Enforcement of Shopify’s Partner Program Policies

At Shopify, we prioritize maintaining trust between merchants and our Partners. When merchants use apps from the Shopify App Store or hire Partners, they rely on them to handle critical tasks for their businesses. To ensure high standards and adherence to policies, we enforce guidelines for app developers and Partners. If a Partner or app fails to meet these standards, then we may take remedial action to protect Shopify merchants.

Partner Program Agreement and requirements

As a Partner, it’s important to understand the Partner Program Agreement and the associated requirements. The term "Partner" includes Referral Partners, Developers, Theme Partners, Plus Partners, and other partners described in the agreement. All Partners must adhere to the terms of the Partner Program Agreement, Shopify API License and Terms of Use, Acceptable Use Policy, and any additional terms incorporated by reference.

As app developers, you need to meet the app requirements before publishing an app on the Shopify App Store. It’s a Partner’s responsibility to continuously maintain their apps to meet any new requirements that may arise. Developers are expected to learn and adhere to these standards throughout the entire process of building and maintaining their apps. Failure to meet these requirements is considered a violation of the Partner Program Agreement and may result in restrictions on your use of Shopify's services.

Actions taken for violations

When a Partner or app violates Shopify's terms, we take appropriate actions to address the issue. The actions vary depending on the specific policy that’s been violated. Our goal is to provide education and a clear path to compliance wherever possible, so we apply restrictions that are calibrated to separate mistakes from deliberate violations.

Apps

For apps, we may take the following actions:

• Edit or unpublish reviews.
• Remove your app from promotional surfaces.
• Remove your app from a merchant’s store.
• Remove your ability to create custom apps.
• Revoke your app’s access to Shopify’s APIs.
• Restrict how your app displays in search results on the Shopify App Store.
• Temporarily or permanently remove your app from the Shopify App Store, and block your app from being installed from the Shopify App Store.
• Temporarily suspend your ability to submit apps for review.

Themes

For themes, we may temporarily or permanently remove your theme from the Shopify Theme Store, and block your theme from being installed from the Shopify Theme Store.

Partner Directory

In the Partner Directory, we may take the following actions:

• Edit or unpublish reviews.
• Temporarily or permanently remove your profile from the Partner Directory.

Other actions Shopify may take

We may also take the following other actions:

• Adjust revenue share to zero for individual referrals.
• Block you from contacting Shopify Support if you’re abusive to Shopify employees.
• Pause payouts to and from your Partner account.
• Remove your Partner account from community channels.
• Temporarily deactivate your Partner account.
• Terminate your Partner account.

Impact on app visibility and Partner Programs

To ensure that Shopify merchants have access to useful and trustworthy apps, we carefully evaluate app compliance. If an app fails to comply with Shopify's terms, then we may adjust its visibility on Shopify surfaces. In some cases, we might pause the featured promotion of an app.

Even after resolving the issue, the visibility of an app could still be affected. Severe or frequent violations may impact your eligibility for certain Partner Programs, such as Built for Shopify.

Communication of violations

When a Partner fails to meet Shopify's terms, we notify them by sending them an email to the business email that's associated with their Partner account. These emails may come from various teams within Shopify.

To communicate notices regarding account review and potential removal, the email will be sent from the legal@legal-mailer.shopify.com mailer. This email address is specifically designated for legal communication and isn’t actively monitored.

Respond to any requests by directly replying to the email sent by Shopify, which will contain a unique ticket number for reference.

To ensure that you receive important notices from Shopify, it’s important to keep your business email up-to-date in your Partner settings. This ensures that you receive timely notifications and stay informed about any account reviews or potential removals. Learn how to update your business email in your Partner settings.

Confidentiality of reviews

Shopify understands that Partners may want specific details about an investigation. However, to protect the privacy and security of our merchants and Partners, we can’t share specific information about an investigation unless required by law. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

Impact on current users

If an app is removed due to a violation, then merchants who currently have the app installed can continue using it until the removal date. If they haven’t uninstalled the app by the removal date, then Shopify will uninstall it on their behalf.

We typically provide at least 30 days notice to merchants with the app installed on live stores. However, depending on the severity of the violation, some app removals may have a shorter notice period.

Termination notice and consequences

After receiving a termination notice from the Shopify Partner Governance team, you'll be informed about the effective date of the removal ("termination"). Here's what you need to know:

• Support obligations: If it's a Partner account removal, then until the removal date, you’re required to continue supporting users of your affected app or all of your apps and themes. This includes providing technical support as outlined in the Partner Program Agreement.
• Termination of Partner account: On the removal date, your Partner account will be terminated, resulting in the loss of access to your account. This means you'll no longer have access to associated features, tools, and resources provided through your Partner account.
• Penalties for unacceptable behavior: If the termination notice is a result of fraudulent or other unacceptable behavior, then additional penalties may apply. This can include being prohibited from creating new Partner accounts, apps, or services on the Shopify platform.

Appealing account restrictions

If your account is restricted due to a terms violation, then Shopify will notify you by email. If you believe that there has been a mistake, then you can submit an appeal by following the instructions provided in the notification. We'll consider the information that you've provided and may reach out for additional details or documentation. Shopify will then notify you of the outcome of your appeal by email, whether it is approved or denied.