Why did Shopify suspend my store?

Shopify suspends stores for violating their Acceptable Use Policy or Terms of Service. The most common triggers are a chargeback rate above 1%, refund rates exceeding 10%, prohibited keywords in product listings such as trademarked brand names or restricted health claims, fulfillment latency over 5 days, identity or banking information mismatches, and sudden order volume spikes that trigger fraud detection. Reinstate monitors all 8 of these risk signals in real time.

How do I appeal a Shopify store suspension?

To appeal a Shopify store suspension, you must submit a Plan of Action (POA) to Shopify's Trust & Safety team in reply to the original suspension email. A successful POA has three sections: the specific root cause of the violation, corrective actions you have already taken, and preventive measures you will use to ensure it does not recur. Reinstate's AI Appeal Generator creates a compliance-optimized POA in 60 seconds when you paste your suspension email.

What is Shopify's chargeback threshold?

Shopify's internal chargeback threshold is approximately 1% of total orders. At 0.5% you are in a yellow warning zone, at 0.8% you are likely being monitored, and at 1% or above you face an immediate risk of payment processing restrictions or account suspension. The rate is calculated as chargebacks divided by total orders processed over a rolling 30 to 60 day window.

What is a Shopify Store Health Score?

A Shopify Store Health Score is a 0 to 100 composite rating that measures how well your store complies with Shopify's Acceptable Use Policy and payment gateway risk requirements. Reinstate calculates your score using 8 weighted signals: chargeback rate, refund velocity, fulfillment latency, tracking coverage, order volume anomalies, keyword violations, identity consistency, and multi-store risk. A score above 90 is excellent, 70 to 89 is good, 50 to 69 is moderate, and below 50 indicates high risk.

Can Reinstate prevent my Shopify store from being suspended?

Yes. Reinstate provides 24/7 automated monitoring of the same compliance signals Shopify uses to evaluate merchant accounts. When any signal enters a high-risk zone you receive an instant alert with a specific recommended action. Merchants who act on these alerts can resolve issues days or weeks before Shopify's Risk Operations team initiates a review.

How much does Reinstate cost?

Reinstate offers four pricing options. The Basic plan is $9 per month with weekly automated scans. The Standard plan is $29 per month with daily scans. The Pro plan is $49 per month with scans every 6 hours and on-demand manual scans. There is also a one-time $99 Emergency Appeal option for merchants who are already suspended and need an immediate AI-generated appeal letter without a subscription.

Is Reinstate safe to connect to my Shopify store?

Yes. Reinstate uses official Shopify OAuth with read-only scopes. We never have permission to modify your store, fulfill orders, or change product data. Access tokens are stored encrypted with AES-256. We comply with all mandatory Shopify GDPR webhooks including customers/data_request, customers/redact, and shop/redact. All store data is permanently deleted within 30 days of app uninstall.

What are the prohibited keywords that get Shopify stores suspended?

Shopify scans product listings for several keyword categories that trigger automated flags. The main categories are medical and health claims such as cures, treats, or FDA approved language; trademark and counterfeit references such as Nike style or Rolex inspired; age-restricted product language without proper verification; and references to prohibited product categories including replica goods, weapons, certain CBD or vaping products, and unsubstantiated health benefits. Reinstate scans every product listing in your store for these categories.

How long does Shopify take to respond to a suspension appeal?

Shopify's Trust & Safety team typically responds to appeal submissions within 3 to 7 business days. For billing and identity verification issues, reinstatement can happen within 24 to 72 hours once you provide the missing information. For Acceptable Use Policy violations or duplicate-shop reviews, expect 7 to 14 days. Sending repeated follow-up emails does not speed up the process and can be marked as harassment.

What is a Shopify Plan of Action?

A Shopify Plan of Action (POA) is a structured document that you submit to Shopify's Trust & Safety team when appealing a store suspension. An effective POA has three required sections: a clear statement of the root cause of the violation, the specific corrective actions you have already taken with measurable details, and the preventive measures you will use going forward. Vague apologies or emotional appeals are rejected; concrete, factual responses get approved.

Shopify Acceptable Use Policy: What's Prohibited and Why Merchants Get Banned

Shopify's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is the most important document a Shopify merchant should read and never does. Most store suspensions trace back to an AUP violation, and most of those violations are unintentional. This guide breaks down the policy section by section, with specific examples of what triggers automatic flags and what doesn't.

What Is the Shopify Acceptable Use Policy?

The Shopify AUP is a set of rules governing what products, content, and business practices are allowed on the platform. It exists alongside Shopify's Terms of Service and is enforced by the Trust and Safety team. Unlike the Terms of Service, which governs the merchant-Shopify relationship, the AUP specifically addresses what you can sell and how you can operate your store.

Shopify updates the AUP periodically. Merchants who have been on the platform for years may be compliant under old rules but in violation under updated ones. If you haven't read the AUP recently, that's the first place to start.

Prohibited Product Categories

Certain product categories are completely prohibited on Shopify regardless of legal status in the merchant's jurisdiction. Selling any item in these categories will result in suspension, typically without a prior warning.

Firearms, ammunition, and weapons capable of causing serious bodily harm (with limited licensed exceptions for certain markets)
Regulated drugs and drug paraphernalia, including products that promote illegal drug use
Products that infringe on intellectual property rights — replicas, counterfeits, or items using trademarked logos without authorization
Sexually explicit content not covered under Shopify's permitted adult content policy
Content that promotes hate speech, discrimination, or violence against protected groups
Products making unauthorized medical claims that fall under FDA drug regulations
Financial services, securities, and investment products without appropriate licensing
Multi-level marketing structures and pyramid schemes

Restricted Categories That Require Prior Approval

Some product categories are not prohibited outright but require Shopify's approval before you can sell them. Selling in these categories without approval is treated as a violation even if your products are legal and legitimate.

CBD and hemp products: allowed in certain jurisdictions with prior approval and age verification
Alcohol: requires Shopify approval and proper licensing
Tobacco and vaping products: allowed in limited cases with age verification and jurisdiction compliance
Prescription pharmaceuticals: not permitted under any circumstances on standard merchant accounts
Certain health supplements making structure-function claims: allowed only with compliant language
Event tickets and fundraising: allowed but subject to additional review

How Shopify Enforces the AUP

Shopify enforces the AUP through a combination of automated scanning and human review. Automated systems continuously scan active product listings for keyword patterns associated with prohibited categories. When a listing matches a prohibited pattern, it's flagged for human review. The human reviewer then evaluates whether the listing is a genuine violation or a false positive.

Automated flags generate fast suspensions, often within hours of a new product listing being published. Human reviews take longer but result in more nuanced outcomes, including warnings with a chance to correct before suspension.

Shopify also receives reports from third parties, including brand owners who notice trademark infringement and competitors who report violations. External reports often trigger expedited reviews.

Business Practices That Violate the AUP

The AUP doesn't just govern products — it also governs how you operate your business. Several business practices trigger AUP violations independent of what you're selling.

False advertising: product descriptions that make specific claims you cannot substantiate with evidence
Hidden subscription billing: charging customers recurring fees without clear disclosure at checkout
Misleading shipping times: advertising delivery windows you cannot consistently meet based on your fulfillment data
Identity misrepresentation: operating under a business name or identity that doesn't match your legal registration
Operating multiple stores to evade a suspension without Shopify's knowledge
Using Shopify infrastructure to collect payment without intent to fulfill orders

How to Audit Your Store for AUP Compliance

The most effective AUP audit covers four areas: product descriptions (especially any imported from supplier catalogs), your return and shipping policy language, your checkout flow for subscription products, and your account information for consistency with your legal identity.

Pay particular attention to health and wellness products, which have the highest AUP violation rate of any category. If you sell supplements, beauty products, or fitness items, read every product description looking for language that implies the product can diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition.

Reinstate's keyword scanner checks all active product listings against Shopify's prohibited language categories as part of your automated store health scan. Flagged listings are identified with the specific product and phrase that triggered the flag, so you can correct them before they trigger a Trust and Safety review.

What to Do If Your Products Were Compliant When Listed

Shopify updates the AUP periodically, and products that were compliant under previous rules may now violate updated ones. If you receive a suspension notice for listings that haven't changed, check whether there's been a recent AUP update that reclassified your product category.

In your Plan of Action, it's acceptable to note that the listings were compliant under the AUP at the time of publication and that you have since updated them to comply with the current policy. This demonstrates good faith while acknowledging the current standard. Do not argue that the AUP change was unfair; Shopify's Trust and Safety team is not the right audience for that argument.