Prohibited products and activities
Last updated September 03, 2026.
What cannot be sold on Crate?
Crate stores cannot sell anything illegal where the business or the buyer is, anything card networks and acquiring banks refuse to process, or anything a connected payment provider prohibits under its own rules. In practice that means counterfeit and stolen goods, unlicensed copies of other people's work, illegal drugs and the substances sold to imitate them, weapons and ammunition, live animals, human remains, government and identity documents, hacking tools and stolen data, gambling, pyramid schemes, sexual services, and any material involving a child. A second and shorter set is conditional rather than banned, including alcohol, tobacco, pharmacy items, supplements, financial services and ticketing, and those are allowed where the business holds the licence the law requires. If you are unsure which list you are on, ask before you list.
Four things worth knowing before you read the lists
The lists themselves follow, in full.
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Most of this is not our preference
It is the law in the markets Crate operates in, the card network rules, and the terms of the payment provider you connect. Crate cannot waive any of the three.
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Conditional is not banned
Alcohol, pharmacy, supplements, tobacco, financial products and ticketing are allowed with the licence your jurisdiction requires. We may ask to see it.
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Food and beauty are welcome
Both are business types Crate is built for. What they need is the registration your own authority requires, which is between you and that authority.
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Ask first, it is free
Answering whether a product is allowed takes us about a day. Unwinding a frozen payout takes considerably longer.
Where these rules come from
The categories below cannot be sold through a Crate store. Almost none of them are a matter of taste. They are here because they are illegal in the markets Crate operates in, because card networks and acquiring banks will not process them, or because the payment providers Crate connects to prohibit them under the terms you accept when you connect an account.
If you are not sure whether what you sell is on this page, ask before you list it. Email [email protected] with a description or a photograph. Answering that question takes us a day. Unwinding a frozen payout takes considerably longer.
Categories that cannot be sold on Crate
No licence makes these acceptable, and no market Crate operates in permits them.
- Counterfeit and replica goods
- Imitations of designer or branded items, fake authentication, unauthorised branded packaging, and goods presented as an endorsement or collaboration that does not exist.
- Stolen goods
- Including devices reported lost or stolen, and goods with a removed or altered serial number.
- Unlicensed copies of other people's work
- Pirated films, music, books, software, courses and templates, and resold material you do not hold the rights to distribute.
- Illegal drugs, and substances sold to imitate them
- Including anything marketed as a legal alternative to a controlled substance, and the equipment sold specifically to use them.
- Weapons and ammunition
- Including firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives and anything designed principally to cause injury.
- Live animals, and products from protected or endangered species
- Including ivory, pangolin scales and protected hardwoods.
- Human remains, body parts, organs and bodily fluids
- Without exception, and including anything presented as a specimen or a curiosity.
- Government and identity documents
- Passports, national identity cards, driving licences, visas, diplomas and certificates, whether genuine or forged.
- Hacking tools, stolen data and account credentials
- Including phishing kits, malware, stolen card or bank data, harvested personal data, and access to accounts belonging to somebody else.
- Bulk contact lists and unsolicited messaging tools
- Including email and phone lists compiled without the consent of the people on them.
- Gambling and betting
- Including lotteries, sports betting, and betting tips or forecasts sold as a service.
- Multi-level marketing, pyramid and matrix schemes
- Including get rich quick programmes, and any offer whose return depends mainly on recruiting other people.
- Money services
- Currency exchange, money transmission, cash advances, cheque cashing, debt collection, and buying or selling cryptocurrency, tokens or non-fungible tokens.
- Sexual services and pornographic material
- Including escort and companionship services.
- Any material involving a child in a sexual or exploitative context
- This is reported to the authorities, not merely removed.
- Content that incites violence or hatred against people
- On the basis of who they are.
- Medical claims that are not true
- Including anything sold as a cure or treatment for a serious illness without the approval the law requires.
- Charity collection by a business that is not the charity
- Donations may only be collected by, or with the written authority of, the registered charity that receives the money.
Allowed, but only with the right licence
These are not banned. They are allowed where your business holds the licence or registration the law where you operate requires, and where the payment provider you connect also permits them. We may ask to see it. A flat ban on a category licensed merchants legally sell is a rule merchants learn to ignore, and a rule nobody follows protects nobody.
- Alcohol
- With the licence your jurisdiction requires, and with age verification at delivery.
- Tobacco, nicotine and vaping products
- Where they are lawful to sell online and you hold the required licence.
- Pharmacy and prescription medicines
- Only by a licensed pharmacy, and only within the rules that apply to it.
- Supplements and nutrition products
- Where they are registered as required, and where the claims made about them are the claims the registration permits.
- Cosmetics and skin products containing regulated ingredients
- Where the ingredient is legal in the market you sell into. Skin-lightening agents are restricted in several markets and are your responsibility to check.
- Financial and insurance products
- Only by a licensed provider.
- Event tickets
- Where resale is lawful and you are permitted to resell them.
- Second-hand electronics
- Where you can show the goods are yours to sell. See the note below.
- Food you prepare yourself
- Where you hold the registration your local authority requires. Food is squarely welcome on Crate. The licence is between you and your authority.
Four things this page has to say out loud
Each of these is a question merchants ask often enough that leaving it to support is a worse answer than publishing it.
Second-hand electronics
Second-hand phones and laptops are a large, legitimate trade and Crate is not trying to stop it. What is not allowed is selling a device that has been reported lost or stolen, or one whose serial number has been removed or altered.
If you deal in used devices, keep your purchase records. They are what turns a chargeback dispute into a five-minute answer.
What is legal where
Crate operates across more than one country and the same product is not restricted the same way in all of them. Where this page and the law where your business is registered disagree, the law wins, and following it is your responsibility rather than ours.
Where this page is stricter than the law, this page applies, because the constraint is usually coming from the card networks rather than from us and we cannot waive it on your behalf.
What happens if a store breaks these rules
What happens depends on what happened, and it is deliberately not one blunt outcome. A listing that looks like it may be in a prohibited category is usually hidden and queried with you first, because a mistaken listing is far more common than a deliberate one and a merchant who is guessing deserves an answer rather than a suspension.
Repeated or deliberate breaches, and anything in the banned list that carries real harm, end in the store being suspended and, where the law requires it, reported. Payouts already earned on lawful orders are still paid. If your store is suspended you will be told why, in writing, and you can reply to that message and be read by a person.
Reporting a store
If you believe a Crate store is selling something on this page, email [email protected] with the store address and what you saw. Reports are read by a person.
Where a report concerns material involving a child, it is escalated immediately rather than queued.
Questions merchants ask about this page
Short answers, and none of them hedge. If yours is not here, ask us on the contact page.
Can I sell food on Crate?
Yes. Food is one of the business types Crate is built for. What you need is the registration your local authority requires for preparing and selling it, which is between you and that authority.
Can I sell beauty and skincare products?
Yes. The one thing to check is regulated ingredients: some skin-lightening agents are restricted in some markets, and confirming the ingredient is legal where you sell is your responsibility.
Can I sell second-hand phones?
Yes, provided the device has not been reported lost or stolen and its serial number is intact. Keep your purchase records; they are what settles a dispute quickly.
I am not sure whether my product is allowed. What do I do?
Email [email protected] with a description or a photograph before you list it. An answer takes about a day. Unwinding a frozen payout takes much longer.
Who actually sets these rules?
Mostly not Crate. Most of this page comes from the law in the markets Crate operates in, from card network rules, and from the terms of the payment provider you connect.
The rules differ in my country. Which one applies?
The law where your business is registered always wins over this page. Where this page is stricter than that law, this page still applies, because the restriction is usually a card network rule Crate cannot waive for you.
Trust and legal
Every document a security or procurement review asks for, in one place.
Not sure which list you are on?
Ask us before you list it. We would far rather answer a question than freeze a payout.
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