Instagram shopping denied: Product Unavailable on Your Website

[AkaneY]

Hi everyone! I've been having an issue on connecting Istrangram shopping with my Shopify store. I've tried many solutions that I found online but nothing worked so far. I'm hoping to find someone would lead me in the right direction or in a similar situation.

I opened my Shopify store which connected to print-on-demand order fulfilment company Printful. I connected the Shopify Catalog with Facebook via Shopify app. It works perfectly and all items from the catalogue are available on my Facebook page. However, I couldn't get it approved from Instagram and they keep declining produced tagging. The reason is:

Product Unavailable on Your Website (To use Instagram Shopping, your products must be sold on the website connected to your account.)

My understanding of 'The website connected to your account' is that the website link on my Instagram profile. I put the correct shop link which is the same as the one connected to the Facebook page. All products are available on the shop with the direct purchase and I'm not really sure why I keep receiving the same results. I follow all guidelines and policies and I'm sure my shop qualifies for Instagram shopping.

I'm guessing an issue might be the website domain in which my own (not Shopify's), but already got it verified from Facebook. Once I disconnected everything and started it again, but I still keep receiving the same result from Instagram.

If someone knows the best solution please let me know, I would be greatly appreciated your help!

[Tumilu]

Hey, I have the very same issue and have been battling it for 2 months now.  I believe it is some issue with Shopify stores using non myshopify.com domains 

The links in my FB catalog link to my domain, the domain is set as primary and it s verified with Facebook. 

I unlinked the domain, then relinked it (countless times). I've reinstalled FB app, converted IG to personal and back again  - I have done every possible thing and still the same rejection.

I have been in touch with FB regarding this issue since November. All I am being told is that they have forwarded it to the Technical team and "will let me know as soon as there are any updates". 

[AkaneY]

That sound exactly the same as my issue. Have you tried that process with myshopify.com domain too? I got an error when the first time I tried to authenticate it with Facebook, but just tried it again and got verified so I'll request another review with that domain as the primary.

And In case If you haven't changed the Facebook page template to the Shopping template, It'd be worth trying (Apparently it's one of the requirement to get approved from Instagram)

[Tumilu]

I verified myshopify too (via HTML), but since my own domain is set as primary, and that is the one I submitted to IG,  I still got rejected.  

One thing I did not try yet is change myshopify.com domain to primary, change the links in my catalog to point to the myshopify domain and try like that...

however from the business point of view, I do not wish to keep up the myshopify domain as the primary one indefinitely...

[AkaneY]

I send an appeal to review with shopify domain registered for both FB/IG, and again got rejected with the same rejection email. I feel like that it is not something we can fix in our end, or an actual issue might be something different (eg. having a small number of followers, something like that)... I wish there's a way to contact an actual person who can look into the issue! I'll keep trying and update if the situation improved.

[Tumilu]

Hey,

Same here - appealed and got rejected AGAIN... but... One person I was in contact with on FB Support told me they do not, on their end, see my domain as verified, or, for the matter of fact, as even added to my Business Manager. 

And on my end when I access BM I see it added and verified correctly (the green dot next to the domain name etc).

So it might just happen that we fell into some sort of a black hole on their end. 

The FB staff said she will forward it immediately, so I hope to update you soon with more news.

[AkaneY]

Ok I see, yes please keep me posted! I believe this is one of the errors that occurred in the process of Fb and IG integration. Could I ask one thing that how you reached out to the staff in FB who in charge of this matter? I have no idea where to look to.

[Tumilu]

Go to your Commerce Manager in FB, click Overview. On the right side there will be "Need Help?" And you can click "contact support". Choose a subject and you can choose to contact them via chat or email.

My advice would be ask whether on their end they see a domain added and verified in your BM. At least you will know whether that is the issue I am having and will save a few weeks of a worthless back and forth exchange 🙂

I am still waiting for their response.

[AkaneY]

Awesome thanks so much for that! just send an inquiry and hoping to receive the response with the solution as soon possible.

[Sv3]

https://youtu.be/QzqaJEH5fUg I think this video might help you.

[Tumilu]

Thanks but no - she is talking about dropshipping. In my case I manufacture and sell physical products myself and they all are available at all times. 

The issue in my case probably stems from domain verification issues - I see the domain as verified in my Business Manager, but was told by FB staff that on their end they do NOT see my domain as even added... but since discovering that 2 weeks passed and they still did not do anything to fix it. Gah.

[AkaneY]

Hey, thanks for the link! Yes, I use third-party print-on-demand company Printful. But the products are available for direct purchase from my Shopify store which is directly connected to them and I know many people selling products from the same company in Instagram Shopping. 

I sent an enquiry to FB, and they said it's probably the catalogue I'm trying to attach doesn't have the same domain as the one with which I requested IG Shopping approval, and they can't verify which domain I applied for IG. I think my catalogue must be attached to my own domain in which I applied for IG, but not 100% sure. And my own domain and Shopify domain are both authenticated on FB.

So I'm still in the black hole... I'll check out her other videos as well to see If I can find any solution.

[Scott1986]

Any luck with this, I too am having the exact same issue and have changed my domain to a non shopify domain.

My business is verified with FB though and have input the DNS info without any issues.

Spoke with FB about it, got nowhere.

HELP!

[AkaneY]

No unfortunately... I send a request to review from Instagram app and again got the same result. Not sure what else I can do now but I'll update here if I made any positive progress.

[Tumilu]

Nah appealing won't work I think - I have been appealing weekly since mid
November...

Talked with countless FB staff, noone knows anything. Still waiting for the
reply from the supposed "technical team", but losing my hopes really...

[Tumilu]

So this is just to update you that ANOTHER FB staff just gave up on me. The one who supposedly knew how to fix it now just gave me the "advice" to appeal in-app. As if 3 months of appealing already wouldn't do it. *sigh* I am lost.

Shopify staff do not know what is going on. FB staff do not know what is going on. Perfect....

[bambina]

same with me. i have disconnected and reconnected my instagram countless times. anyone who has solution for this?

[Tumilu]

I can now confirm that the issue lies firectly in third party domains.

For tests I changed to the myshopify.com domain, edited links in the catalog to match and applied with that. I was approved.

Naturally it does not solve the issue for me, it's not as if I could stay on the myshopify.com domain forever, so I will start testing whether I can somehow transition to my domain without the whole mess of unlinking. I will let you know how it goes. What a mess this is...

[TheBee]

Very good discovery, like all of you here have been trying to discover the root with FB & Shop helpdesks with the same frustration as you guys.

For me one FB agent told that the reason is URLs not pointing to correct location in my Shopify and suggesting also about the domain verification which was correct and working in FB shopping experience just fine.

Waiting for your valuable update if you can move to private domain now or there needs to be support case opened for the Shop-IG integration.

[Tumilu · Accepted solution]

Hey All,

So I am writing with the promised update.

Right now I have my FB Shopping working AND my private domain. If the situation changes or Instagram suddenly denies me again, I will update this again. 

It IS a workaround and might seem like a bit of a hassle, BUT after 3.5 months of trial and errors and battles with FB support, this is the only way that worked for me. Noone on Facebook or Shopify has a working alternative, so I think that is better than nothing anyway 😉 

This is the (hopefully temporary) solution to the issue "Product Unavailable on Your Website. To use Instagram Shopping, your products must be sold on the website connected to your account."

0. Before you begin check that you:

- have Instagram set to a Business profile

- have Instagram and FB Page correctly added to your Business Manager

- have a "Shop" profile enabled on your FB Page

1. In Shopify change primary domain to your myshopify one

2. Verify it via HTML tag in your Business Manager on Facebook

3. Organize your FB product catalog:

- change the links in your catalog to point to your myshopify.com domain. If you have too many products, simply delete the FB App from Shopify and reinstall it. This will create a new Commerce Account and a new product catalog with correct links in your FB.  Even if you reinstalled, double check that the product links point to the myshopify.com domain. Also: You might check the Flexify app for that if your portfolio is too big, please see a note at the bottom.

4. Write to FB IG Partner Support here: https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/644690422793138  and ask them to UNLINK your Instagram account from your private domain by choosing the option: "I have not been approved, but want to change my domain". After 1-3 days, an e-mail will arrive for you to reply with a text of "I consent to...." blablabla. You copy the text they send you and e-mail them back. After 12-36 hours you will get a confirmation that the Instagram Shop is unlinked from your private domain

5. Via INSTAGRAM APP go to Settings -> Business -> Set Up Instagram Shoopping.  There the system will propose a domain for you to submit. Choose the catalog you created/updated, and if you changed the links in your catalog correctly, you will see the "myshopify.com" domain on the list. Choose that, proceed with verification.

6. Hopefully after 24 hours Instagram verifies that, yes, you are approved.  🙂 And THEN to get back to your private domain...

7. Go back to Shopify. Change the Primary Domain back to your private one.

8. DELETE the FB App from Shopify. That is because Shopify will, after a while, overwrite the links in your catalog with your private domain ones... And that will make the products unusable on Instagram.

9. From now on, even after the domain is changed to a private one, Instagram will still think your domain is the myshopify one. A note here: Your BIO link can lead to your private domain. Bio links are not analyzed in the reviews.

10. To add a new product use links with the MYSHOPIFY.COM domain. Sure, they will redirect to your private domain (after all, you set it to "primary "two steps back)... BUUUT for Instagram that is enough, that the Product you add points to the domain Instagram approved (the myshopify.com) one. 

Is this solution ideal? No, especially if you have a vast product portfolio... HOWEVER, I think what might be worth exploring further is the Flexify app - it generates product links to the myshopify.com domain no matter whether you have a private domain or not. So I believe that in step 3 you might just delete the default Facebook App in Shopify and use Flexify (and keep it), since the only links it will provide and update are the myshopify.com ones. I did not test that (I only sell 6 products ;)), but you might give it a try.

I hope this update will prove helpful to you, good luck!