Can a Prestige theme license expire on my online store?

[Aleem]

Hello! several months ago I paid a company to develop my Shopify store. I wanted to use the Prestige theme and they said that it would be included in the price of their service. They would install and modify the theme for my store. I was good with that.

Recently, I ran into an issue while doing some SEO work and had to contact the support team for Prestige. They couldn't help me because they didn't find a theme license associated with my store. When I reached out to the developer about this, they told me that they couldn't transfer my theme license because it expired. They offered me money to buy the "latest Prestige theme version" so that I could get support. They sent the full price of the Prestige theme to my Paypal.

I found the whole conversation odd. I'm suspecting that they installed a counterfeit theme in the beginning and are now trying to cover themselves so they don't get in trouble. Did what they say make sense? Can a theme license expire?

Thanks!

[Kimi · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Aleem.

When a theme is purchased on a store, they will generally have no expiry date for its license, as your one-off payment for the theme allows you to use the theme on said store for as long as you'd like. If you navigate to the Prestige's theme listing on our Theme store here, you'll find this information towards the bottom of the page.

Was the company you were working with a registered Shopify Partner?

If so, there are best practices to follow for Shopify Partners when building a store for their client using a third-party theme, which I'll detail below.

If code work on the third-party theme is needed:

1. The Partner should add their credit card to the store's billing information.
2. The Partner will invoice the client for the cost of the theme. Please note that this invoicing is done external to Shopify.
3. When the development store transfer is initiated, the Partner's credit card information will be removed automatically.

If code work is not needed, however:

1. The Partner can then install the theme as a trial and customize as needed.
2. When the store is transferred, the merchant can then pay for and publish the theme.

You can read more about this on our help guide here.

For more information, themes are meant to be for single-use only, so a Partner can't purchase a theme on one store and to then install that theme on another store. We've outlined this in our Terms of Service on Section 9.4 here, and it's important that Partners follow specific steps to provide a paid theme for their client. So if you suspect that a Partner working on your store has been distributing themes without a license, your next step here is to contact our Live Support team so that we can further investigate the situation from our end.

To get in touch with our team, you'll need to login to your store via our help centre here. Once logged in, select a topic that best fits your query or situation. From there, you'll be taken to a page with a list of relevant support articles, and you can scroll to the bottom of that page to select your preferred contact method with our team.

Thanks so much for bringing this situation to our attention, and nice to hear that you're currently working on your store's SEO! It's a great strategy to implement on your store as it can, in the long run, be a more cost-effective and stable sales driver in comparison to paid advertising. For some best practices and SEO tips and tricks, feel free to have a good read of our SEO resources below:

• Investing on SEO to grow your ecommerce business
• SEO checklist
• Free SEO tools

[nandahpavi]

Hi Aleem, I am facing the same situation after a year of my store opening. I had paid in full to a third-party software development company for store setup and theme license in Aug 2021. Now Shopify is saying that I need to buy a valid license, as there is no valid license attached to my store. I am wondering if it is the same company who developed both our stores. Any input will be helpful. Thanks

[Aleem]

Hello Nandahpavi, I answered via DM. Lmk if it helps

[UniqueCherie]

How do I know if an email like this is legitimate? I received an email supposedly from Shopify notifying me that the theme I paid for needs a valid license. I suspect this is a scam, but I don't know how to check. I believe the theme I purchased has no expiration.