Shopify

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Shopify is a hosting service that provides storefront software for a fee. We use it currently for exoticammo.com. It is easy to set up and lets one focus on the business rather than the tech stuff. Shopify is one of the biggest and many many gun related companies use it including Spikes Tactical and many others.

Until now.

I, and many other sellers of gun related products got this love note:

Hello and thanks for reaching out to us today.

From time to time, Shopify reviews and amends the terms, conditions and policies governing the use of our platform. We have recently amended our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to restrict the sale of certain firearms and parts on our platform. A full list and revised version of our AUP can be found at
https://www.shopify.com/legal/aup.

Based on this update, it appears that your store may be impacted. Please review your store and the revised AUP to ensure you are in compliance with Shopify policies. Section 8 has a link to items that are considered Restricted Items. You can see the full list here. Review the list to make sure you are in compliance.

Let me know if I can help you with anything else!

Here’s to your success!

Nathan | Merchant Success Guru
Shopify Support Team
Now, one might ask "what exactly is offensive? I did ask.

A couple of points: The way the AUP is worded almost any piece of hardware could be construed as "restricted". I would like clarification on that.

Further, what precisely, are we selling that might be objectionable? I have been getting these vaguely threatening emails for a reason. I would like some specifics.

This seems like an authoritarian missive with vague requirements that are designed to cause a person to fail. Your list of things that are restricted are perfectly legal in almost every state. Why are you taking it upon yourself to make a political statement?

Don't get it and don't like it. Then again, you are far beyond the point where any individual matters very much.​

I'm not going to take you thru the full mess, suffice it to say that they, basically, will suspend any account that caries anything they deem offensive. Yeah, the usual suspects are included (hi cap mags, flash hiders <!!!>) and so on but ANYTHING can be a cause for the loss of your livelihood.
When I continued to press them for clarification, I got this:

The AUP has a lot of high-level language, but if you click the link in Section 8, you can see a very specific list of items that are restricted. If you are unsure what items might qualify as at item on the list, it is recommended that you seek independent legal counsel, to help you interpret it.​

"Get a lawyer". I read that and gave up. I am now in the process of migrating to 3DCart, a Florida, gun friendly alternative to Shopify.

I write this for a simple reason. I want all of us to really really understand that gun laws can remain exactly as they are and things can be done that will effectively disarm you. I use Authorize.net to process credit cards, many processors will not handle firearms transactions. If you can't pay, you can't buy. It isn't a joke and it isn't going to go away.

And the only recourse is to be damn sure that you are voting for candidates who support your gun rights. You have to fight the political fight. If you walk into a gun store, particularly a Mom and Pop, buy something. Buy a box of ammo. We have to support each other. And we also have to be aware of the danger.
 
I guess I should tell what I am doing about this mess. First is letting people know. Like I am doing here. You should go to the bottom of the page for stores that you are doing business with. At the bottom it will say "Powered by Shopify" or words to that effect. You might point out to the owner of the store that Shopify ain't a pal and you take note of entities that support them.

Secondly, I have been in communication with Shooting Industry, the industry magazine. I will be writing a long letter to the editor or a small piece describe the situation and my solution in more detail. But the main thing is support. Shopify knows have their revenue hit will be. It would be a good thing if it were greater.
 
I'm sorry for your delimma and I read the linked restrictions. However, I never heard of shopify until....right now.
 
I'm sorry for your delimma and I read the linked restrictions. However, I never heard of shopify until....right now.
Not surprising.

Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. It is also the name of its proprietary e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems.[3]

The company reported that it had more than 600,000 merchants using its platform as of August 2017,[4] with total gross merchandise volumeexceeding $55 billion.[4][5][6][7] -Wiki
The real point is that a non-government entity can impact the firearms business with an email. That is what is frightening. That and the fact that no one has heard of them.
 
Oh wow, what a bummer by Shopify. You can also just create a website on a website builder like hPage.com and sell your stuff there. I think a personal website is better because you have full control of the content and the stuff you sell. Ecommerce websites can change their policies at any time.
 
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