Age verification & compliance
Sell age-restricted products with the checks in place
If you sell products that only adults may buy, SellOrchard gives you the tools to apply your rules: an age gate, an age confirmation at checkout, ID checks before fulfilment, and controls over where products can be shipped and how they're taxed.
- Age gate and checkout confirmation
- ID checks with order holds
- Regional rules and excise taxes
Availability: Compliance plans (from $49/month), or the $20/month Age Verification add-on on Basic, Pro or Advanced
You stay responsible for the law
These tools help you apply age and sales rules, but they don't decide what those rules are. Laws on age-restricted products differ by country, state and product type, and change over time. You are responsible for knowing and following the rules that apply to your store, your products and your customers.
At the door and at checkout
Ask first, then ask again before they pay
Set a minimum age between 13 and 30 — 21 by default — and decide which checks shoppers meet. The age gate asks visitors their age when they first open your store. The checkout confirmation is a tick box shoppers must tick before placing an order. Both use your wording, with the age and store name filled in for you.
- Edit the gate's title, message, button labels and the "Sorry" screen
- The gate is shown once per visitor
- Switch the whole toolkit off with one setting and shoppers see none of it
- Customer profiles show each shopper's age status and how it was verified
ID checks
How an order waits for an ID check
With ID checks on, orders are held until the shopper's age is approved — and released automatically when it is.
Step 1: The shopper orders
The order is placed and held with the reason "age verification".
Step 2: They upload a photo of their ID
Plus a selfie if you ask for one, which is compared with the ID photo.
Step 3: The ID is read automatically
Within your plan's monthly allowance, the check reads the date of birth and expiry, confirms the minimum age and matches the name on the account.
Step 4: Approved — or sent to you
When every check is clear it can be approved on its own. Anything unclear waits for your staff to approve or reject with a reason.
Step 5: Orders continue
Approving the shopper releases every order held for them. ID photos are deleted after the number of days you set.
The compliance toolkit
Every rule you can set
22capabilities in 5 areas
Age checks
8- Minimum age from 13 to 30
- Age gate pop-up with editable title, message, buttons and denied screen
- Checkout tick box: "I confirm I am {age} or older."
- Hold orders until the shopper's ID is approved
- Optional selfie with face matching against the ID photo
- Automatic approval only when the ID is readable, valid, not expired, old enough and matches the account name
- Staff can verify a shopper's age manually — for example in person — with a note
- ID photos stored privately and deleted a set number of days after the decision (or straight away)
Where products can go
4- Sales rules that block shipping to whole countries or to specific states and regions
- Apply a rule to all products, chosen categories, chosen products or chosen brands
- Your own message, with {product} and {place} filled in, shown at checkout
- Rules checked against the shipping address before the order is placed
Excise taxes
5- Excise rules per country, and optionally per state or region
- Charge as a percentage, a fixed amount per item, or an amount per ml of liquid
- Volume in ml stored on each variant for per-ml taxes
- Apply to all products or to chosen categories
- Excise shown as its own line at checkout and on the order
Delivery
3- Adult signature on delivery: off, optional for the shopper, or always
- Optional fee and your own checkout label for adult-signature delivery
- Shown on the order and the packing slip so your carrier booking matches
Notices on your storefront
2- The Cloud theme includes a fixed warning bar and an adults-only notice, ready for your own wording
- Product pages in Cloud carry a warning notice you edit to match your region
Plans
Pick the depth of compliance you need
Age Verification add-on — $20/month
For standard-plan stores with a few age-restricted items: age gate, checkout age checks and 50 automatic ID checks a month.
Compliance Basic — $49/month
Everything in Basic plus the age toolkit, region and product sales rules and 50 ID checks a month.
Compliance Pro — $99/month
Everything in Pro plus the toolkit, 250 ID checks a month and excise tax settings.
Compliance Advanced — $249/month
Everything in Advanced plus the toolkit, 1,000 ID checks a month, excise tax settings and onboarding help for specialist payment gateways.
Questions
Age verification & compliance: answered
Still curious? The help center walks through every setting.
Do I need a Compliance plan to use the age gate?
No. On Basic, Pro or Advanced you can add the Age Verification add-on for $20/month. Compliance plans include the toolkit along with specialist payment gateways.
How many ID checks are included?
50 a month with the add-on or Compliance Basic, 250 with Compliance Pro and 1,000 with Compliance Advanced. When the month's automatic checks are used up, new submissions wait for your staff to review the photo.
Does SellOrchard tell me what age limit or rules to use?
No. You set the minimum age, the regions and the taxes based on the laws that apply to you. SellOrchard applies the rules you configure; making sure they're right for your products and customers is your responsibility.
What happens to orders while an ID is checked?
They're held with the reason "age verification" and not fulfilled. Once the shopper is approved — automatically or by your staff — their held orders continue on their own.
How long are ID photos kept?
You choose how many days after the decision they're deleted, 30 by default, or set it to delete them straight away. They're stored privately and never shown on your storefront.
Can I stop a product from shipping to certain states?
Yes. Create a sales rule for the products, categories or brands concerned and list the countries, states or regions. Shoppers with a matching shipping address see your message and can't check out those items.
Put your age checks in place
Start a Compliance plan or add age verification to your current plan, then set the rules that apply where you sell.
No credit card needed to start.