Key Facts
Does Shopify require 30 days of advance notice before any fee changes?
Shopify requires 30 days of advance notice before any fee changes, delivered via the Primary Email Account, the Shopify administrative console, or similar means.
When may Shopify suspend and revoke access to a merchant's account and services?
Shopify may suspend and revoke access to a merchant's account and services if it is unable to successfully process payment of fees within 28 days of its initial attempt.
May Shopify suspend and revoke access if it is unable to successfully process payment of fees within 28 days?
Shopify may suspend and revoke access to a merchant's account and services if it is unable to successfully process payment of fees within 28 days of its initial attempt.
What must the content of a merchant's terms of service and privacy policy disclose?
Shopify requires that the content of a merchant's terms of service and privacy policy disclose that the store is hosted by Shopify and that Shopify collects and processes customers' personal data.
Must merchants disclose that the store is hosted by Shopify and that Shopify collects and processes customers' personal data?
Shopify requires that the content of a merchant's terms of service and privacy policy disclose that the store is hosted by Shopify and that Shopify collects and processes customers' personal data.
Will Shopify and its suppliers be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages?
Shopify and its suppliers will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses.
What must merchants use for their store?
Shopify requires merchants to use Shopify Checkout for their store.
Does Shopify require merchants to use Shopify Checkout for their store?
Shopify requires merchants to use Shopify Checkout for their store.
What does Shopify require merchants to grant Shopify permission to do by installing or enabling a third-party service?
Shopify requires merchants, by installing or enabling a third-party service, to grant Shopify permission to share the merchant's data and other materials on the merchant's behalf, or to allow the applicable third-party provider to access that data and materials and take any other required actions.
By installing or enabling a third-party service, must merchants grant Shopify permission to share the merchant's data and other materials?
Shopify requires merchants, by installing or enabling a third-party service, to grant Shopify permission to share the merchant's data and other materials on the merchant's behalf, or to allow the applicable third-party provider to access that data and materials and take any other required actions.
Summary
This document sets the rules for using Shopify to run an online store. Shopify will not issue refunds, can suspend your account if a payment fails within 28 days, and must give you 30 days' notice before raising fees. You are responsible for everything in your store and must cover Shopify's legal costs if a claim arises, and any dispute must be resolved in Ontario courts.
Analysis
Shopify's Terms of Service establishes the substantive rights, obligations, and limitations governing the merchant-platform relationship. Merchants are made solely responsible for store creation and operation, materials, goods and services sold, and all aspects of customer transactions, while Shopify and its suppliers exclude liability for the full spectrum of damages including direct, indirect, consequential, and exemplary losses. Shopify receives a broad, non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free worldwide license to host, modify, distribute, and create derivative works of merchant materials, and merchants must indemnify Shopify and a wide range of affiliated parties against any claim or demand including attorneys' fees. Fee changes require 30 days' advance notice, no refunds are available, and failed payment processing within 28 days authorizes Shopify to suspend and revoke account access. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Ontario courts, merchants must use Shopify Checkout exclusively, and installing third-party services automatically grants Shopify permission to share merchant data with those providers.
What this means for you
As a merchant using Shopify, you bear full responsibility for your store, its content, and your customer transactions, with no ability to hold Shopify financially accountable for virtually any harm, including loss of profits or data. Your store's own terms of service and privacy policy must disclose that Shopify hosts your store and collects and processes your customers' personal data. When you enable any third-party service, you automatically authorize Shopify to share your data and materials with that provider without an additional consent step. You must use Shopify Checkout exclusively and cannot process orders through alternative systems. If you wish to act before a fee change takes effect, Shopify's 30-day advance notice requirement gives you a defined window to do so.
2 important changes detected
4 versions captured · Last updated: August 2026
What changed
Shopify restructured its contracting party and dispute resolution framework in an update detected on August 1, 2026. Previously, the terms assigned a single Shopify contracting party based on billing region and directed all disputes to courts in Ontario (Canada), Singapore, or Ireland depending on location. The updated terms reorganize this into a table format, clarifying which Shopify entity serves as the contracting party for each region (US/Canada, Asia Pacific, or other jurisdictions), and replace the exclusive jurisdiction language with a requirement that disputes be brought only in the courts specified in that table. Additionally, Shopify reorganized service-specific terms sections, moving Gift Cards language and restructuring references to Audiences and Checkout Extensibility provisions.
Why this matters
The updated terms clarify the legal identity of the Shopify entity you contract with and establish which courts have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve disputes, depending on your store's billing address. Previously, the terms specified exclusive jurisdiction by region (Ontario for US/Canada, Singapore for Asia Pacific, Ireland for EMEA and other areas). The revised structure presents this information in a table format and adds explicit language stating that disputes can only be brought in the courts listed for your region, with those courts having exclusive jurisdiction. Shopify Inc. may act as a billing agent for other Shopify entities to collect fees and remit taxes in some jurisdictions. You can review the contracting party and forum table in Section 13 to confirm which entity and courts apply to your store based on your billing address.
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What changed
Shopify updated its Terms of Service on May 11, 2026 to add new provisions regarding communications through additional channels like WhatsApp and to introduce a new service category called Agentic Storefronts with supplemental terms. The updated terms now state that Shopify may use opted-in communication channels to send account and service-related messages, and that merchants using Agentic Storefronts must comply with separate supplemental terms specific to that service.
Why this matters
The updated terms establish that Shopify may send account and service-related communications through WhatsApp if you have opted into that channel. Additionally, merchants who use the new Agentic Storefronts service are now subject to supplemental terms specific to that feature. These are clarifications that formalize how existing communication channels can be used and introduce governance for a new product offering.
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Archival ProvenanceSource & Archival Record
Last Captured
August 1, 2026 00:26 UTC
Capture Method
Automated scheduled archival capture
Document ID
CA-D-000123
Version ID
CA-V-005419
SHA-256
3513669bf9c4d7a1fb9d8b9f8adb4c3a4b74f28af91ff92bb7f38496271bce69
✓ Snapshot stored
✓ Text extracted
✓ Change verified
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