Yes, that Seth Rogen — the actor from Knocked Up, Superbad, Neighbors, The Interview, and other comedy classics.
Retailers selling cannabis accessories online are claiming that Shopify is giving Rogen preferential treatment by allowing his smoking lifestyle brand to use its payments technology, Shopify Payments, to process orders while blocking them from doing so.
Rogen's retail site, Houseplant, sells ashtrays, grinders, and rolling papers using Shopify Payments, and was recently highlighted at an event in New York, where Shopify President Harley Finkelstein presented Rogen with an award for hitting 100,000 orders on the platform.
Justin Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Chill Steel Pipes said his company is unable to sell products similar to Rogen's through Shopify Payments, requiring them to use a more expensive third-party order processing company as well as pay Shopify additional transactions fees that are waved if merchants use Shopify Payments, which costs him tens of thousands of dollars additional in fees each year.
Other cannabis accessory retailers also claim that they're being asked to adhere to a different interpretation of Shopify's rules than Rogen's store.
Johnson asked Shopify why his business was being treated differently to Rogen's and was told he would be allowed to use Shopify Payments if he removed two products from this website (a jar and a dab stool set), and if his company made “zero reference of cannabis” on its social media. Seems fair, except Houseplant's Instagram blatantly features photos of Rogen getting high with the word “weed” in the caption.
Most merchants who spoke to The Logic seemed like they were willing to comply with Shopify's rules surrounding cannabis products, but would appreciate more transparency around the rules and equal enforcement. In other words, you shouldn't have to be a celebrity to sell cannabis items through Shopify Payments.