mallow docs

Gumball

Sell artworks through a virtual gumball machine: each purchase draws a random piece from the pool, so collectors only find out which one they got after buying.

Gumball lifecycle
Every purchase is a random draw
  1. Load the machineNew artworks, or pre-minted ones from you and collaborators
  2. Sell in phasesUp to 4 optional allowlist phases, then public
  3. Collectors drawEach purchase gets one random artwork
  4. End and closeClaim proceeds, then close to get your rent back

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.

This page is for sellers. Gumball and Jellybean covers a draw from the collector's side.

Every draw costs the same8 of 8 left
Pool
Collected

Nothing drawn yet.

Each item left: 1 in 8 chance

An illustration with eight placeholder items. Each purchase draws one item at random from those still in the pool, and a drawn item never goes back in.

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.

  • Sweepstake (No-loss Draw)

    Let any number of collectors enter during a set time window. A verifiable on-chain draw picks the winners, and every other entry is refunded. See Sweepstake.

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.

See Physicals for how buyers send their details after a draw.

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, up to 10% (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

  • mallow receives a 5% share of all sales
  • For pre-minted artwork, any curator fee and then creator royalties are deducted next
  • The rest goes to the Gumball creator, or to each collaborator for their own artworks

Fees lists every Gumball fee, including what collectors pay per draw.

Getting Started

Create Your Gumball

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

Configure Collaborators (Optional - Pre-minted only)

If you want to create a collaborative Gumball:

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

Set Up Allowlist Phases (Optional)

Create exclusive presale phases:

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

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. Mint your artworks first if you haven't yet.
  • Each artwork becomes one "gumball" in your machine

Pre-minted - Collaborative Gumball:

  • Review submitted artworks from collaborators
  • Accept or decline submissions

Launch Your Sale

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

Ending Your Sale

  1. Sales automatically end once all Gumballs are sold
  2. You can end the sale at any point (once ended, Gumballs cannot be re-started!)
  3. Once ended, proceeds and any remaining artworks can be claimed (Pre-minted only)
  4. 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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