Why would Shopify withhold my store's payments?

[Kathrine]

Help me settle a score here.. reasons Shopify would withhold payments.. from what understand there would be two reasons; possible fraud or verification needs. If someone were to open a store, take orders, fill them but NOT mark them as fulfilled, my guess is their shop would be flagged as fraud and they would not be paid. Am I correct in this?

[Kitana]

Hi @Kathrine, welcome to the Shopify community. 

There are a number of reasons your payments could be on hold. The reasons you listed are a couple options, it also could be about the number of sales you've made, if your business is registered or not, if you have had any issues with customers not receiving orders, and even more. If you know that you are doing everything you're supposed to as a business owner, you won't have to worry. you should have received an email from Shopify discussing this and even asking for more information from you. If not, you can reach out to the support team to open a ticket and see what information is required from your end to resume with your payouts. The faster you're able to submit the information Shopify is looking for the faster you'll be able to continue with business as usual. 

Running your own business can have a lot of responsibilities, and they can even change depending on your location. It's always best to have a business expert you can contact when you're not sure about something, just to be safe. Local business experts will know the laws in your location and be able to guide you moving forward. You can find a business expert through your bank or online.