NFT Sales Eligibility for Shopify Payments: How to Apply and What to Do if Rejected

TL;DR

• New and existing Shopify merchants who use Shopify Payments must fill out a one-time questionnaire that checks for their eligibility to sell NFTs.
• This only applies to Shopify Payments. There are many other payment gateways and payment providers that can be used with Shopify instead of Shopify Payments.
• Once the application is approved, NFTs can be created, imported, and sold.
• If the application is rejected, NFT selling features are blocked for Shopify Payments users.
• Merchants may reapply for eligibility after 60 days.
• Merchants are entitled to give away NFTs for free but still need to complete a simplified version of the eligibility questionnaire if they have Shopify Payments enabled.

Effective February 2023, Shopify merchants who wish to use Shopify Payments for NFT sales became subject to an eligibility requirement. We will explore the eligibility application process using our Shopify NFT minting app, NFTeapot, as an example, but other NFT apps should have similar processes.

Shopify NFT Sales Requirements

Some basic requirements need to be met in order to distribute NFTs on Shopify:

• You are subscribed to one of the three Shopify paid plans (basic, standard, premium).
• You have a Shopify NFT distribution app like NFTeapot installed.
• Your NFTs comply with the Shopify Acceptable Use Policy.

Note: You do NOT need to be a Shopify Plus member to distribute NFTs anymore. When Shopify first introduced NFTs, this was a requirement for some geographical areas.

Shopify Payments NFT Sales Requirements

On top of that, if you use Shopify Payments for your NFT sales, you must meet additional requirements:

• Your business is in a region that supports Shopify Payments.
• Your NFTs comply with Shopify Payments regulations.
• Your NFT Sales Eligibility Application has been approved.

If you have Shopify Payments disabled, you will neither have access to nor need to complete the eligibility questionnaire.

NFT Sales Eligibility Application

The NFT Sales Eligibility Application consists of 17 multiple choice questions that ask about the details of your business and NFTs. It is Shopify Payments, not NFTeapot or Shopify, that mandates this policy and assesses the application.

Here is the current list of questions:

You should be automatically redirected to this questionnaire upon installation of NFTeapot. Otherwise, a message containing the link to the questionnaire will pop up when you try to import or publish an NFT inside NFTeapot. Merchants who installed NFTeapot before February 2023 must also complete the NFT Sales Eligibility Application.

Prohibited NFTs

Shopify lists NFT sales restrictions across various pages on their website. We’ve compiled a list of unsupported NFT activity here:

Shopify Payments Terms of Service (different for each region)

• Financial and professional services
• IP Infringement, regulated or illegal products and services
• Products or services that are otherwise prohibited by law or Shopify’s financial partners
• Unfair, predatory or deceptive practices

Shopify and NFTs

• NFTs that have secondary royalties, such as selling or gifting an NFT where the customer can earn royalties from secondary sales
• NFTs that have staking rewards, such as selling or gifting an NFT where the customer can passively earn tokens

Eligibility Application rejection feedback

• Securities, investments, and/or other financial instruments
• Gambling, which includes, but not limited to, games of change, mystery boxes, raffles, lotteries, and/or sweepstakes
• Auctions where an entry fee is charged to customers
• NFTs which exceed $20,000 USD
• NFTs where the merchant does not own or have the necessary intellectual property rights to the content used in the NFTs

For more information, check Shopify’s resources on Shopify and NFTs.

Gifting NFTs for Free

If you have Shopify Payments enabled but want to gift NFTs for free, select “Gift” as the answer to the first question on the eligibility application and you will automatically jump over the rest of the questionnaire. By default all merchants are eligible to gift NFTs as long as they submit the questionnaire.

After Submitting the Eligibility Questionnaire

After submitting the questionnaire, you should receive the result instantly.

If you are approved for selling, congratulations! You can start listing NFTs immediately.

If your application is not approved, you can reapply after 60 days.

In the meantime, an error message will pop up every time you try to import or publish an NFT. The message will provide a link to the NFT Sales Eligibility Application, which will become available again 60 days after your previous attempt. You can bookmark the URL and set a notification in your calendar, or get the URL 60 days later by triggering the error message while Shopify Payments is enabled.

You can perform different actions in NFTeapot depending on your application result:

‍

This table is adapted from the table in Check NFT Sales Eligibility which is geared towards developers, but it can help you understand how the eligibility check is implemented and determine if your shop is approved to sell or gift NFTs.

If selling NFTs through Shopify Payments is not an option for you, there are other third-party payment providers you can use.

You can manage your payment options inside Payments, which can be found in the Settings section of Shopify Admin. Check out Shopify’s documentation on how to switch payment providers.

Note that third-party payment providers may have different transaction fee structures.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why Sell NFTs on Shopify?

Shopify’s ecommerce features have some advantages over NFT-only marketplaces that can make the shopping experience easier for both the merchants and buyers. A few benefits include:

• Shopify is easy to set up and provides a conventional web2 shopping experience for your customers.
• Shopify lowers barriers to entry into the NFT world by offering the option to purchase NFTs with credit cards instead of crypto.
• Shopify allows you to connect NFTs with physical goods in an already existing online store, so you can sell matching digital twins, certificates, tickets or anything digital in the form of an NFT.

2. Why Use Shopify Payments?

Shopify Payments is an integrated payment system in Shopify that accepts popular payment methods like credit cards, debit cards and Apple Pay. Compared with a third-party payment processor, it has several advantages:

• There are no third-party transaction fees.
• It is easier to set up and configure.
• It includes common credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.
• It accepts payment methods specific to the region, such as JCB in Japan.
• It allows finances, transactions, and inventory to be managed in one place inside Shopify.

3. Where can Shopify Payments be used?

Shopify Payments supported countries include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.

4. Can non-US Shopify Plus users distribute NFTs on Shopify?

Yes! Shopify is expanding its NFT sales feature to more countries around the world.

5. My NFT Sales Eligibility Application was rejected, what should I do?

You can reapply after 60 days or use a different payment provider.

6. I am using Shopify Payments, but I don’t see the eligibility form.

You may not be in a region that supports NFT sales through Shopify Payments. NFT sales are currently supported in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.

7. How does gifting NFTs work?

NFTs for gifting purposes must comply with Shopify’s NFT requirements. Depending on if you have Shopify Payments enabled or not, you will run into 1 of 2 different scenarios:

    1) If you have Shopify Payments enabled, you will be prompted to fill out the NFT Sales Eligibility Application. By default, you should be eligible for gifting after completing the form.

    2) If you don’t have Shopify Payments enabled, you will not be prompted to fill out the eligibility application form.

If you have any additional questions, check out Shopify’s documentation such as Shopify and NFTs or contact us at Curvegrid. We are always happy to help!

‍

Edited on August 17, 2023: Updated information on NFT gifting requirements.