Documentation

What is FairDrop?

FairDrop is a Shopify app that protects limited-quantity product releases from bots and resellers. Instead of watching a drop sell out in seconds to automated buyers, FairDrop ensures every purchase comes from a verified, eligible customer.

FairDrop lets you attach a protection policy to any product or variant. When a buyer tries to check out a protected item, Shopify's checkout engine enforces your rules automatically — server-side, before the order is placed.

Policy rules

Each policy is built from one or more of the following rules. Rules stack — all must pass before a buyer can check out.

  • Account required — Only logged-in customers can purchase.
  • VIP tags — Only customers carrying one of the selected tags can purchase (OR semantics).
  • Quantity cap — Limits how many units a single order can include.
  • Passkey verification — Only customers who pass a biometric challenge can purchase.
When a cart contains items governed by multiple policies, all applicable rules must pass before checkout can proceed.

Passkey verification

Passkey verification is the strongest of these rules, and the one most worth turning on for a high-demand drop. A passkey is a modern, password-free credential built into a buyer's own phone or laptop — in everyday terms, it's the same Face ID, Touch ID, or Windows Hello they already use to unlock their device. There's nothing for them to install or remember.

When this rule is on, a buyer passes a quick biometric check on their own device before a protected item goes into their cart. It takes about a second and happens right on your storefront.

Merchant Store

One tap to verify

We use your device biometric to confirm real buyers. Quick, secure, and private.

CancelVerify
Secured by FairDrop

What buyers see at add-to-cart

How it stops bot farms

Resellers run hundreds of automated checkouts from a single server to drain a drop in seconds. A fingerprint or face scan can't be scripted, copied, or run at scale — every protected purchase has to be approved by a real person physically holding a real device. That's how biometric verification keeps your limited inventory going to real customers instead of bot farms.

See the full buyer experience, step by step, in the Passkeys guide.

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Setup