Multiple theme licensing

Is your Shopify theme licensed?

When running a Shopify store, the code that creates the look and feel of your store is called a theme. Other online platforms like Wordpress call this a template, however, when using Shopify, a theme is what customers are greeted with when they visit your website.

As your website likley runs on Shopify, what you are using when setting up your theme are templates and sections which make up the layout of the different pages or content types that you will see when navigating your website of the Shopify theme editor.

Buying from the right source

When you have a Shopify store you have access to a wide range of resources from how to's, to freelance services and some very good agencies.

Shopify also offers a range of free and paid themes that have been built by strenuously approved developers via the Shopify theme store.

If you have visited the Shopify theme store and purchased a theme you are using a licensed and approved theme.

I have 2 stores do I need to buy it twice?

Yes, a theme is licensed for usage within 1 single Shopify store, under no circumstances are you allowed to use this in a second store while the original store that the theme was purchased for is still trading.

For a copy of Shopify's merchant terms regarding theme licensing please see section 10.1 https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms

I am building stores for clients, can I use the theme more than once?

Only if you or the specific merchant has paid for the usage of this theme within a specific store. You may not under any circumstances install or distribute themes to more than 1 store per theme purchase. Doing so would be a direct violation of Shopify partner terms of service and the theme developers intellectual property which in itself would have severe legal implications.

For a copy of Shopify's partner terms regarding the sale and distribution of a theme please see Part B: section 8 https://www.shopify.com/partners/terms

What if I downloaded it for free somewhere

If you downloaded a theme from a questionable source in hopes of skipping that cost then, unfortunately, your time of enjoyment of that will come to an abrupt end.

Theme developers can check unlicensed theme without looking at the code and also have the support of Shopify to crackdown on this growing problem.

Why are themes are so expensive?

The price you see in the Shopify theme store is the price for the theme these range from $150 - $400 depending on the developer.

What you don't see however is that this is a one-off cost. The theme developer will keep this updated with Shopify's latest code requirements, will bring out new versions with new features and support your use of that theme answering any questions that you have about it all for that one-time cost.

This means that in theory you could have an e-commerce business that over the next 5 years will get occasional design changes, updates, and free technical support all for that one-time cost.

A theme is and remains the intellectual property of its designer and development teams and may not be used or distributed without prior authorization or purchase form the correct channels.