If you have a legal dispute with Shopify, this clause requires you to resolve it through private arbitration rather than going to court, and you cannot join a class action lawsuit with other users against Shopify.
This analysis describes what Shopify's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision requires users to pursue claims against Shopify individually through arbitration, which may limit practical access to remedies for smaller claims and forecloses participation in class actions that might otherwise aggregate similarly situated users.
Interpretive note: Enforceability varies significantly by jurisdiction; EU, UK, and certain Canadian provincial laws may limit or override this clause as applied to merchants in those regions.
The agreement requires disputes to be resolved through individual binding arbitration, waiving the right to a jury trial and participation in class action proceedings; this applies to claims arising from use of Shopify's services, including disputes over account suspension, fee charges, or service failures.
How other platforms handle this
You and Teachable agree to resolve any disputes through final and binding arbitration, except as set forth under Exceptions to Agreement to Arbitrate below. You also agree that disputes will only be resolved on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated, or representative action.
Any dispute arising from or relating to the subject matter of these Terms shall be finally settled by arbitration in San Francisco County, California, in accordance with the Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures of Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. ("JAMS") then in effect, by ...
THESE TERMS REQUIRE THE USE OF ARBITRATION (SECTION 12.2) ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES, RATHER THAN JURY TRIALS OR CLASS ACTIONS, AND ALSO LIMIT THE REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE.
Monitoring
Shopify has changed this document before.
Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 25 platforms.
"Any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof or the use of the Services (collectively, 'Disputes') will be settled by binding arbitration, except that each party retains the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation of a party's copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, or other intellectual property rights. You acknowledge and agree that you and Shopify are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class action or representative proceeding.— Excerpt from Shopify's Shopify Terms of Service
REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Mandatory arbitration clauses and class action waivers engage the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in the US, which generally enforces such clauses in commercial contracts. However, EU Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair contract terms and UK consumer protection regulations may render this clause unenforceable against consumers and small businesses in those jurisdictions. The FTC has regulatory interest in arbitration clauses used in consumer and small business contexts. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The clause as written applies broadly to all disputes arising from the agreement or use of services. For US-based merchants, the clause is likely enforceable under the FAA. For EU, UK, and certain other non-US merchants, enforceability is uncertain and may require jurisdiction-specific carve-outs or separate terms to be legally valid. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU/EEA users retain rights under local consumer protection frameworks that may override arbitration clauses. UK users are similarly protected under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Canadian users may have additional protections under provincial consumer protection statutes. Illinois, California, and other US states have specific rules governing arbitration in consumer contracts that may limit application. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: B2B procurement teams should assess whether this clause is acceptable within their organization's standard contract review criteria, particularly for merchants with significant operational dependence on Shopify whose potential claims could exceed arbitration cost thresholds. The clause includes a carve-out for injunctive relief related to intellectual property, which is standard commercial practice. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should determine whether Shopify's arbitration clause includes an opt-out mechanism and the deadline for exercising it. For merchants operating in the EU or UK, separate terms or addenda may govern dispute resolution and should be reviewed in conjunction with this provision. Document the jurisdiction of the merchant entity at account creation, as this determines which dispute resolution framework applies.
Full compliance analysis
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Monitor: 25 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.
Coinbase's User Agreement includes a mandatory arbitration clause that most users may not have reviewed. Here is what the clause states and how the opt-out process works.
561 arbitration provisions across 197 platforms. ConductAtlas tracks how dispute resolution is being restructured across the internet.
Compliance Governance Intelligence
Need to monitor specific governance provisions?
Compliance includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.
Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.
This provision requires users to pursue claims against Shopify individually through arbitration, which may limit practical access to remedies for smaller claims and forecloses participation in class actions that might otherwise aggregate similarly situated users.
The agreement requires disputes to be resolved through individual binding arbitration, waiving the right to a jury trial and participation in class action proceedings; this applies to claims arising from use of Shopify's services, including disputes over account suspension, fee charges, or service failures.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 131 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Shopify.