Standfast Commerce

What Shopify's June 2026 notice actually says

Shopify published no policy page. The rule reached merchants as a private email, so most of what circulates is second-hand. This page collects the wording, the dates and the documents, each with its source, so you can read them yourself.

On this page

  1. The wording
  2. The dates
  3. Who it reaches
  4. What happens to a terminated store
  5. The attorneys-general letter behind it
  6. 420.com's own notice
  7. What to do this week
  8. Sources

The wording

The sentence merchants received, as reproduced from the notice by Token of Trust on 25 June 2026:

"Shopify no longer supports the sale of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), including e-cigarettes, e-liquids, vaporizers, parts, and refills, regardless of nicotine content."

Shopify merchant notice, June 2026, as quoted by Token of Trust, 25 June 2026.

Reuters, carried by The Spokesman-Review on 10 July 2026, quotes the opening of the same notice: "Due to changes in legal restrictions on the sale of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), Shopify no longer supports the sale of these products." Reuters reports that Shopify confirmed the notice was genuine and declined further comment.

The phrase that matters for hardware sellers is "regardless of nicotine content." It reaches a vaporizer, a part or a refill whether or not nicotine is involved.

The dates

Those are the only public dates. Any other date you see quoted is either a merchant's own notice date or a guess.

Who it reaches

Reuters reported on 23 June 2026 that the ban "will apply to all vapes regardless of whether they have required FDA authorisation" and that Shopify did not answer a question about geographic scope. A German merchant posted a notice with the same dates in August, so it is not limited to the United States.

On 19 August 2026 a merchant posted in the Shopify Community thread titled "ENDS Policy":

"We only sold Vape batteries and accessories (no nicotine or cannabis) JUST Hardware, but now Shopify does not allow it!"

Shopify Community, "ENDS Policy", 19 August 2026. A first-hand merchant report. No Shopify staff replied in the thread.

A reply in the same thread, from a community member rather than Shopify staff, put it this way: "The wording in the notices covers parts and refills regardless of nicotine content, so hardware only doesnt exempt you." The same reply notes that "account level enforcement can mean locked admin access and frozen payouts" and advises merchants to "export your customers, orders and products to CSV now."

Shopify's public documents do not mention any of this. As of 1 August 2026 the Terms of Service and the Acceptable Use Policy contain no occurrence of the words nicotine, tobacco, vape, ENDS, cannabis or hemp.

What happens to a terminated store

Section 14 of Shopify's Terms of Service (last updated 1 August 2026) says Shopify "may suspend or terminate your Account or the Terms of Service for any reason, without notice and at any time (unless otherwise required by law)". On termination, "Shopify will cease providing you with the Services and you will no longer be able to access your Account" and "your Shopify Store will be taken offline." Section 8 adds that Shopify "can, at any time, review and delete any or all of the Materials submitted to the Services".

There is no export right in those sections. The data-retention window Shopify describes elsewhere covers stores that close themselves. If your store is terminated, assume that whatever you have not already exported is gone. Export this week, whether or not you plan to move.

The attorneys-general letter behind it

On 24 November 2025 the California Attorney General and New York City's Corporation Counsel wrote to Shopify on behalf of 23 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the City of New York, asking it to terminate e-cigarette sellers. The letter names 29 Shopify-hosted sites in its body and attaches exhibits listing more than 200 entries, 168 unique domains. It is public:

Letter to Shopify, 24 November 2025 (PDF, California Attorney General's office)

Footnote 4 of the letter reads: "It is our intention to seek equivalent termination of e-cigarette sellers from other providers of web-hosting services." That sentence is why our hosting policy refuses every domain on the letter's exhibits and every domain with an FDA warning letter, and why we do not host nicotine e-liquid, disposables or pouches today.

The pressure did not stop at Shopify. On 14 April 2026 thirteen attorneys general wrote to Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover (letter, PDF), and on 28 April 2026 twenty-five attorneys general wrote to nine payment companies including PayPal, Stripe, Sezzle and Block (Pennsylvania Attorney General, 28 April 2026). Reuters reported a Mastercard notice to acquirers in May 2026.

420.com's own notice

420.com, a Standfast Commerce customer, received its own notice from Shopify with its own removal date. That date is not quoted here because it is a private date, not one of the public ones; the public dates are 24 June and 8 July 2026. 420.com moved onto Standfast Commerce and has run there since 16 September 2026.

What to do this week

  1. Export everything Shopify lets you export, today, before anything else.
  2. Start the merchant-account application. Shopify Payments already refuses tobacco and cannabis-related goods, so most stores in these categories are on a third-party gateway. If you need a new high-risk account, the community advice is right: approval takes weeks, and the processor decides your options.
  3. Save the notice email you received, with its date.
  4. If you want a second opinion on your catalogue, send us the products CSV. Within 48 hours you get a private preview and a row-by-row verdict under our hosting policy. Nothing is signed.

Sources

Pages were opened and read on 20 and 21 September 2026. If a link has moved, the title and date above should find it.