Can I sell CBD and hemp products on Stripe, Shopify Payments or PayPal?
Stripe allows CBD in writing, on stated conditions about THC content, but that yes is narrower than most merchants think. Anything sold because it's intoxicating falls outside that permission, whatever the label says. Shopify Payments doesn't take CBD at all, so a Shopify store needs a third-party payment provider.
Also searched as: CBD oil, hemp, delta-8, delta-9, THCA, hemp-derived.
Stripe
RestrictedNamed, and allowed only on stated conditions or in certain countries.
“CBD products containing only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits”
Named, and allowed with a condition. That condition decides everything: "negligible amounts of THC, per local limits". A hemp-derived product made to be psychoactive isn't a negligible-THC product, and calling it compliant hemp on the packaging doesn't make the payments question go away.
Source: Stripe: Prohibited and restricted businesses. The policy says it was last updated 22 September 2026. We last read it on 4 October 2026. Check it yourself before you act on this. These lists change, and this is only our reading of theirs.
PayPal
Not namedThe policy doesn't mention it at all. That isn't permission. It leaves the decision to an underwriter, usually after you already have money on the platform.
“narcotics, steroids, certain controlled substances or other products that present a risk to consumer safety”
PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy doesn't name CBD or hemp. This is the clause that gets applied in practice, and PayPal has historically been the least predictable of the three on CBD.
Source: PayPal: Acceptable Use Policy. The policy says it was last updated 29 October 2022. We last read it on 4 October 2026. Check it yourself before you act on this. These lists change, and this is only our reading of theirs.
Shopify Payments
ProhibitedNamed on the list and refused. Applying anyway is how merchants end up on MATCH.
“Shopify Payments doesn't support the sale of hemp, cannabidiol (CBD), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products.”
This is Shopify's own rule, and it's stricter than Stripe's. Stripe allows low-THC CBD on conditions, but Shopify says no first, so Stripe's permission never reaches you through Shopify Payments. Shopify will still host a hemp store. You take payment through a third-party provider it integrates with, and its help page names DigiPay and Bankful as examples. If Shopify Payments was already removed for hemp sales, the same page says you may be able to stay on Shopify with another provider.
Source: Shopify Help Center: Payment options for hemp sales on Shopify. The page doesn't give a last-updated date. We last read it on 4 October 2026. Check it yourself before you act on this. These lists change, and this is only our reading of theirs.
What usually happens
It's usually a slow squeeze rather than a shutdown. You get approved on a general processor. Someone reads the product pages during a review and reclassifies the catalogue. Then a rolling reserve goes on. There are also two dates coming, and they matter more than anything else on this page. The FY2026 agriculture appropriations act narrowed the federal definition of hemp. A stopgap funding law signed on 2 September split its start date: products containing cannabinoids the plant can't produce at all are excluded from 12 November 2026, and the rest takes effect on 11 December 2026, unless Congress moves it again. The new definition swaps the delta-9-only threshold for a total-THC standard that counts THCA and delta-8, and adds a ceiling of 0.4 milligrams of total THC per finished container. Not everything that's lawful today will be lawful under it. Processors move ahead of statutory deadlines, so underwriting on intoxicating hemp will tighten before those dates arrive.
Source: Congressional Research Service: Change to Federal Definition of Hemp and Implications for Federal Enforcement; Public Law 119-103, section 2019: moves most of the change to 11 December 2026.
What works instead
If your THC content really is negligible and your copy makes no health claims, Stripe's written permission is real. Use it. If your product sells because it's intoxicating, you need a hemp-specialist acquirer, and you should be working on the hemp change now, not in December. This goes worst when a category gets reclassified under an account that's already running, and the date for that is already set.
Selling CBD on Shopify: why Shopify Payments says no, and what to use instead
The two hemp dates and what your processor does before them
Selling CBD, vapes or peptides on WooCommerce: which gateways will take you
Want an answer for your own store?
This page covers CBD and hemp products as a category. Approval depends on your catalogue, your claims and your paperwork. We'll tell you where you stand, even if it doesn't lead to work for us.
Both are free, and neither is a sales call. The check only asks for your web address. The call takes thirty minutes, and you leave with an answer even if we never work together. Ready to start now? Tell us what you sell.