This is great feedback and I want to know that it is being heard loud and clear.
I wanted to expand a bit on my earlier post and take the time to share the difference between allowing these products to be sold while using Shopify as your platform and allowing Shopify Payments to be the payment processor for these orders.
Because the naming of our payment gateway is similar to the name of our platform, there can sometimes be honest confusion between the two of them when it comes to sensitive matters like this. Shopify, the platform, does allow the sale of trademarked items, high value items, branded items, etc as long as they follow our acceptable use guide and terms of service and are not illegally gained.
Shopify Payments, the payment gateway many merchants have enabled on their store during their setup, has it’s own set of rules and terms of service.
High value and trademarked items like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Fenty, etc, can be considered high risk merchandise as there could be an increased chance of receiving a chargeback on the order, a high risk of a merchant trying to sell fraudulent versions of the products as real and more. Shopify Payments, and the banking partners that power Shopify Payments, have the right to refuse to process orders of certain types of products. As independent banking institutes they can say what type of orders they want to process and what types they don’t want. I recognize that can be incredibly not ideal when you’ve started selling and your payment gateway is removed after the fact.
I would encourage merchants selling products like these to strongly consider the payment gateway they are using and if Shopify Payments is the right gateway for your business. Even if the gateway itself is not, that doesn’t mean that your business is not welcome on the Shopify platform.
You referenced the The First Sale Doctrine in Trademark Law in your post and asked that we speak to that. While I wish I was able to, I can’t speak to that as I am not a trained legal professional or a lawyer. If you feel that this doctrine of the trademark law is not being considered appropriately you are welcome to email our legal team directly at legal@shopify.com or ask your legal representative to do so.
Welcome to the community forums and thank you for also sharing your experience here. I just wanted to assure you that there isn’t a need to panic about receiving this notification. I know that these messages can be intimidating to receive and the wording can come across as stern or cold as they need to follow a specific legal guideline. If you have questions please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.