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Want to start selling your products and services on Instagram, but every time you try to submit for Instagram shopping you encounter this error “Your Store Isn’t Eligible for Instagram Product Tagging?”
Ouch…that hurts, isn’t it?
Many small or startup businesses who wish to promote their brand on Instagram face this error. Unfortunately, no matter how much they try different solutions, many fail to solve it.
Because of this, many of these businesses lose hope and only use Instagram as a tool to increase their brand awareness and not to sell their products. Well, this is a huge mistake! Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur working on an established company with hundreds of employees, Instagram is a powerful tool if used correctly.
Actually, Instagram is a perfect platform to sell; it has over one billion monthly users, of which 90% of them follow brand accounts on Instagram. This app is one of the biggest communities of sellers and buyers; 800,000 shoppers use Instagram every month, and around 46% of Instagrammers make a purchase after seeing the product or service on the app.
But this is only the numbers associated with Instagram Shoppable; there are thousands of Instagram accounts that don’t use this feature, and still, Instagram is the sweet point of their selling channels.
In this article, I’m going to tell you the plausible reasons why you see “Your Store Isn’t Eligible for Instagram Product Tagging,” and what other ways you can try to sell your products or services on Instagram successfully.
So, buckle up and read this article till the end.
Why Is My Instagram not Eligible for Shopping?
There are many reasons why Instagram does not allow you to activate your shop. And the main problem with this error is, Instagram does not precisely inform you WHY your account is not eligible. In the most comprehensive reply, it just says:
“Your store isn’t eligible for Instagram product tagging. Instagram reviewed your store and decided that it’s not currently eligible for Instagram product tagging. View Instagram’s commerce policy or contact Instagram to learn more.”
Well, that’s not exactly that helpful.
Let’s go over some of the common reasons why Instagram denies a shop, and we’ll start with the most simple ones:
1- Your Instagram App Is Out of Date
It sounds ridiculous, but sometimes the only thing that prevents you from having a shop on Instagram is not updating your app to the latest version. So, before doing anything, make sure your Instagram is updated.
2- Instagram Shopping Is Not Available in Your Country
Not all the countries are lucky enough to be on the Instagram list. Here is a list of the supported markets for Instagram shopping:
Even if you use a VPN or proxy service, you still won’t be able to use this feature. And to make this even worse, Instagram says:
“If you’re temporarily located outside of an available market (such as for travel), you may also lose the ability to tag products. It may take up to 2 weeks for your account to regain access.”
3- Your Instagram Is Not Connected to Your Facebook
It is impossible to have an Instagram shop without being connected to a Facebook catalog because Facebook powers Instagram shops. Your Facebook catalog must be created and managed on Catalog Manager or Business Manager on Facebook or through Shopify or BigCommerce platforms.
This mandatory step has made countless problems for businesses. First of all, you have to set up a Facebook business page, add your Instagram account to it, and vice versa, wait for both parties to approve you (it can take days), and then add your products to the Facebook catalog one by one.
What happens though this process is that even if you are eligible to have a shop for both Facebook and Instagram (based on their long and exhausting Facebook’s commerce policies and commerce products merchant agreement, and even Instagram commerce eligibility requirements), it’s still possible to get rejected!
4- You Sell Services
Yes, you cannot sell services on Instagram; only physical products are allowed. This is a huge limitation for businesses that only sell services.
Also, you should make sure that you didn’t register your Facebook page category as “Services,” otherwise, you’ll get rejected.
For example, you cannot sell these items:
- Travel services, including airline services, hotel accommodations, and car rentals
- Personnel services including the hiring of maids and other workers
- Personal wellness services including hairstyling or spa services
- Financial services, including accounting, insurance, banking, and loans
- Home services, including construction or painting
- Lawn care services
- Electrician services
- Plumbing services
- Cleaning services
- Photography services
- Automotive services, including maintenance
- Event services
- Fitness services
- Veterinary or animal-related services
5- You Sell Forbidden Products
Obviously, you cannot sell everything on Instagram. Some of the forbidden products to sell are not necessarily bad or harmful, but Instagram has banned them anyway. Based on Facebook prohibited content, here are the categories of products that you cannot sell on IG:
- Anything that violates Facebook community standards
- Adult Products
- Alcohol
- Animals
- Body Parts and Fluids
- Digital Media and Electronic Devices
- Discrimination
It explains: “Listings, and commerce Messenger threads, must not wrongfully discriminate or suggest a preference for or against people because of a personal characteristic.”
- Documents, Currency, and Financial Instruments
- Gambling
- Hazardous Goods and Materials
- Human Exploitation and Sexual Services
- Ingestible Supplements
- Jobs
- Medical and Healthcare Products
- Misleading, Deceptive, or Offensive
- No Item for Sale
- Prescription Products, Drugs, and Drug Paraphernalia
- Products with Overtly Sexualized Positioning
- Recalled Products
- Services
- Stolen Goods
- Subscriptions and Digital Products
- Third-Party Infringement
- Tobacco Products and Related Paraphernalia
- Weapons, Ammunition, and Explosives
Also, you cannot buy or sell any ticket, gift card, or voucher on Instagram shopping.
6- You Use Dropshipping
Nothing is wrong with dropshipping on Instagram. But the problem is if you set up your Facebook Store manually, Facebook forces you to set shipping times under seven days or less, which in some cases makes it impossible for Instagrammers to buy from you.
7- You Used Certain Words
You cannot use offensive words or just certain words such as “sexy,” “erotic,” or even “Disney” in your tags.
8- You Don’t Look Like a Real Business
If you use pixelated photos, Google images, or published photos on Instagram without any business description, it’s possible that your shop does not get approved.
Instagram needs to recognize you as an actual business, so try to optimize your profile, bio, and posts. Add your business address, your email, and your phone number.
Here’s our guide to uploading high-quality photos on Instagram.
Note: If your account is new and does not have a noticeable audience, it’s not a good idea to apply for Instagram shopping. You better first gain an engaging audience and then apply for it.
9- You Have a Bad Reputation on Instagram
Did you use bots to get likes and get banned for it? Did your account get flagged by Instagram because you crossed any limits in the past? If yes, it can be the reason why you can’t get Instagram approval.
10- You Didn’t Do Anything Wrong
Yep, that’s possible too. This process even gets more difficult when shoppers want to manage their shop on Instagram and Facebook using third-party companies such as Shopify and BigCommerce. This is where it gets really confusing.
Here’s a complaint of one of the Shopify users about this:
This is why many small businesses on Instagram don’t bother trying Instagram Shopping for their posts and instead use a much easier way that I’ll tell you about in the following.
What Should I Do If Instagram Does Not Approve My Account For Shopping?
You can try the submitting process for weeks and months and still don’t get any results. Don’t worry; it’s not the end of the world! Did you know beside Instagram Shoppable, there are other ways to run a shop on Instagram?
Actually, I’m going to introduce you to the best way to set up a shop on Instagram without even having an IG business account or Facebook page. So, here we go:
MyURLs.Bio: An Innovative Way To Run an Instagram Shop Page
MyURLs.Bio is a fantastic service that enables you to add clickable external links to your Instagram post. With MyURLs.Bio, you can also add unlimited clickable links and social media buttons to your bio.
If you work with Instagram, you know that Instagram only allows you to add one clickable link in your bio, and it’s impossible to add any hotlink to feed posts. Using MyURLs.Bio, you can remove all of these limitations and turn Instagram into your business’s bread and butter.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to using this tool:
Step 1: Sign up to MyURLs.Bio
Go to MyURLs.Bio and add your name, email, mobile number, and password to create an account. Don’t forget that MyURLs.Bio is always free.
Step 2: Generate Your Unique Link in Bio
Click on Bio Link tab on your toolbar:
Here, you can see the unique link that will go in your bio. Click on “Claim this URL” and tick the “Put this link in my Instagram bio.”
Step 3: Add Links to Your Instagram Posts
If you scroll down a little bit on the same page, you’ll see all of your Instagram posts. Under each post, you’ll find two options: “Add Link” and “Tag Product.”
Now you can add an external link to your website and then add the price of that item or service on the photo. Also, it’s possible to sell your Etsy shop products using this method or even put an affiliate link to sell Clickbank products or Amazon Associates items.
After adding these links to your posts and claim your URL, you’ll have MyURLs.Bio on your Bio:
By clicking on this link, your followers will lead to a page like this:
This page is similar to your Instagram page only with more options. You can add as many buttons as you like to your Bio, including your other social media.
You can also add a Paypal button to lead your customers’ to the online transaction portals. Here are some of the buttons that you can add:
Advantages of MyURLs.Bio
- It’s super easy to set up and work with
- You can add any product as you want
- It’s free: Instagram Shopping might charge an amount when checking out in the future
- 24/7 customer support
- User-friendly dashboard
- No geographical limitation: you can use it anywhere in the world
- It also has a smart scheduler for post and Stories
Final Words
If you want to stop seeing “Your Store Isn’t Eligible for Instagram Product Tagging,” you better think of an alternative. Some people try for weeks and months to get Instagram approval. But a much easier way is to use MyURLs.Bio, which allows you to do much more.
So, what to give it a try? It’s completely free!
