The Seller Charter

What any platform owes sellers before we move.

Built from the Seller Pulse survey of TPT sellers. The 13 must-haves are the floor for any marketplace asking for our catalogs, including any that people connected to this site might build. The wish list is what would make a platform worth recommending.

Download the charter (PDF)Read it here

Must-haves Wish list How it's used

The floor

Must-haves

A platform that can't meet these isn't ready for anyone's whole store. Each one comes with the question to ask.

Fair pay

A fair payout without exclusivity

A non-exclusive option is always available, with a fair payout and full access to the platform’s core selling features. An exclusive tier may pay more, but it is never required.

71 sellers named exclusivity as what they most want changed

Ask: What do I keep without exclusivity?

Every fee in writing, with notice before it changes

All fees are listed before you apply, including what they become after any trial period. Changes come in writing, in advance, with the reason.

Ask: What is the fee after the test period, and how much notice do I get?

Refunds and chargebacks have an owner

The policy says who decides a refund, how fast, and who pays the chargeback fee.

Ask: Who decides refunds, and who pays the dispute fee?

The platform handles sales tax

It collects and remits sales tax on the sales it processes, as a registered marketplace facilitator.

Ask: Are you registered as a marketplace facilitator, and who files?

Your work stays yours

You own your work, and the license ends when you leave

Seller terms are readable before you apply. The platform gets only the license it needs to sell your resources, and it ends when you leave, except so past buyers keep what they bought. Your files are never used to train AI that creates competing resources, or sold or licensed to anyone who would.

Ask: What license do I grant, does it end when I leave, and will my files ever train AI that makes resources?

Full export, anytime

Your original files, plus a documented export of listings and details in common formats like CSV, available anytime. Your store stays up while you export.

Ask: Can I export everything today, and in what format?

A plan for shutting down

If the platform closes, sellers get advance notice and their files and data back.

Ask: If you close, how much notice do I get, and how do I get my files?

Safe and fair

Secure payments and files

An established processor handles cards. Files are stored securely and delivered through download links that expire.

Ask: Who processes cards, and do download links expire?

Search you can understand

The major factors that affect visibility are disclosed. Paid placement, if any, is clearly labeled.

Ask: What affects visibility in search, and can anyone pay to move up?

Quality is moderated

Unreviewed AI output and material that infringes copyright or trademark rights are removed. Sellers can report problems and get an answer.

170 sellers would pay a higher fee for real moderation

Ask: Who reviews listings, and what gets removed?

Clear about who can sell

The platform states which countries can open a store, how non-US sellers are paid, and what tax forms they need.

Ask: Can sellers outside the US join, and how are they paid?

Accountability

Real people you can reach

The team is named, and support has a stated response time.

Ask: Who is on the team, and who answers support?

Sellers are consulted before big changes

Changes to payouts or selling terms go to a seller group for input before they're announced.

Ask: Who do you consult before changing seller terms?

Above the floor

Wish list

Not required, but these would make a platform worth recommending. Upvote the ones you want most in Feature Requests.

Schools can pay by invoice

A teacher sends an invoice, the school pays, and the files land in the teacher's account.

A higher payout when you bring the buyer

Sales from your own links and audience pay more than sales the platform finds.

Buyers can opt in to your newsletter

A checkbox at checkout the buyer chooses, so your list grows with consent.

Memberships run by the platform

Shop passes or monthly drops with download limits the platform enforces and terms the seller sets.

Collab bundles across stores

Sellers build bundles together and the platform splits each sale automatically.

Open to every genuine creator

Homeschool parents, specialists, and former teachers are welcome. Quality decides who sells, not credentials.

180 days’ notice before any fee change

Sellers get six months to plan, compare, or move before a new fee takes effect.

Credit for clip art and font creators

Listings name the artists and fonts used, so the creators behind the creators get seen.

In practice

How the charter is used

Platforms

Every platform answers every must-have

On its Platforms profile: agrees, partly agrees, or doesn't, with its reasons. Claims are marked as the platform's own words.

Sellers

You compare side by side

See every platform’s answer to each must-have, and where sellers say they’d move.

Members

The charter changes in the open

Suggest a change in Discussions. The most-supported changes go into the next draft, which lists what changed and why.

Want something changed? Start a thread in Discussions. The most-supported changes go into the next draft.