Follow Instagram Commerce Eligibility Requirements & Get Started with Social Selling

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In our previous post, we discussed Instagram shops and their importance. We even walked you through setting up your Instagram shop step by step. To sell on Instagram as a business, though, you must meet a few commerce eligibility requirements. 

We’ll cover these requirements in detail in this blog. Every business must pay attention to these requirements since you can’t create a great shopping experience without them.

Let’s get started!

Instagram Commerce eligibility criteria to meet for Instagram Shops 

Every business looking to set up an Instagram shop has to meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. Comply with policies

Your Instagram shop must comply with Instagram’s Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.

Your account may be deactivated if you violate their policies, including the Seller Agreement, Commerce Policies, Ad Policies, and Policies for Pages, Groups, and Events.

2. Represent your business and domain

If you allow direct purchases from your website, your Instagram professional accounts must have product listings too.

Your Instagram professional account must represent the online store or website linked to the specified domain. Instagram may ask you to go through a domain verification process to verify that you own the domain.

3. Be located in a supported market 

Your Instagram account must be accessible to tag products in one of the approved markets. Click here to view the supported markets for Instagram.

Additionally, you might be unable to tag products if you’re temporarily outside a supported market. In which case, your account will regain accessibility within two weeks.

Note: Only US -based stores can now use Facebook and Instagram for checkout.

4. Demonstrate trustworthiness 

Your Facebook page and professional Instagram account must demonstrate trustworthiness through an authentic, established presence. This also includes maintaining a sufficient follower base.

5. Provide accurate information and follow best practices

Avoid giving any inaccurate information about your store or items; otherwise, it might result in your account being deactivated or you losing access to Facebook Commerce surfaces and services.

Facebook Shops, Facebook Page Shops, Marketplace Stores, Live Shopping, and Instagram Shopping are just a few examples of Facebook Commerce surfaces.

What steps should you take if disapproved?

As said earlier that for you to sell products on Instagram, it’s important to comply with commerce policies. But if you fail to do so it may result in a variety of consequences, including, but not limited to, the removal of listings and other content, the rejection of product tags, or the suspension or termination of access to any or all Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp commerce surfaces or features.

However, if you consistently post content that violates Instagram policies, your account may be suspended. Instagram reserves the right to reject, approve, or remove any listing anytime and for any reason.

For that matter if your listing was rejected for violating Instagram Commerce Eligibility Policies and you believe it was a mistake, you can request a review by following these steps:

1. If your marketplace listing isn’t approved

If you notice that your product has issues next to your listing, it was rejected because it violates the Instagram Commerce Policies. Here is what you need to do.

• Reviewing the Instagram Commerce Policies is the first step to see whether the product is permitted on the marketplace. If the listing violates the commerce policies, you can delete it.

• If you think it was a mistake by Instagram, fill in this form to ask it to take another look. Make sure you click or tap the box next to the item you want to appeal.

• In around 24 hours, check your listing again to see if Instagram accepted your appeal. 

• If you cannot figure out why your listing was taken down, you can read the Commerce Policies here or discover the most common reasons for not approving marketplace listings. 

But if you can no longer access the marketplace, follow these steps to appeal:

Try first visiting the marketplace by clicking on this link.

Click or tap the link below for more details if:

• You’re having trouble with the link
• Your access was removed
• The marketplace shortcut is not shown in the Facebook app

If the link is active but says that your access has been blocked:

• Click the marketplace on the left menu from your feed
• After clicking Request review, complete the form
• Your appeal will be reviewed, and you’ll hear back soon. Check your support inbox or the email address connected to your Facebook account for any new information

Note: You might need to refresh Facebook or download the most recent version of the app if your marketplace access has been restored. 

2. If items in your catalogue are rejected

Items rejected for not complying with Instagram Commerce Policies won’t appear in your shop and cannot be tagged on Facebook or Instagram.

You can ask for a second review in Commerce Manager or Account Quality if you think that items were mistakenly rejected. Every seven days, you can submit 5,000 items for assessment. Alternatively, you might be able to change rejected items for not adhering to Instagram policies.

To search for products that violate Instagram policies and ask for evaluations in Commerce Manager:

• Select your catalog in the Commerce Manager.
• Go to Items under the Catalog tab.
• Open the issues drop-down menu located under filters on the left-hand side.
• Choose a channel where you use your affected catalog, then sort the goods by policy violations.
• Rejected items are displayed on the left.
• Up to 100 rejected items can be selected by clicking the checkboxes on the left side.
• The top of the page has a selection for Request review.
• Check the policy concerns column to view the reasons why submissions were rejected.
• To review the policy that each item violates, click over the listed policy and click See more info.
• If you think these items shouldn’t be rejected, choose to Send a review after offering relevant feedback. Choose Done in the pop-up box.

Your products are now being reviewed. 

Click on an item on the Items tab to display its details, then select issues or channels to discover the item’s review status. Reviews can take a few days.

When your review is accepted, the product is ready for use. The item will remain rejected if the review is not accepted.

Note: Once the review is finished, you cannot request another review of the same items without first editing them. 

Content that can stop you from getting started

1. Prohibited Content

Buying or selling of the following is prohibited on Facebook, Instagram commerce surfaces and features:

• Adult products
• Alcohol 
• Body parts and fluids
• Digital media and electronic devices
• Buying or selling of real or fake documents, currency, financial instruments and virtual currency
• Buying, selling or facilitation of online gambling for money or money’s worth, including digital currencies. 
• Hazardous goods and materials
• Human exploitation and sexual services
• Ingestible supplements
• Jobs opportunities
• Land, animals and animal products
• Medical and healthcare products and services, including medical devices or smoking cessation products containing nicotine.
• Misleading, violent or hateful products and offers.
• News, humor or other content that does not offer any product for sale.
• Drugs, drug paraphernalia or prescription products.
• Recalled products
• Services
• Sexually positioned products
• Stolen goods
• Downloadable digital content, digital subscriptions or digital accounts.
• Third-party infringement
• Tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia.
• Used cosmetics
• Weapons, ammunition and explosives

2. Restricted Content 

The sale of the following is restricted on Facebook, Instagram commerce products:

• Events or admission tickets
• Gift cards and vouchers
• Pet adoption matching services to vetted partners.

Conclusion 

78% of salespeople that use social selling outperform their peers who don’t. And Instagram provides a perfect platform for businesses to capitalise on it. The advantages of having an Instagram Shop are many, ranging from increasing brand awareness to visitors to your storefront and generating sales.

However, remember that creating an Instagram shop is not a simple task. You must exert a lot of work and don’t want those efforts to be in vain. Therefore, it’s crucial to carefully consider the instagram commerce eligibility factors set forth by Instagram for shops. Verify that you meet this requirement.

We are aware that understanding these criteria is a tedious task. Moreover, these standards may become complex and challenging to follow.

But you no longer need to worry about it. 

Simply get in touch with Limechat’s e-commerce specialists, and we’ll break down each requirement so that it’s clear to you.