Why did Paddle reject my business?

So you've gotten the dreaded "We’ve been unable to approve your domain" from the Paddle Verification Team?

The email is usually boilerplate, but doesn't contain specifics:

This may be because it does not comply with our Terms & Conditions, it does not meet our Acceptable Use Policy or was flagged as high risk.

Due to the nature of these matters, we are unable to provide specific details. We understand this decision may be disappointing, and we appreciate your interest in Paddle.

First off, don't worry a lot of business that now sell on Paddle have received that email. Boathouse received one for everytime we changed our domain. You just have to be persistent and provide some additional information. If you are within their AUP most likely they will approve you in the next step (might take 1-3 days in our experience).

Why does this happen?

Because Paddle is a merchant of record for many businesses they need to make sure only "good merchants" are using their platform. Otherwise allowing a bad actor on the platform is a high risk for all the other Paddle vendors.

That's why they outright ban many risky business types in their AUP and if you're selling services, physical products or crypto, then I'm sorry you need to find a different payment provider.

But more likely you've been a victim of Paddle's attempt at handling their growth. Over the last few years Paddle has grown a lot and verification of vendors is a very human intensive task, so they try to automate parts of it.

And while we don't have any insight into the technicalities of the process, it's possible that either there is an automated system checking your website for certain keywords or (in our opinion more likely) a first level (outsourced) agent that has a checklist of thing to look for and a "default ban" instruction. Ban first, ask questions later.

While your business in the most important thing to you, unfortunately there are probably hundreds or thousands of businesses applying to Paddle every day. And this first hurdle also seperates those who are really trying to build a business from anyone just trying to see if they can get through and sell on Paddle.

What do I do?

Well the email usually includes a section like this:

If you think this is a mistake, please reply to this email with the following details and we’ll get back to you.

• A brief explanation of what the domain is used for
• A brief explanation of your product or service
• A link to your pricing page or attach your pricing list
• A link to your refund policy, terms of service and privacy policy

(BTW: If it doesn't contain this part, you've probably hit a hard limit and your chances to become a Paddle vendor are slim. You can still try the steps below, but you may have a harder time.)

So, what should you include in your reply:

• Answer all the questions they replied with - your's might vary to the ones above.
• First off, explain the product briefly, but very clearly.
  • Go through the AUP again step by step and if there is anything on your website that sounds like it could be a problem, mention it and explain why it's not. (E.g. you are also selling services, but you want bill for those services using Paddle.)
• Show and explain your pricing.
• If you're trying to get a subdomain approved (e.g. your apps domain) but that's only accessible for logged-in users, explain that and provide links to the marketing domain.
• Similarly if the domain you want to approve doesn't have the privacy policy, refund policy and terms of service, show where they are, and how people on the checkout page might get there.
• If you know of competitors that are selling on Paddle doing the same thing, mention those with links.
• If there is any doubt that you are letting others sell their own products/services through your Paddle account, address that head-on and explain that you are only using your account for subscriptions to the marketplace or product itself, but other can bring their own payment providers for example.

Furthermore we've seen these measures help the process along:

• Providing information about your social media accounts can help establish trust.
• If you've spoken to anyone from the Paddle team or have a contact, it's probably worth mentioning them.

Best of luck, stay strong, it's not as bad as it seems.