Q: What about buying pet Adoption Code tags from places like eBay or other sites?
A: While buying the physical Webkinz pet Adoption Code tags that are not attached to a plush toy from a secondary seller on sites like eBay is not forbidden in our User Agreement, it is not recommended. An unsealed Webkinz pet Adoption Code may already be used, or could potentially compromise your account’s security.
Did I miss any questions you still have about this update? And what would you like me to report on next? Let me know in the comments below.
I’m a bit confused on the buying the physical plush online. I buy lots/bundles of Webkinz from eBay all the time of the physical plushies with their tags still attached. Is this okay? It seems to be according to the fact it’s not a virtual item. I’m just double checking! I’d rather not share sensitive information and tell people to do something against the rules.
Yep, that’s fine.
Hey Steve, um all those abandoned accounts’ rare items just send them all to me okay? LOL JK :P emerald57 send me the lava lamps and the lava column I always wanted but never came back to the estore. Okay but seriously thanks for the update for real!
Oh yeah and the old clothing costumes: Hippo, Lion, Black Cat, etc… LOL
I’m sorry I’m being jokey about this as I know this is very virtually serious stuff. I paid thousands of dollars over the years on Webkinz and estore items, I still have tons of pets and estore items I never logged in yet, will they expire? I have an un logged in Cheeky Dog and brand new Zums from back then. I love to collect Webkinz and would never sell them. I gave my neighbors’ kiddos two of my un-logged in Webkinz from my collection (Panda and Love Monkey) they were so happy! They LOVE the game now too! I would never sell any of my things. But I can see how with the old accounts being deleted folks may try to sell their virtuals, crazy. Alright bye for now.
Will deleted accounts user names be deleted from our friends list?
I’m wondering the same thing. It will be nice to clean up the friends list from the abandoned accounts.
I’ve seen Webkinz groups on facebook where they buy/sell/trade all sorts of items. For example, more than once there has been an individual who purchased trading cards. That person was lucky enough to get a trading card for a free Magical Retriever. The packet of cards sold for approximately $1.00 USD. The individual was placing the Magical Retriever Card up for sale to the highest bidder with the starting bid of $100.00 USD or more. I personally felt this was extremely greedy and it did not sit well with me at all. Under the new terms of the agreement, I assume this would be unacceptable. Am I correct?
If I’m reading the agreement correctly, selling a pet code is not against the rules. Ganz just highly discourages it because the pet code can be used to gain access to the account that adopted the pet. So, it’s more of a security issue. I agree with you that it seems greedy, but I don’t think it was technically violating anything since it was a code.
Thanks for your answer, Sally. No selling involved. I don’t even know how that would be done, and don’t want to know! Thanks again, gml1939
I had an account 8 or 9 years ago that expired and I could no longer access. The password was reset but I still couldn’t access it. Is there any way for me to restore that account, or has it exceeded the reactivation window?
I’m sorry, but yes it has exceeded the time limit in the archives, above it says, “If you haven’t logged in to your Webkinz account in more than 7 years, we are currently required by online child privacy laws to delete it.”
I have a question Steve… I have 14 accounts in total, 10 with new pets adopted and 4 free accounts. I log into my free accounts every day or two and do the activities I can. Even though I do this does it mean that my accounts will still be deleted unless I adopt a pet within the 6 months? And is it 6 months from the September 30 deadline or just 6 months from when a pet was last adopted in each of my free accounts?
Your doing fine! There’s no need at all to purchase a pet on your free accounts, as long as you keep logging in often or before 6 months then you will be okay! All that adopting a pet on your free accounts will do is extend the time they will expire for not logging in to 2 years. So nothing to worry about, just keep logging in often and no problem! I have 11 accounts total between my 2 siblings and I. I believe only a couple accounts has never had anything bought on it, so I myself need to remember to log into them often!
Thank you :)
Some of the information here seems to be contradictory. Steve, you said that virtual items CAN’T be bought or sold on sites like eBay, yet you go on to say “Codes are yours and can be sold/traded AS YOU SEE FIT” which would indicate that virtual items can in fact be sold and bought by players on eBay, etc. I’ve NEVER bought virtual items anywhere other than the W-Shop/eStore but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen listing for rares, exclusives, etc. on eBay when looking for older plush pets. I don’t know how you intend to stop that from happening going forward. Furthermore, I think some of the language used here is confusing. I’m not sure if there’s a simpler way to put some of this stuff, but I think a lot of us are confused. How can we make sure we are abiding by the rules if we don’t completely understand them? I certainly don’t intend to break any of the rules implemented via this new policy, but it would be much easier to do so if I understood exactly what it is that is and isn’t allowed.
There is a difference between codes and virtual items. The codes CAN be sold, but the virtual items (things that are already in the game, for example a Super Bed or a retired exclusive) can NOT.
Hi I’m still a bit confused; I know that people have more than one account, so can we still send items through trade or kinzpost to those accounts?
Hi sorry I’m a bit confused. How will Ganz be able to track trades made outside of Webkinz or tell the difference between a trade or gifting? Also quite a few people still ask to trade points in the trading room and seem to get away with it? How do you hold people accountable for their action? Thanks
We will not be sharing the details of that process, sorry. Feel free to report individuals.
Sally, you’re so awesome!! Not only do you work for Webkinz, YOU’RE LIKE A DETECTIVE!! Sally the Sleuth Snake! =D
Will you be adding filters where you can not ask for estore points?
My guess to the estore point thing is they might try to add a filter so you can’t ask for points in the trading room. Monitoring social media for will also be a deterrent for people asking for estore points. Keyword searches aren’t too difficult to do.