Over the past year, a separate market with a turnover of hundreds of millions of dollars has formed around gifts in the messenger, and it is written about mainly by those who sell access to it. Let’s examine the mechanics, since the difference between the two types of gifts determines whether you can earn anything at all.

Two Types of Gifts, and a Huge Gap Between Them

An ordinary gift is purchased with the messenger’s internal currency and has practically zero resale value. It can only be converted back into Stars within a few days of receipt, and that is all. A collectible gift is issued in a limited quantity and can be converted into a digital asset on the blockchain, after which it is allowed to be sold on marketplaces. In other words, earnings are possible only with the second type, while the first is simply a gift.

The first thing worth checking before taking any action is whether your gift has the collectible label, since without it, all subsequent calculations are meaningless.

How Much Is That in Hryvnias?

The value of one Star is approximately UAH 0.55–0.65, depending on the purchase method. A collectible gift on the marketplace costs from 125 Stars, or approximately UAH 70–80, while the upper limit is 100,000 Stars, or approximately UAH 55,000–65,000. Some rare items have been sold on third-party platforms for thousands of dollars, and these are precisely the cases that generate interest in the topic. To understand the scale of the market: a batch of 2,000 themed gifts priced at around $200 each sold out in 6 minutes, meaning the messenger earned approximately $400,000 from a single release.

The Calculation That Determines Everything

Here is the arithmetic missing from materials that promote this topic. The built-in marketplace takes 20% of a gift sale. This means that for you to break even, the price of your gift must increase by at least 25% relative to the purchase price. Let’s calculate it. You bought a gift for 1,000 Stars. You sold it for 1,000 Stars. You received 800. The loss is 200 Stars, or approximately UAH 120. To get your 1,000 back, you need to sell it for at least 1,250 Stars. To earn anything noticeable, the increase must be 40–50%. On third-party platforms, the commission is lower, at approximately 2%, but there are additional costs for converting the gift into a blockchain asset, transferring it, and converting cryptocurrency into hryvnias. In other words, none of the platforms allows you to earn money from a small price movement.

What This Actually Means

This is not earning income but speculation. Your income arises only when someone else buys your gift for more than you paid for it. There is no internal return here, meaning the gift produces nothing and does not accrue interest. It simply sits there and either increases or decreases in value depending on whether there is demand for it. This fundamentally distinguishes it from channel monetization, where you sell an advertiser real access to an audience. A comparison with government bonds is also illustrative. There, you receive approximately 16% annually without tax and without the risk of losing the amount invested. Here, you either double the amount or lose most of it, and it is impossible to predict which will happen.

Why Most People Lose Money

A new collection is released amid a surge of excitement because the edition is limited and all the themed channels announce it. The price on the secondary market jumps during the first few days, and it is precisely these charts that are published in advertisements promoting the topic. Then the excitement subsides, demand disappears, and the price falls, often below its initial level. People who enter after seeing the growth chart buy at the peak, and by then, there is no one left for them to sell to. The rule here is the same as for any similar assets: if you learned about the opportunity through an advertisement, you are not among the first, and someone is already exiting their position.

A Separate Category of Risk

Two things must be clearly distinguished.

The official gift shop and the built-in marketplace are part of the messenger’s own mechanics. So-called gift cases, giveaway bots, and third-party mini-apps that promise prizes are not part of the messenger’s mechanics. These are separate services for which the platform bears no responsibility. The practical consequences are as follows: if you do not receive what was promised, it is usually impossible to get your Stars back because there is no one to turn to. The most common schemes in this area look like this. Bots that promise free collectible gifts for completing tasks but actually collect data or demand payment of a fee. Fake marketplaces that look like the real thing, where you transfer a gift and do not receive payment. Offers to buy Stars at a discount through dubious services. Private sellers who ask you to transfer the gift first. The rule is simple: transfer a gift only through a marketplace with a simultaneous exchange mechanism, rather than making a direct deal.

Tax Considerations for Ukrainians

If you withdraw funds through cryptocurrency, this is income from transactions involving virtual assets.

Under the current rules in Ukraine, there is no separate tax regime for such income, and it is taxed at the general rate of 23%, consisting of 18% personal income tax plus a 5% military levy. Tax is charged on income, not profit. This is worth taking into account in your calculations because it is added to the marketplace commission.

When It Makes Sense

To be honest, there are few cases. If you already receive gifts from your channel’s audience, selling collectible gifts provides additional income without investment, and this is the only option without risk. If you have been involved in this area for a long time, understand the mechanics of releases, and are prepared for some of your investment not to be recovered. If the amount you are dealing with is one whose loss you would not notice. It does not make sense if you view this as a way to earn money, if you are investing your last funds, or if you make decisions based on other people’s growth charts.

Summary

You can earn money only from collectible gifts, since ordinary gifts have no resale value at all, and checking the type of gift must come first. The built-in marketplace takes 20%, meaning that for a simple break-even, the price must increase by approximately 25%, and for noticeable earnings, by 40–50%, making small-scale speculation pointless. The main point is that the gift produces nothing and does not accrue interest, meaning your income is possible only at the expense of someone who buys it for more, and therefore this is speculation with all its characteristics, not a source of income.

Sources

Data on the built-in marketplace commission and the price range of collectible gifts, information on market volumes and individual releases. Break-even calculations and conversion into hryvnias were performed by the editorial team.