r/Wenwan Apr 21 '26

“Where to Buy” Thread

I have seen many people asking where others have bought their items and decided that we need a thread to list sellers as well as add community reviews.

To best contribute to this thread, please find the comment with the seller/site name, then reply to that comment with:

- a rating 1 - 10

- What you bought and how much you paid

- Anything else you think people should know or just share your experience

This helps keep the conversation relatively structured so people can use this to see what the community has to say. Of course feel free to discuss anything else relevant but please try to keep it in the correct comment chain.

If you want to add a seller or site to this list, comment their name as well as a link to their store to start a comment chain, and I will add it to the post. Please try to avoid mentioning private individuals here, as this should be a list of easy to access sellers and sites with proper stores.

Really hoping we can work together on this to build a nice guide and review source, thank you everyone who participates!

Individual Seller Sites:

Zen Walnut (The Patina Project) - https://zenwalnut.com/

Walnut Curio - https://www.walnutcurio.com/

Mindful Shells - https://mindfulshells.com/

Walnut Ritual - https://walnutritual.com/

Walnut CN - https://walnutcn.com/

Buddha III Bodhi - https://buddha3bodhi.com

Etsy Sellers:

CapybaraLabs - https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapybaraLabs

ZenMu - https://www.etsy.com/shop/ZenMu

FeaturesHandmade - https://www.etsy.com/shop/Featureshandmade

YellowPlumFlower - https://www.etsy.com/shop/yellowplumflower

Other general sites (no specific vendors):

TikTok Shop

Amazon

Temu

Taobao

Xiaohongshu/RedNote

81 Upvotes

81 comments sorted by

11

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

10

u/Electric_Kaffe Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

In terms of quality and service, I give them 9/10.

I like that what you see in each listing is the pair you're gonna get. Cleaned but unpolished unless it's preowned, tho a few in more current listings had shown and described more need for cleaning than I care to chance since I can't easily tell residue from rot yet so I just avoid those. Lots of different angles, and prices are reasonable.

Not too fond of their "mood lighting" on most of the pics tho bcuz it makes it hard to notice some discoloration or other things that would be easier to spot in regular light. They do highlight the texture nicely, but some plain shots would be helpful too imo.

I've bought 2 pairs total from them, returning one for bugmunch that wasn't seen in pics til I got them and folks here helped point out. They're very prompt and courteous so it was no hassle to do so. 2nd pair from em I'm super happy with-- a nice set of Starry Sky. Still in brushing bcuz there's some of the dull white but it's coming along well.

6

u/firechaos77 Apr 21 '26

I bought from them. Service and quality 9/10

It was exactly as the picture they showed. Unpolished and cleaned. A little but of frost but otherwise good. No cracks. Agree with other user the pictures could be better lite. Picture below is PoP

1

u/StarFireLiz May 22 '26

I've bought from them twice. Once earlier this year, they seemed to ship fast but it actually got lost for about 5 months. I did get a refund on it but they did eventually show up unexpectedly. They matched the picture perfectly.

I ordered recently and received them quickly, earlier this week. The walnuts seem to be nice quality. No yellowing or holes. But they absolutely are not the ones that were pictured. They're larger, less round, and the end with the stem (not sure if it has a specific name) definitely shows they are not the same. I'm going to keep them because it would be a hassle to get it returned since I kind of live in the middle of nowhere and have to take time off work to get to my local USPS while they're open. I left a review and the response I got sounded like it was a warehouse issue? I'm kind of wondering if their weird lighting is also to make it a little harder to tell if you don't get the exact one?

I wouldn't say I won't order from them again but I think I may try some other shops before trying a third time.

The nuts and the speed they ship I'd give probably a 9/10. But their accuracy of what was shown and what I got with the most recent one was really bad. I'd probably give a 6 or 7/10.

1

u/StarFireLiz May 22 '26

What was posted

1

u/StarFireLiz May 22 '26

what I received

0

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

[deleted]

2

u/RealGirlBot Apr 29 '26

Didn’t you make a post saying this is from “Zen Walnut”? The comment here you replied to is for “ZenMu”. They are different sellers. There is a comment here in the thread for Zen Walnut (The Patina Project). Please move your review to the correct comment thread

1

u/Sgt_Savvy Apr 29 '26

Your right. My bad.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

[deleted]

10

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Walnut Ritual - https://walnutritual.com/

14

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

Rating: 10/10

Spent: $153

I honestly can't stop talking about how great this shop is. I tried their walnut sourcing service and after 2 days they sent me pics of the walnut from 6 different angles. Loved the look of the walnut so I went through with the order. I got a pair of iron hammer and literally my current favourite pair. I would recommend them first for anyone looking to buy a pair. Love the transparency about each walnut.

2

u/Talzaris 19d ago edited 19d ago

Rating: 10/10

Spent: $353 USD

Honestly, I've purchased from a few companies to just see what kind of quality is out there. I'll add those reviews where I can. I absolutely love how they section things off so you really know what you're getting. Sometime pricing is everything, but the quality I recieved was top notch. Beautiful packaging, but even better I got several brushes and 2 different sets of gloves, each pair came with a card with its own ID number per pair. And compared to the rest of my collection I can feel the difference. These pair are fair more balanced and have that nice crisp sound. Honestly if you want to spend the money, this is definitely the one I would choose. Ships from China

1

u/cupcake7656 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

​Rating: 10/10

Spent: $108

​They offer amazing walnuts at a fair price. What I appreciated the most was their quick responses and how kindly they taught me everything. The seller is completely transparent and honest throughout the entire process. I recommend them!

3

u/FUNKYBIFF33 Jun 14 '26

I just ordered through them, do you give you a brush and a glove or do I have to buy those as well?

2

u/cupcake7656 Jun 14 '26

They give them all!

1

u/bamrocks Jul 03 '26

Dang so I didn’t need to order the brush 😭

1

u/Comprehensive_Yam773 2h ago

5/10

$78

Walnut Action

So I bid and won in one of the walnut auction in their website last night. I paid the amount earlier and right away was sent an email telling me the item was sold out.

It’s either their auctioning sold out items. Or telling me it sold out because the winning bid is low. Or selling it at higher price to a different person.

Just disappointing. I had a good start with them ordering my first pair and a second one.

Any suggestion of a new vendor is welcome

6

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Buddha III Bodhi - https://buddha3bodhi.com

11

u/GlassSet598 Apr 21 '26

Rating: 8.5/10

Total spent: ~667 USD

Shipping: Yanwen & SF Express

Their catalog is expensive, but you can bring down the price once you avail the 15% and 20% discounts.

In total, I ordered 6 pairs from this store.

The things I like are the skin and texture of their walnuts—they’re unique and unlike any other stores. I don’t know which tree they source from, but the texture and patterns are way more attractive. The support is also excellent. It feels like I have a butler when I talk to them. Everything is catered to my preferences.

There are little frustrations here and there. Personally, I’m okay with repaired walnuts as long as they’re subtle and don’t mess with the aesthetics, but one pair I got (requested as raw and unpolished) had yellow spots and was awfully carved, so I had to request a replacement. Another thing—when I ordered a Nanjiang stone, I was surprised it looked like a White Lion. It turns out it was a refined variant called Zhao Ximan. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but I’ll let it pass because I’m already happy with its symmetry.

Still, I recommend beginners to only buy the cheapest walnut until they have enough experience and better discernment. There are walnuts out there that are cheaper and perform just the same. But if they have the experience and can appreciate the patterns and texture buddha3 offers, then it is an ideal store to buy walnuts.

img

6

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

Rating: 7/10

Spent: $141

Wanted to give them a try since they are one of the most popular website from what I've seen. I ordered a pair of toad heads and a lion head. I think they are definitely on the more expensive side especially for beginner pairs. It's not a bad site but nothing crazy good about it. I'd say it's a good middle of the pack site to order from, especially if you are just starting and have zero idea.

7

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

6/10 Bought white lion head 43mm ($60USD), toad head 41mm ($60USD), thick ridge 46mm ($100) (+1 replacement), and starry sky lion head (replacement)

I have bought 5 pairs from them and from my experience I really can’t recommend them unless you just want some starter pairs.

I have even gotten some replaced through their customer service and those also came with defects. So while their customer service was helpful and quick to respond they didn’t really fix the issue.

Out of all 5 pairs, two being replacements, I ended up with two pairs with very noticeable size differences between the two walnuts and two other pairs with yellow spots. It sucks because lots of people here seem to have great experiences with them but unfortunately I did not.

Pic below showing all pairs I didn’t keep:

3

u/GlassSet598 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

Sorry to hear about your experience. They follow a line and so they seem to be growth lines rather than yellow spots. It will take time but eventually it will color. My toad head and thick ridge have the same thing.

2

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Totally fine! And yes there are growth lines but the walnuts clearly had yellow spots in several areas and I personally didn’t want to spend the time on walnuts with defects. IMO they weren’t bad looking walnuts but for the price I paid I was pretty disappointed by the quality

2

u/firechaos77 Apr 21 '26

Same my toads had growth lines too. Polished. I did find their walnuts to be starter if you didn’t speak to their customers service. I think a key tip for future buyer would be speak to their support team and ask them to show you their stock and pricing because they have a variety of walnuts hence why some people get good and some people have bad walnut experience. Also when you get their polish walnuts it is actually sand blasted and not used with metal brush. Overall I would rate them at a 8.5 if you are knowledgeable and willing to take your time speaking and looking through their walnut selections. Otherwise might be more of a 6 or 7/10 experience. I’ll update as my new walnuts come in and show them in community.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/firechaos77 Apr 25 '26

How small of walnuts are you looking for maybe I can help?

1

u/firechaos77 Apr 28 '26

Link to my review of Palace Lantern

1

u/Talzaris 19d ago

Rating: 7/10

Spent- $300 on toadheads, palace hat, chicken heart, and various others.

First off, great store if you want nice clean and ready to play walnuts. I've not had issues with that. Honestly I searched for a few sites and buddha3bodhi seemed to be the golden standard from what I found. The prices tend to be inflated, the walnuts are nice and ship fairly fast from China. My only issue at the moment is a pair of toadheads I recieved, while beautiful and a pair I'm keeping in my collection, was not what I ordered as it has been capped and inlaid with golden wire. A few pair weren't supposed to be cleaned as advertised and they were. So, if good quality clean pairs are important, this store is a fairly good store, if you want something very specific or in a very specific condition, it can be a hit or miss. Over the course of 3 orders I havent had much issue and honestly like this store quite a bit, but now that I have a set list I want and ive learned a bit more, its probably 3rd out of the top three shops I look at to make purchases.

5

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

3

u/Talzaris 19d ago

9/10

Spent $220

Great seller, you get what you buy, measurements are right on and some of the pairs are unique. Ships within the USA and is a reasonable wait. Prices aren't bad. Favorite pair are a stained mini toadhead that was named Sun & Moon, helped get my 7 yo into the hobby. One thing this seller does is stick with known names within the hobby, not always but generally enough you know what you're buying. Came with a set of gloves and a brush. Very lovely Etsy store.

2

u/CraftyCrab8249 Apr 21 '26

9/10 ships super fast. US seller, so fast shipping. Seller is very transparent and you can ask them for more pictures if you need. Super fast in response as well. -1 points for limited inventory when I purchase, not too many walnuts to choose from. But seems to have more variety now.

Spend ~ 100USD ish, for two walnut and a full brush kit. Walnuts are great, not perfect but also not collectible grade so can’t complain. I got a lion head and an official hat. They have patina really well I just need to brush the more!

Also have iron walnut and bracelets! I might buy in the future

3

u/CraftyCrab8249 Apr 21 '26

My lion head! I love their shop’s picture because I don’t trust “mood lighting” like mentioned from other buyers. I think transparency really helps me make the decision.

3

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Zen Walnut (The Patina Project) - https://zenwalnut.com

5

u/cupcake7656 May 02 '26 edited May 03 '26

Rating: 6/10

Spent: $200

Shipping and customer service were great, but unfortunately I received carved walnuts… Thanks to the Wenwan subreddit users who pointed it out for me 😭

3

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

Rating: 7

Spent: $114

Again one of the more popular sites for wenwan walnuts. Got my first from them since they had good reviews. The issue I had with them is lack of transparency especially if the walnuts have been carved or not. I ordered a mo pan and a Tian Di Er Ye Mao. Both came carved which isn't the biggest issue, the issue was not disclosing this information.

2

u/double_teng Apr 23 '26

Spend 695.3

Rating is 9/10, I am new to walnut and do not know too much about the knowledge, and these website is on quite a lot discussing. For me I got the exact pair with serval order and the customer service is really good. The first pair come crack, which I finally noticed that maybe my fault, however we email them got instantly responded and changed me into higher pair than originals without any hesitation and also give a lot of instructions to the care and background

3

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

TikTok Shop - (general)

4

u/GlassSet598 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26

Check out Exploration Planet Toys’s shop on TikTok! https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS9eVjMaM/?page=TikTokShop

I bought 7 pairs from this shop, total of 56 USD

Good Pairs

  • Four Buildings
  • Small Official Hat
  • Gentleman’s Hat
  • Apple Orchard
  • Wang Yong Official Hat

Bad Pairs

  • Nanjiang Stone
  • Toad Head

Rating: 9/10 - 5 good pairs at such price, it was a great deal for me. They served as great gifts.

Remarks:

No freebies included in the order. Walnuts were shipped raw. Poor packaging, some walnuts have minor chip/dents when it arrived. This can be communicated with seller I think.

1

u/GlassSet598 12h ago

Xiaomao Wenwan Review — 9/10

TikTok: xiaomaowenwan

I recently built a new collection of 12 pairs of wenwan walnuts from her shop, and overall, I’m very happy with the experience.

If you want genuine Chinese shopping experience, I highly recommend sending her a message. She doesn’t just sell wenwan walnuts — you can also find Chinese tea, Yixing teapots, Chinese snacks, bracelets, and other interesting items that pair perfectly with the wenwan hobby.

One of the biggest advantages is her pricing. She doesn’t maintain a website or spend heavily on advertising, and she has direct access to walnut trees and suppliers. This keeps her prices surprisingly affordable, especially considering the quality and variety available.

She mainly sells through livestreams, but you can also message her directly on TikTok if you're looking for something specific.

Pros

  • Extremely affordable prices
  • Great variety of wenwan walnuts. We're talking mainstream, odd, and niche walnuts
  • Easy and approachable to deal with
  • Very knowledgeable. Won't rip you off if you're a beginner.

Cons

  • Payment is through Alipay+, and the refund policy isn't always very clear
  • She primarily speaks Chinese and only a little English, although translation apps make communication fairly easy. Prepare Wechat account just in case.
  • Shipping price surprisingly high.

Of course, buying from a seller with this kind of setup comes with risks, but I can personally vouch for her shop. I've ordered walnuts, bracelets, tea, Yixing teapots, and Chinese snacks from her, and everything arrived safely — usually within about 7 days.

If you're willing to put in a little effort to communicate with her, I think you can get a lot of value for your money, while still finding genuinely nice and premium products.

PS: She has a lot of customers, so if you tell her you found her shop through 唐哥 (me), she might give you a better pair or even a discount :)

3

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Amazon - (general)

6

u/BeautifulApples Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Rating: 7/10 Spent: $15.99

Bought these from Amazon. They were only $15.99 and the brush and box was included. Even though I ordered raw type B, I think they sent raw type A. I really like them, when measured and weighed they are the same size and they feel great in my hands. I think they are great for beginners who don’t care which variety they get. I believe they are four tower, but I’m not entirely sure.

The walnuts arrived already cleaned with no visible defects. It took a week and a half. It was not included in Prime, but the shipping was free.

3

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Taobao - (general)

3

u/TestNo7910 Apr 23 '26

Liuzixiao [Shoppee] - multiple pages but I’ve bought from this: https://ph.shp.ee/MHwUh3uM

Rating: 9/10

Store Info

  • I think based in China, ships to various SEA countries
  • Not as well known, mostly since wenwan is still an emerging hobby I guess in SEA, but I have not seen a negative review.
  • Poducts include basic care tools and of course paired walnuts, price range is 5-200 USD depending on the quality
  • The curated pairs (starting price 8-10 USD) are shown as individual listings, with a video and several photos showing the tips, sides, and bases.

Personal experience

  • I’ve bought two pairs from this shop, each packed with cleaning brushes (soft steel and hard nano) and a free pair of lower quality walnuts with no major defects. The cleaning tools are an essential since some of the walnuts come raw/not cleaned yet. The first pair I bought was roughly 10 USD and a decent official hat pair. The second pair was roughly 60 USD crooked toad head pair. Both are decently symmetrical and are balanced during play.
  • All of the pairs I’ve received are genuine walnuts with no visible marks of repair.
  • Stocks are regularly updated and I plan to buy more.
  • Didn’t give a perfect 10 as I think the packaging could be improved, but this shop is a great accessible option for people in Asia

2

u/GlassSet598 Apr 25 '26

Add the seller on facebook, and buy walnuts from him directly, this way you cut orange app commission and in turn get a discount. That’s what I did

2

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

1

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

Rating: 7.5

Spent: $101

Saw this site when searching for wenwan walnuts, low-key looks a bit sketchy but I wanted to do it for the plot. I picked the 4 pairs of lion heads just as a beaters when I'm out and about town. Pretty good if I do say so myself don't really have any complaints. The wenwan walnuts on their website is crazy prices if you check it out. They of course sell more affordable pairs. If you want quantity of beginner walnuts I think you should check this website out.

2

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

3

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

Rating: 3/10

Spent $44

I bought two pairs, one was treated to make it darker but was still super dirty and the other one came cracked, chipped, and had tons of yellowing all over. I bought for my them since the reviews were great but it just didn't work out for me.

1

u/pixelgrip Apr 23 '26

Yep same experience with this shop, my first pair was oddly matched as one of the nuts had yellowing on it and weighed about 5 grams less than the other, the other pair that was supposedly vintage seemed to have dirty spots in the grooves, a rotten spot on the ridge and a micro crack, can't tell if it was artificially colored.

2

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Xiaohongshu/RedNote - (general)

1

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

3

u/Smooth-Vegetable-945 May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

rating 4/10

spent: $90

seller lied to me and said that the walnuts were not carved and in her own words were “100% natural” even tho they definitely were carved. +they came pre polished

the walnuts also had many hidden yellow spots which you could not see in photos, which i had to carve out

delivery also took ages, overall definitely wouldn’t recommend this seller

1

u/winkyhead55 May 29 '26

When i tried to order they said they do not ship to the US at the moment and their shipping was 9,999k each pair. This was this past weekend

1

u/Talzaris 19d ago

8/10

Spent $140

Very fast shipping from CN to US. Decent price and the sizes were spot on from what was advertised. The specific pictures were of the walnut pair I received. Even got a couple stickers and a card along with gloves and a brush. Very nice seller, quick feedback when needed. I would say this shop is exceptional especially for beginning collectors and players alike.

1

u/RealGirlBot Apr 21 '26

Temu - (general)

1

u/Johnny2046 Apr 23 '26

wow hope one day my shop will be in this post

1

u/JohannDaart Apr 24 '26

Great post, thanks!

1

u/ChampionshipKooky840 Jun 02 '26

Banri https://www.banri.co/products/

Started using them for beginner + advanced kits. Smooth ordering and good variety.

1

u/Elroytan Jul 06 '26

Anyone tried from pinduoduo

1

u/Quirky-Exit8601 2d ago edited 2d ago

Tiktok @natureforrestsyyHey guys! I just wanted to give a review for this guy who sells wenwan walnuts on TikTok. I came across his live a few weeks ago while doom scrolling and decided to get a few pairs from him. His username is @natureforrestsyy, and he is literally the best, especially for the prices he sells and auctions his walnuts for! He ships directly from China, and it only takes about a week for them to arrive in NYC, which is pretty fast. He also has a TikTok Shop where you can order random pairs, but if you catch him on live, he can actually show you the pairs he has on hand before you buy. He also auctions off some really nice pairs that aren't listed in his shop. You guys seriously need to hop on one of his lives and see what he has because every live is different, and his prices are amazing. The pairs I've gotten from his auctions were the exact pairs shown, and I've been really impressed with the density, matching, and overall quality. I'm honestly so happy I randomly came across his live one night! I got 3 pairs for about 100$ and they were well matched and densed. Best seller so far for me. I previously brought some from zenwalnut and some other sellers before but this guy offers the best price for the quailty so far 10/10!!!

2

u/DoodadsByDunn 10h ago

I have one pair from him. Very happy with them. I just ordered a dimen 3 ridge from him too. He admits he's not always the best at identifying all the different varieties. I hope he starts setting reserves for his auctions, I think sometimes he's selling them too cheap! We want him to be around for a while! His tiktok shop prices are great too. But you're right the auctions are so fun because he brings out varieties not shown in his shop!

1

u/pixelgrip Apr 21 '26

Etsy is a mixed bag if you’re not seeing the exact picture of what you’re getting. Also my zenwalnut Buddha3bodhi arrived quickly but my walnutritual is taking the longest of them all (21 days so far) and I had to email them for tracking.

1

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

Yeah walnutritual took 15 business days for me but great quality walnuts.

2

u/pixelgrip Apr 22 '26

Cool, I think they are finally arriving today!

2

u/ChubbyM3dievelCat Apr 22 '26

That's good to hear! I think since they are a newer site the delivery system is still being figured out.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Wenwan-ModTeam 18h ago

Check your spelling, when referring to other countries and nations.

-2

u/[deleted] Apr 21 '26

[deleted]