Creative Market Guidelines Overview
By operating a shop, becoming a partner, or creating an account on Creative Market, you agree to abide by our legal terms. This includes our usage, user-specific, privacy, and licensing terms.
Please read them carefully—they are designed to keep our members safe and happy.
Legal Terms
In addition to the legal terms mentioned above, we have developed Guidelines and Best Practices to ensure a positive experience for all Creative Market members.
Understanding the Difference: Terms vs. Guidelines vs. Best Practices
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Legal Terms (Terms of Use, Partner Terms, Shop Terms, Licenses): These are binding agreements between you and Creative Market. Failure to follow them can result in account termination, shop closure, or legal action.
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Guidelines: While not legally binding, these are mandatory site rules. Failure to follow them may result in product removal, shop closure, or account termination.
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Best Practices: These are recommended strategies for success but are not required. Following them can improve your visibility and sales.
Shop Owner Guidelines
1. Listed Content for Sale
Shop Owners must ensure that all listed products comply with Creative Market’s licenses and intellectual property rules:
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You must have the rights or licenses to sell any materials that incorporate third-party intellectual property (e.g., trademarks, fonts, stock assets).
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Content visibly featuring trademarks is prohibited unless you provide direct permission from the trademark owner.
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Creative Market reserves the right to request proof of such permission and remove unauthorized products without notice.
Product Differentiation Policy
To keep the marketplace fresh and minimize confusion, Creative Market requires product listings to be clearly distinct from each other. When listing a product, consider the following:
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Product Imagery: Maintain a unique look, vibe, and concept to distinguish your products.
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Name Relatedness: Avoid overly similar product names within the same category.
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Actual Buyer Confusion: Respond to customer feedback indicating confusion and adjust listings accordingly.
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Shop Branding: Develop a unique brand identity with a distinct shop bio and imagery.
Ways to Differentiate Your Product
If you believe your product might be too similar to another, consider these strategies:
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Use a different colour palette.
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Rewrite your product descriptions to emphasize unique features.
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Rename your product with a distinctive name.
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Update your product images to showcase unique applications.
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Seek new inspirations from diverse design sources.
By differentiating your products, you contribute to an innovative and diverse marketplace.
2. Site Actions & Communication
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Shop Owners must respond to Creative Market Team inquiries within one week. Some issues may require faster responses.
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Actively respond to customer inquiries within 24-48 hours to ensure good service.
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Shops with repeated complaints about non-responsiveness may be suspended or permanently closed.
3. Product Update & Shop Updates Features
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The Product Update feature should only be used for legitimate product updates, not for promotional purposes.
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The Shop Updates feature must not be used for spamming, promoting other marketplaces, or sharing prohibited content.
4. Product Tag Usage
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Tags should accurately describe your product.
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Prohibited tags include those that are misleading, offensive, or misuse another Shop Owner’s name.
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Violating this policy may result in product removal or shop closure.
5. Product Descriptions, Titles, Screenshots, & Properties
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Descriptions and properties must be accurate and not misleading.
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Prohibited content includes:
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Links directing customers to purchase the same product elsewhere.
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Custom license terms conflict with Creative Market's licenses.
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Misleading or deceptive product information.
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Failure to comply may lead to refunds, product removal, or shop closure.
6. Licensing Compliance
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Products must be sold under Creative Market’s licenses only.
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You cannot impose custom licensing terms or misrepresent included licenses.
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Failure to comply may result in shop suspension or removal.
7. Product Files
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Products must not include malware, third-party EULAs, or requests for customer contact information.
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Violations may result in product removal or shop closure.
8. Bundles & Packs
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Shop Owners may sell bundles of their own products.
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Bundles cannot include products from multiple Creative Market shops or outside contributors.
9. Product Sales & Special Pricing
Shop Owners must follow the United States Fair Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for truthful pricing:
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Introductory Pricing & Limited Time Sales
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You may not claim a "low introductory price" unless you genuinely plan to raise the price later.
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You may not advertise a "limited-time sale" unless the sale has a set end date.
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Price Reductions
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If you advertise a price drop, the previous price must be genuine and have been in effect for a reasonable period.
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You cannot list a product at a falsely high price to claim a discount later.
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An example of a violation is listing a product at $100, leaving it unsold, and later discounting it to $10 by falsely claiming it was "regularly $100."
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Failure to follow these pricing rules may result in product removal.
10. Third-Party Assets
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You cannot include third-party assets (e.g., fonts, photos, frameworks) in your product files.
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Instead, provide a link where customers can obtain necessary third-party assets.
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Ensure third-party assets are suitable for commercial use whenever possible.
Final Notes
Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in:
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Product removal
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Shop suspension or closure
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Refunded sales
- Chargebacks causing loss in sales
We appreciate your cooperation in making Creative Market a unique, innovative, and fair marketplace. Thank you for being a valued part of our community!