Acceptable use policy

Last updated 29 October 2026

Why we have this policy

Merchella is for honest businesses selling legal products. This policy sets out what is not allowed, so shoppers can trust the shops on our platform and the service stays safe for everyone.

It forms part of our Terms of service. It applies to everything in your shop, your emails, your use of the Command admin area, and anyone you give access to your account.

Products you must not sell

Illegal goods: anything that is illegal to sell, own or send in the UK or in any country you sell to.
Weapons: firearms, ammunition and their parts, explosives, and knives or other weapons where sale is banned or restricted, unless you meet every legal requirement for selling them.
Drugs: illegal drugs, psychoactive substances, drug paraphernalia, and prescription-only medicines.
Counterfeit goods: fakes, replicas or copies of branded products, or anything sold as genuine when it is not.
Goods that infringe others' rights: products that break someone else's trade mark, copyright, design or patent.
Unsafe products: recalled items, or products that do not meet the safety rules that apply to them.
Stolen goods, or goods you do not have the right to sell.
Adult content: pornography and sexually explicit material or services.
Live animals and products from protected species.
Tobacco, vapes and alcohol, unless you meet every legal requirement, including age checks.
Regulated services such as gambling, unless properly licensed and agreed with us in writing first.

Health products and claims

Many honest shops sell health and wellbeing products, and our own team does too. But health claims need particular care.

Do not claim a product prevents, treats or cures a disease unless the law allows that claim for that product.
Medical devices must meet the regulations that apply to them in each country you sell to.
Do not use false or misleading claims about accuracy, approvals, testing or results.
Do not use fake endorsements, fake reviews or invented statistics.

Content you must not publish

Hate: content that attacks or encourages hatred or violence against people because of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or similar characteristics.
Harassment or threats against anyone.
Content that promotes terrorism, violent extremism or self-harm.
Content that exploits or endangers children in any way. We report this to the authorities.
Misleading content: false prices or was-prices, fake countdowns or stock levels, hidden charges, or impersonating another business.
Fake reviews: writing your own reviews, buying reviews, or editing reviews to change their meaning. Imported reviews must be genuine.
Other people's private information shared without their permission.

Fraud and dishonest trading

Taking payment for goods you do not intend to send.
Phishing, or collecting payment or sign-in details under false pretences.
Money laundering, or using your shop to move money for someone else.
Pyramid schemes, get-rich-quick schemes or similar.
Opening accounts with false details, or to get around a suspension.

Spam and email

Merchella lets you send order emails, marketing emails and basket reminders. You must use them responsibly.

Only send marketing emails to people who have agreed to receive them, or where the law otherwise allows it.
Do not upload bought, rented or scraped email lists.
Include a clear way to unsubscribe in every marketing email, and honour it.
Do not use misleading subject lines or sender names.

Security and misuse of the service

Do not try to get into accounts, systems or data you are not allowed to access.
Do not test, scan or probe our systems for weaknesses without our written permission. If you find a security problem, please tell us privately.
Do not upload viruses, malware or harmful code.
Do not overload the service, for example with automated requests, or try to disrupt it.
Do not use the service to host files or content unrelated to running your shop.
Do not copy, scrape or resell the service, or use it to build a competing product.
Do not share sign-in details or try to switch off 2-step sign-in for your team.
Do not use the AI writing help to create content that breaks this policy.

Following the law

You must follow every law that applies to your shop and your products, in every country you sell to. That includes consumer protection, product safety, advertising, data protection, tax and export rules. This policy is not a full list of the law, and some products need licences or extra checks.

What happens if you break this policy

Depending on how serious it is, we may:

ask you to change or remove something;
remove or hide content or products ourselves;
turn off certain features, such as email sending;
pause your shop;
close your account; and
report the matter to the police, regulators, payment providers or rights holders where appropriate.

Where it is reasonable, we will contact you first and give you a chance to fix the problem. For serious or repeated breaches, or where people are at risk, we may act straight away.

We do not refund subscription fees for a shop that is paused or closed because of a breach of this policy, except where the law requires it.

Reporting a problem

If you see a shop on Merchella that you think breaks this policy, or infringes your rights, please email support@merchella.com with the web address and what the problem is. We will look into it.

If you bought something from a shop and have a problem with your order, please contact that shop first. The shop, not us, is the seller.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as laws and risks change. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. Merchella is run by Northstar Ridge Ltd, [REGISTERED ADDRESS].