Overview
By operating a shop, becoming an Affiliate Partner, or creating an account on Creative Market, you agree to abide by our legal terms. These include our usage, user-specific, privacy, and licensing terms.
Please read them carefully—they are designed to keep our members safe and happy.
- Terms of Service
- Affiliate Terms
- Shop Terms
- Privacy Policy • Cookie Policy • CA Privacy Policy • Product Differentiation Policy
- General License Terms • Font License Terms
In addition to the legal terms mentioned above, we’ve developed site Guidelines and Best Practices (see below) in order to help everyone have the best experience possible on Creative Market.
What is the difference between the Terms of Use, User Specific Terms, Licenses, Guidelines, and Best Practices?
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Terms of Use, User Specific Terms (Partner Terms, Shop Owner Terms, etc.), and Licenses: These are legal agreements that you enter into with Creative Market when you create your account and/or open a shop on Creative Market. Failure to adhere to these will result in the termination of your account, closure of your shop (if you are a Shop Owner), and could also result in legal action.
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Guidelines: While not legal agreements, Guidelines are mandates that Creative Market has for site users. Failure to adhere to these Guidelines may result in the termination of your account. For Shop Owners, failure to adhere to the Guidelines could also result in the closure of your shop, removal of one or more of your products, and/or refunded sales.
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Best Practices: These are not mandatory, but the best and most successful Creative Market members adhere to these practices. These Best Practices are especially important for Shop Owners, and we encourage Shop Owners to follow them. As a Shop Owner, following Best Practices can contribute to your success on the Creative Market platform, and also helps your customers have a great experience with your shop and products.
Click on a Best Practice topic to learn more:
- Product Quality
- Product Description
- Tag Usage
- Product Files
- Creating Bundles
- Placing your Creative Market Product on Sale
- Responding to Customers
Creative Market’s Product Differentiation Policy
To keep the marketplace fresh with authentically unique design products, we've established guidelines that minimize the likelihood of confusion among similar products’ presentations. By offering your products on Creative Market, you agree that any assets you upload will not violate Intellectual Property Rights. We understand there are cases where two or more products share presentation characteristics that can create confusion among customers.
That’s why we have created this list of factors to evaluate the extent to which two products’ presentations are similar enough to create confusion. Review the following criteria to keep your listings distinct and dispute-free:
- Product imagery: Evaluate how your product's look, vibe, and concept differ from others. Aim to maintain a unique identity that reflects your creative voice. This helps your products stand out and be discovered by customers and the Creative Market team! Focus on differentiation in design, functionality, and appeal.
- Name-relatedness: Ensure your products' names aren't too similar to others on the platform and in the same category to avoid confusion from customers searching the platform.
- Actual buyer confusion: Use feedback from customers to detect any early confusion. We monitor potential mix-ups, but your proactive steps in differentiating your products are vital. A clear name and description help your product surface in appropriate searches on Creative Market.
- Shop branding: Work on creating a unique marketplace presence that sets your products apart, making your brand memorable and distinctive. A personal touch in your shop image and bio helps customers get to know the shop they are buying from!
By considering these factors, you protect your creative work and help maintain a marketplace filled with innovation and authenticity.
Ideas to Differentiate Your Product Listings Further
If you are concerned that your product’s presentation might be too similar to another one’s, try these strategies to make it stand out:
- Apply a Different Color Palette: Change up the colors in your product images to alter the design's perception. Choose a scheme that complements your brand yet offers a fresh perspective.
- Rewrite Your Product Descriptions: Communicate your product's unique features more effectively. A revised description can better highlight what sets your product apart.
- Rename Your Product: Give your product a new name that captures its unique essence and stands out.
- Consider New Product Images: Update your visuals to better represent your product's creative application and uniqueness.
- Look for New Imagery References: Inject new ideas into your designs by exploring diverse sources:
- Art and design history books
- Online design galleries
- Nature photography for unique patterns
- Architectural and interior design resources
- Travel photography for global trends
These strategies can strengthen your product's distinctiveness, making it more appealing and clearly differentiated on Creative Market.
Best Practices on Product Quality
- Please test your files before listing the product, making sure the files work properly, are not corrupted, and have no errors or bugs.
- Remember that extra testing may be needed because the same file may perform differently in different software versions.
- Get feedback from peers or others on your work.
- Research best practices around creating your product and make sure you understand industry standards.
Remember, high quality products sell. On Creative Market, high quality products also result in good reviews and positive comments from buyers, which increase customer trust.
On the other hand, poor quality products on Creative Market can lead to bad reviews and negative comments from buyers, which may result in decreased trust and lowered sales. If Creative Market receives numerous complaints about one or more of your Creative Market products having technical issues, being misrepresented (not delivering what is promised), or being of a low quality overall, your product(s) may be removed from the site.
Best Practices for Product Description
- Describe your item clearly, including information about which files and assets are included.
- List important product features.
- Include software requirements.
- Note if the item is not compatible with popular software.
- For themes: Describe widget and/or framework requirements.
- If your product uses a third-party asset (such as a font or photo), include a clear statement in your description that informs customers they will need to download the third-party asset prior to using your product.
Best Practices on Tag Usage
- Use tags that accurately describe your product’s features or style.
- For example: If your product is a set of marine-inspired watercolor illustrations, you may want to tag it with terms such as marine, aquatic, watercolor, and illustrations.
- Make sure to follow our guidelines on Product Tag Usage.
Best Practices for Product Files
- Include a “Read Me” file or User Guide with a table of contents (when applicable) in your product files. This Read Me file or User Guide should:
- Describe any third-party assets that need to be installed prior to using the product
- Include any other helpful information the customer needs to know about using your product
- Keep in mind, not all customers have the same skill level, so the best Read Me files and User Guides are thorough enough to be useful to customers who are beginners.
- Organize your product files and name them clearly, by describing what is inside each file.
- Upload your product file(s) directly to Creative Market.
Best Practices for Creating Bundles
- Only create bundles of your own products.
- Carefully list out all included products and files.
- Follow our Guidelines on Bundles and Packs.
- Follow our Guidelines on Product Sales and Special Pricing.
- Understand how licensing works for multi-category bundles (e.g. bundles that contain a font and a graphic.)
Best Practices for Placing your Creative Market Product on Sale
Creative Market considers a sale on a product to be a limited-time special offer on a product. Please read, understand, and follow our Guidelines on Product Sales and Special Pricing.
- Advertise your sale via social media, shop updates, and your shop banner.
- Strategically time sales for seasonality*.
- State sale terms clearly in your product description, including information such as start/end dates and original price/savings.
- Change your price and description immediately after your sale ends.
- While promoting your sale is encouraged, do not spam your followers with Shop Updates (see our Shop Owner Guidelines).
- We consider never-ending sales to be a poor business practice. Keep in mind “sales” like this will erode customer trust as they imply that a price is time-sensitive when it is not.
*Note: You can learn more about timing your sales for seasonality in our handy Shop Owner Kit, which you can download by scrolling to the bottom of your Sales Dashboard!
Best Practices for Responding to Customers
Customers on Creative Market count on Shop Owners to answer specific questions about their products and may contact you via direct message or via product comments.
- Respond to customers in a professional and honest way.
- Respond promptly. We do not mandate a response time, and we recognize that all Shop Owners operate on different time zones. However, the most successful Shop Owners respond immediately or within 24-48 hours.
- Turn on the “Comments on your Product” and “Sends you a message” notifications in your email notifications settings.
- Escalate complicated issues, especially dissatisfied customers, and/or refund requests to the Support Team.
Contact the Support Team if you have any questions or issues regarding customer messages
Please review the General Creative Market Best Practices for further information.