On May 26th Google recategorized all of my products (older diecast cars) to ‘Health Products’ and then suspended my Google Merchant Account for “misrepresentation” without warning. They offered two chances to try and request a review before I could be penalized with a cool-down period for abusing the review requests. They offered NO other information or help. In an effort to narrow down the problem, I removed all 900 products from my Google channel to see if it was an issue with how my shop was set up (return policy, privacy, etc) vs. a product listing issue. I requested my first review and was instantly denied and immediately tossed into a cool-down period for abusing requests for reviews… I waited for one entire week before they lifted the cool-down period. They said I needed to have at least one product uploaded to the feed- eliminating my only way to zero in on the problem. In the meantime, I uploaded one item to the feed and made sure that it was correctly categorized. I made sure to check all of their marks on posted policies, business details, etc. I attended a Shopify seminar at a local SBA non-profit- and I nervously clicked on “review” for a second time. I was AGAIN immediately denied and thrown into a now TWO WEEK cooldown period. I have since attempted to register with a Google Business Profile- I’ve gotten a separate phone number solely for this business. They denied the Business Profile either because of the current Merchant Center suspension or because I only sell online- they are not very clear. What is the point of spending $40/mo on a “super simple set-up” Shopify store if I can NOT sell any products because Shopify and Google won’t read each other correctly. I am hemorrhaging money at this point. Prior to the sudden and random suspension I was finally picking up momentum and had my best day of 5 sales in one day. All of those customers were happy with their purchases. It was great for just about the 3 month Shopify trial period- and then Google killed any momentum I had gained. Now I’ve made $50 in sales in 2 months.
Business details: I purchased a large collection of vintage toy cars (Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning, Matchbox, etc), roughly 10,000 of them and I have them in a huge rented storage space just down the street. I spent 60+ hours per week all winter cleaning, categorizing, photographing, and uploading them one at a time while I had the extra time. In real life, I own a landscaping business- so I do not have much time to deal with all of this now when it’s the busiest time of the year… but I can’t sell anything using Shopify and my costs for trying are still piling up every day. Are online businesses not allowed to only be online businesses if they don’t own an actual storefront? Isn’t that what Shopify is for? WHAT CAN I DO?? Can anyone help sort this out? It has truly turned into a nightmare. I wish I had never even attempted this- or that Shopify had been clear that it wouldn’t work during the 3 month trial instead of letting me think everything was working. I am too afraid to ask for another review with Google knowing they will just shut me down for what now/ a month? longer? My Shopify store is Plutonium Garage.