Illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia: You may not use Shopify's Services to sell, purchase, or facilitate the sale of controlled substances, illegal drugs, or drug paraphernalia. Certain legal products with potential for misuse (such as certain chemicals) may also be restricted.
The broad discretionary language — extending restrictions to 'legal products with potential for misuse' — gives Shopify authority to ban products that are entirely lawful, creating unpredictable enforcement risk for merchants in supplement, kratom, CBD, or chemical supply industries.
Shopify's AUP primarily affects merchants who build businesses on the platform, as prohibited product categories and enforcement provisions can result in sudden store suspension that disrupts both merchant operations and end-customer shopping experiences. Consumers who shop at Shopify-powered stores benefit from the platform's prohibitions on deceptive practices, counterfeit goods, and fraud-facilitating tools, though the policy does not itself create enforceable consumer rights against merchants. You can protect your business by maintaining independent backups of your customer data, product listings, and order history outside of Shopify's platform.