Shopify Payments Approval for Adult Toys Store - Clarification Needed

[samadhi37]

Hello everyone,

I've been successfully running my Shopify store for about 15 months now, selling adult toys. During this period, I've used a third-party payment provider and maintained an excellent payment processing history with only one chargeback so far.

Today, I noticed Shopify Payments has become available in my country (Bulgaria), so I applied and got approved immediately. However, upon reading Shopify Payments' prohibited business policy, I found this section:

"Prohibited businesses and products: Adult products: products or services that contain sexually explicit content, such as adult videos, pay-per-view adult content, or adult magazines."

This left me confused. My store exclusively sells adult toys, and there is no sexually explicit material, **bleep**ography, or something similar. Yes, I have videos, but they are only showcasing the products nothing more.

I reached out to Shopify Support and spoke with a representative named Jess. Jess assured me twice that my store has been fully approved and confirmed that other similar adult-toy stores are using Shopify Payments without issues. I'm also aware of several competitors successfully utilizing Shopify Payments without any problems.

However, I've seen older forum posts from 2023 and 2024 indicating that adult toy businesses were prohibited. I'm unsure if Shopify's policies have changed or if there's some ambiguity.

Could anyone provide clarity on whether I'll encounter issues down the road using Shopify Payments for my niche? Has anyone had similar experiences?

Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Promer]

Hi @samadhi37 

I'm sorry for what you are facing. Actually, While Shopify Payments has historically restricted adult content, it seems they allow adult toys as long as there’s no explicit content (like adult videos or magazines).

So, here's what I recommend for you:

1. Get written confirmation - Since Jess from Shopify Support assured you, ask for a written confirmation via email or live chat transcript for future reference.
2. Then, check your competitor store. If similar stores in your country use Shopify Payments, it’s a good sign that policies have shifted.
3. And monitor for policy changes because Shopify’s terms can change, so keep an eye on their Acceptable Use Policy and emails from Shopify.

Hope this helps 🙂