Shopify Payments Disabled for Selling the Same Items as Other Shop Stores Still Sell

Shopify Discussion
1

I wanted to share my experience with Shopify Payments and see if anyone else has dealt with something similar, because the entire process has felt incredibly inconsistent, selectively enforced, and unfair.

I run a small comic book business reselling collectible comic variants, cosplay covers, and original artwork. Recently, Shopify Payments was disabled on my store after Trust & Safety and their banking partners determined that portions of my catalog were considered unsupported.

What has been especially frustrating is that the books I was selling were the exact same books and variants currently being sold directly by other stores and publishers that remain active within the Shop (and Shopify Payments) ecosystem, including a publisher Shopify specifically identified as unsupported during the review process despite that same publisher continuing to actively operate using Shopify Payments.

To clarify, I understand merchants can use third-party payment providers outside of Shopify Payments. However, the publishers/stores referenced throughout this review process continue appearing active within the Shop app ecosystem, which requires Shopify Payments to be enabled. That is a large part of why this situation has felt so inconsistent from my perspective.

Throughout this process, I repeatedly modified my storefront in good faith based on the guidance being provided:

  • Removed specific publishers they identified
  • Removed specific collections/navigation
  • Removed specific terminology
  • Removed discoverability/search references
  • Removed products they flagged
  • Reduced my entire storefront down to roughly a dozen remaining books

Every time I complied with one set of instructions, the scope of the concerns changed again during the next review cycle.

The hardest part to understand is that other stores and publishers selling the exact same products still appear active with Shopify Payments while my small business has effectively been dismantled trying to comply with shifting requirements.

I fully understand Shopify and payment processors have policies they need to enforce, but the lack of consistency and transparency throughout this process has been incredibly discouraging as a small business owner.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar involving Shopify Payments reviews or inconsistent Trust & Safety enforcement? Is there any actual recourse or escalation path available when policies appear to be applied inconsistently between merchants selling the exact same products?

2

Hello @tlofresh

You’re not the only one going through this. Reviews of Shopify Payments are usually risk-based, and decisions can vary from one store to another even for similar products, as processors consider marketing language, storefront presentation, history of disputes, supplier relationships, and the overall risk profile of the account. A working solution is to migrate higher risk products to a different payment processor, and keep your compliant inventory on Shopify Payments. Some have remarked that their collectibles and art-focused store also culls trigger terms from product titles, metadata, and promotional content in order to limit the number of automated reviews they get hit with, while still driving catalog visibility via organic search and social.

3

Hey @tlofresh Contact Shopify Support
Go to Shopify Support and open a chat or ticket.

Say:
I need this escalated to Shopify Payments Risk & Compliance for a manual review. Please provide the exact reason for the payment restriction and whether the decision can be appealed.

Request full clarification
Ask them to clearly confirm:
Which products or content triggered the restriction
Whether the decision is temporary or permanent
If re-approval is possible after changes

Clean your store completely
Remove all flagged or risky content, including:
Restricted publishers or products
Collections linked to flagged items
Keywords in titles, tags, and descriptions
Any related navigation or search terms

Keep only fully compliant products during review.

Separate risk products if you needed
If you still want to sell similar items:
Use a third-party payment provider if available
Or split products between a compliant Shopify store and another platform

Improve store trust signals
Make your store look fully compliant:
Clear policies (refund, shipping, terms)
Professional branding
No misleading or aggressive marketing
Stable order history

Request re-review
After making changes, contact Shopify again and say:
The store has been updated based on compliance requirements. Please review Shopify Payments eligibility again.

Keep follow-ups active
If there is no response:
Reopen the same ticket
Reference previous case number
Continue escalation to Risk and Compliance team

Thank You…!