Gumball

Create randomized artwork distribution where collectors never know which piece they'll receive until after purchase, building excitement and discovery.

What is Gumball?

Gumball is a tool created by mallow that lets you sell artworks through a virtual gumball machine. When buyers collect from the gumball machine, they will receive a random artwork from the prize pool.

Key Features

Random Distribution

Each purchase draws a random artwork from the loaded artworks.

Collaboration Support

Invite collaborators to contribute artworks to your Gumball, with automatic revenue sharing.

Allowlist Phases

Create up to 4 exclusive sale phases with custom pricing and access controls before public launch.

Flexible Pricing

Support for SOL, USDC, and other SPL tokens with different prices per phase.

Physical Rewards

Optionally include physical items or experiences as rewards for buyers.

Gumball Studio

Track sales, revenue, and performance metrics in real-time.

Sales Configuration

Gumball Details

Mode

Choose between New artworks or Pre-minted
When choosing New artworks you'll upload images and metadata to be minted by the buyer when purchased
- This mode requires a Collection, in which all purchased artworks will be minted into (you can mint a Collection first if needed)
When choosing Pre-minted you'll be selecting existing artworks in your wallet
- You can only collaborate with others using Pre-minted artworks

Name

Enter a title for your Gumball sale (32 character limit)
This appears on the Gumball page and Explore page cards

Description

Add an optional description explaining your Gumball sale (1000 character limit)
Help collectors understand the concept and artworks included

Thumbnail

Upload a cover image representing your Gumball sale
Recommended size: 690px (w) x 920px (h)
Supported formats: .jpeg, .gif, .webp, .png (10mb max)

Categories and Tags

Select relevant categories to improve discoverability
Add custom tags to help collectors find your work
Tags also determine automatic categorization

Physical Artwork

Include physical artwork with sale - Check this if you're selling a physical piece along with each sale.
- Describe any pertinent shipping details the collector should know about
- Optionally upload a photo of the physical piece to show collectors what they're getting
Ask buyer for shipping address - Check this if you want collectors to send you their shipping address through mallow.

Rewards

If you want to reward buyers with something special, let them know here!

Supported Artworks

If using the New artworks mode, all NFTs will be minted as Metaplex Core assets
If using Pre-minted mode, both Metaplex Core and Legacy 1/1's are supported
Maximum items per Gumball: 1000
Choose to invite others to submit artworks or sell solo (Pre-minted mode only)

Pricing

Set a specific price for the buyer
Currency options: SOL, USDC, or other supported tokens
Minimum: 0.01 SOL or equivalent

Curator Fees (Pre-minted Collaborative Gumballs)

Curator Fee: % of each sale (optionally set by curator)
Proceeds automatically sent to artwork creators

Wallet limit

Optionally set a specific limit of how many items each wallet can purchase

Start Time

Start manually: Launch when you're ready
Scheduled start: Set a specific date and time for automatic launch
All times displayed in your local timezone

Allowlist Phases

Setup Requirements

Requires a scheduled start time
Maximum of 4 allowlist phases before public sale

Phase Configuration

Each allowlist phase includes:

Phase name: Descriptive title for the presale
Duration: How long the phase will last for. A phase always starts when the previous one ends.
Pricing: Can differ from public price
Wallet allowlist: CSV or JSON upload of eligible addresses

Proceeds Splits

Proceeds go to the Gumball creator
For pre-minted artwork, royalties are first deducted
mallow receives a 5% share of all sales

Getting Started

Step 1: Create Your Gumball

Navigate to Create → Gumball
Set your machine's name, description, and cover image
Choose your pricing structure and payment token
Configure sale timing and wallet limits

Step 2: Configure Collaborators (Optional - Pre-minted only)

If you want to create a collaborative Gumball:

Set the maximum number of collaborators
Define an optional curator fee
Send collaboration invites to other artists
Wait for artists to submit their artworks

Step 3: Set Up Allowlist Phases (Optional)

Create exclusive presale phases:

Phase Name: Give each phase a descriptive name
Duration: Set start and end times
Price: Set phase-specific pricing
Allowlist: Upload CSV/JSON of eligible wallet addresses

Step 4: Load Artworks

New Artwork:

Select your image and metadata files, ensuring that file names match (eg. 001.png -> 001.json)
The metadata must follow the template here: https://mallow.art/metadata-example.json
You must select the same number of images as the number of artworks set on your Gumball
Confirm the transaction to pay for storage
Confirm the transaction to update the Gumball

Pre-minted - Solo Gumball:

Select pre-minted artworks directly through the interface. Use the minting tool if you don't have your artworks minted yet.
Each artwork becomes one "gumball" in your machine

Pre-minted - Collaborative Gumball:

Review submitted artworks from collaborators
Accept or decline submissions

Step 5: Launch Your Sale

Review all settings and loaded artworks
Start sales when ready
Monitor performance through the Gumball Studio

Step 6: Ending Your Sale

Sales automatically end once all Gumballs are sold
You can end the sale at any point (once ended, Gumballs cannot be re-started!)
Once ended, proceeds and any remaining artworks can be claimed (Pre-minted only)
Once proceeds are claimed, close your Gumball to receive your SOL rent paid when creating

Ready to create your first Gumball Machine? Head to the Create page to get started!

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