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 Payments Suspended: What It Means and Exactly How to Fix It

Waking up to a Shopify Payments suspension is one of the most stressful moments in running an online store. Your money is frozen, orders may still be coming in, and you have no idea when you'll get paid. This guide explains exactly what happened, what Shopify is holding, and the fastest path to restoring your payouts.

What Is a Shopify Payments Suspension?

A Shopify Payments suspension is a payout hold placed on your merchant account by Shopify's Risk Operations team. Unlike a full store suspension, your store may still be visible and accepting orders — but funds from new sales are withheld until the issue is resolved.

Shopify Payments is powered by Stripe on the backend. When Shopify suspends payments, they're responding to risk signals that Stripe's fraud detection systems or Shopify's own Trust and Safety team have flagged on your account. The suspension notice typically arrives by email from noreply@shopify.com or risk@shopify.com.

Why Shopify Payments Gets Suspended

Payments suspensions are triggered by specific risk thresholds. Understanding which one applies to you is critical before writing any appeal.

Chargeback rate approaching or exceeding 1% of total orders in a rolling 30 to 60 day window
Selling products in a prohibited or restricted category (supplements with health claims, age-restricted products, replica goods)
Identity mismatch between your Shopify account details and your bank account or government ID
Unusual order volume spike that exceeds 3x your trailing average, triggering fraud detection
Payout account changes that look suspicious (new bank account added shortly before a large payout)
First-time high-ticket orders from high-risk geographies without fraud protection enabled

How Long Does Shopify Hold Your Funds?

Standard practice for payment processor holds is 90 to 180 days from the date of the last transaction. Shopify holds funds as a reserve against potential chargebacks that may come in after the suspension. This is industry-standard behavior, not unique to Shopify.

If your account is reinstated after a successful appeal, the hold period can be shortened significantly. Merchants who resolve the underlying issue and demonstrate improved metrics often have holds released within 30 to 60 days.

If your account is permanently terminated, Shopify will typically release held funds after 90 to 180 days, provided no outstanding chargebacks remain. You will receive the funds minus any chargeback fees and dispute costs.

Immediate Steps When Your Payments Are Suspended

Do not panic and do not immediately switch to a third-party payment processor like PayPal or Stripe directly. Adding a new payment processor while under a Shopify Payments suspension can sometimes trigger a full account review.

Read the suspension email carefully and identify the specific reason cited
Check your chargeback rate in Shopify Admin > Analytics > Finances > Chargebacks
Pull your refund rate and fulfillment data for the past 60 days
Do not open a new Shopify store — it will be flagged immediately
Do not send multiple emails to Trust and Safety — one response is appropriate
Document the specific changes you've already made before writing your appeal

How to Get Shopify Payments Reinstated

Reinstatement requires a Plan of Action (POA) submitted as a reply to the original suspension email. The POA must address the specific reason Shopify cited, describe corrective actions you have already taken, and outline preventive measures going forward.

For a chargeback-related suspension, your POA should include: the specific cause of elevated chargebacks (supplier issues, shipping delays, misleading descriptions), the concrete steps you've taken to fix it, and the tools or processes you're using to monitor your chargeback rate going forward. Vague promises are rejected; specific, already-completed actions get results.

Reinstate's AI Appeal Generator creates a compliance-optimized Plan of Action in 60 seconds when you paste your suspension email. It structures the three required sections automatically and avoids the generic language that gets rejections.

Preventing Future Payments Suspensions

The merchants who never face payments suspensions monitor the same metrics Shopify's Risk Operations team monitors. Chargeback velocity, refund rate, fulfillment latency, and product keyword compliance are all measurable in advance — you don't have to wait for a suspension to know your account is at risk.

Reinstate tracks all 8 of Shopify's primary risk signals on an automated schedule and sends you an alert the moment any metric enters the warning zone. For merchants who've previously had a payments suspension, the Pro plan's 6-hour scan interval is the most effective early warning system available.