There is a lot of misinformation, inaccuracies, misconstrued details and horrible advice being shared in the replies which are mainly based off of circumstantial speculation.
I’d like to dispel a few things here because it’s better to talk about the issue itself rather than to speculate and use others’ actions as a point of reference when talking about the rules. Please read up: just need a few minutes of your time, which could save you from a potentially irreversible situation.
First of all, for those bashing Roblox and spreading rumours about all this favouritism and “they don’t follow their own rules” nonsense: stop. The DevForum is not for spreading rumours and this behaviour is inappropriate. Don’t say things you can’t prove. Second of all, please stay on-topic. This is about whether or not rank selling is permitted, not anything else.
A rank game pass purchase is still facilitated by official Roblox channels and conducted on-site, which is allowed (the sale is). Granting items for a purchase is always the responsibility of the developer and them alone. The rule specified in the Terms of Use is that using third party channels to conduct transactions for Roblox is not allowed.
Selling ranks is a gray area when it comes to the Terms of Use. They aren’t formally allowed, but they aren’t explicitly prohibited either. The Terms of Use are not going to explicitly cover every single case, so obviously there won’t be any express mention about selling ranks and whether it’s permitted or not. It’s highly up to context and the circumstances around the situation. In this case, you want to hold up the circumstances against enforceable purchases (are purchases being honoured?).
The reason why selling ranks isn’t formally allowed is because there is no way to guarantee that a user gets what they purchase or that they aren’t scammed, especially since Roblox does not have native support for changing ranks on purchase. It always has to be conducted by messaging a user with rank changing privileges or by automation. Roblox loses enforceability here and that’s what causes moderation action against groups selling ranks.
There are developers who do this often hide behind excuses such as “abuse = removal” or “this is a donation pass” to attempt to bypass and “save” themselves from any kind of moderation action for selling ranks. This will not do anything. Moderation has their own internal policies when conducting reviews and will act if necessary, regardless of what you slap in your descriptions.
As for holder alternate accounts, yes those are allowed. You may have alternate accounts, there is no rule against this. Be wary though, unlike a lot of group owners who create holder accounts: they are not a saving grace. There two chief reasons why a group owner creates a holder account:
- If their main account is breached, their group is safe.
- The owner can hide behind an alternate account if something goes wrong.
Something to dispel about the last point: creating a holder account doesn’t save you. If, by chance, you were to partake in deceptive practices and receive moderation action, moderators know who you are. Both your holder account and your main account will receive due punishment. This may also affect your platform standings, such as the ability to use the Developer Exchange program.
It’s great that you asked this question but it’s always best to inquire about the circumstances yourself. When it comes to these kinds of “is it allowed” threads, the common response you’ll get back is often “if other groups do it, it’s allowed”. NEVER take this as appropriate justification. Others doing something doesn’t implicitly mean it’s allowed: you cannot use another’s circumstances to justify your own.
Roblox does not play favourites and they uphold the policies as they should. Every review is done on a case-by-case basis, meaning that moderation must investigate, review facts and survey the circumstances before proceeding with an appropriate response, if one is required at all.
That’s always been my main issue when deciding if I want to. I’m going to spread the word to a few friends of mine who own popular groups too. I know Josh (Nova Hotel Owner) is one of the reasons his group keeps getting terminated.