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Ready to Sell on Pinterest? Merchant Checklist

Tick what your shop already has. You get each way Pinterest itself lists to sell, what is still missing for each one, and Pinterest’s own words for every requirement.

Your shop on Pinterest

5 things to do before a retail catalog

Tick what you have, below. Every requirement is quoted from Pinterest’s own pages.

What you have. Tick all that are true.
Does any of this apply?
For the Verified Merchant Program (the blue checkmark)
Tick all that are true

Quoted from Pinterest’s Get started with retail catalogs, its Merchant Guidelines (a new version takes effect on 12 November 2026), The Verified Merchant Program, Set up your merchant profile, Claim your website and its two country lists. Checked 3 October 2026. Pinterest promises no sales, and neither do we.

      Quick answer: To sell on Pinterest at scale you add a retail catalog, which turns your products into product Pins. Pinterest's help says Before you add your retail catalog, you’ll need to: get a Pinterest business account, claim your website, install the Pinterest tag, and Have a website that meets our merchant guidelines (with easy-to-find contact details, shipping policy, and refund policy). On Shopify or WooCommerce, Pinterest's app links the two for you. On Etsy, eBay or Amazon alone, a catalog isn't open, because those shops can't be claimed. Tick what you have above to see what is left.

      How to use it

      1. Say where and what you sell, and where your business is. Shopping and the Verified Merchant Program are open in different countries, and the page reads both of Pinterest's lists.
      2. Tick what you already have. Each way to sell shows what is still missing, with the line of Pinterest's help it comes from.
      3. Copy your to-do list or the link. The link keeps your answers and nothing else. None of it is personal.

      The ways Pinterest itself lists

      • A retail catalog. Pinterest: Add your retail catalog’s data source to Pinterest to upload many of your products, as product Pins, at once. Then, you can promote them across Pinterest as shopping ads. It reads TSV, CSV, XML or Google Sheets. Check yours first with the catalog feed checker.
      • Product Rich Pins. Add meta tags to your website so people can save product Pins directly from your site. They stay up to date, but Pinterest adds that Rich Pins cannot be promoted in shopping ads. The Rich Pin checker reads a page's tags.
      • The alternatives, when a catalog doesn't fit: Use the Pinterest API to create and manage your catalog (for developers), Partner with an e-commerce site, or Create individual ads from your profile. This is a good option if you have a smaller group of products you'd like to advertise on Pinterest.

      Only one of these makes shopping ads. Pinterest: All product Pins on Pinterest are distributed organically, but only product Pins created with our Catalogs tool can be promoted as shopping ads.

      Shopify and WooCommerce

      Pinterest's merchant set-up page says: You can set up your account by linking it to your Shopify or WooCommerce account. If you don't have Shopify or WooCommerce, you'll need to claim your website, install the Pinterest tag and connect your catalog. So on those two platforms the app does the claiming, the tag and the feed. You still need the business account and a site that meets the merchant guidelines.

      Etsy, eBay and Amazon

      A catalog needs a website you have claimed, and Pinterest's help on claiming says: To claim a website, you must own the domain, subdomain or subpath, and you need to be able to edit the source code. As a result, you’re unable to claim most social accounts and online stores hosted on marketplaces like Etsy, eBay and Amazon. You can still pin your listings as ordinary Pins. A catalog, shopping ads and the Verified Merchant Program wait until you have a website of your own.

      Who Pinterest's merchant guidelines leave out

      The Merchant Guidelines' requirements open with Merchants must not be affiliate marketers. and Merchants must not be wholesale retailers. A product Pin is for a thing you sell: The Pin must display a specific item, excluding services, that is available for purchase. Resale sites are limited too: Resale or consignment marketplaces are only eligible for Ads distribution.

      The site itself is checked. Pinterest asks for an easy to find and clear return policy that displays whether the merchant accepts returns, the process and time expectations for returns, and contact information. It turns down sites that have broken links or incomplete pages, or that Force users to register to view the products. Prices must stay current: Pinterest must have current (within seven days) and accurate information about the price and in-stock status of the product.

      The guidelines change on 12 November 2026. Pinterest says We're updating our Merchant Guidelines, effective November 12, 2026. The new version, which we compared line by line, adds one item to the list of products that can't be product Pins: Scams, deceptive goods and practices.

      The Verified Merchant Program

      The Verified Merchant Program (or VMP) helps people on Pinterest discover and buy from vetted brands. It comes after an approved catalog: To be an approved merchant, claim and verify your domain, then add your catalog. We’ll review your business to make sure they meet our merchant guidelines. Then the account must be at least three months old, with a profile picture and a completed About section. The website must be at least nine months old. At least 75% of the catalog's products must have been ingested. In the last 30 days the tag must have sent a page visit, an add to cart and a checkout event at least every 7 days, with the currency and each product's product_id. Nobody applies by hand: Once you’ve met all of them, you’ll automatically be verified. The checkout events come from the Pinterest tag; the tag code builder writes them.

      FAQ

      Can I sell on Pinterest without a website?
      Not with a catalog. A catalog needs a website you have claimed, and Pinterest says shops on marketplaces like Etsy, eBay and Amazon can't be claimed. You can pin your listings as ordinary Pins.
      Do I need a business account to sell on Pinterest?
      Yes. It is the first item on Pinterest's list before a retail catalog, and its merchant set-up page starts with it: "First, you need to have a Pinterest Business account."
      Can I sell on Pinterest with affiliate links?
      Not as a merchant. Pinterest's Merchant Guidelines say "Merchants must not be affiliate marketers." Affiliate links can go on ordinary Pins. Check each one with the affiliate link checker.
      Can I sell digital products on Pinterest?
      Pinterest's merchant guidelines don't name digital products. They ask for "a specific item, excluding services, that is available for purchase." Ask Pinterest before you build a catalog of downloads. Pins that link to your product pages work either way.
      Is selling on Pinterest available in my country?
      Pinterest lists the countries where Shopping is open to business accounts (71 when we checked) and where the Verified Merchant Program is open (35). Choose yours above to see both.