Quick answer
To sell on Instagram, you create a shop in Meta's Commerce Manager, connect an Instagram business account, add a product catalog and add a checkout URL that sends buyers to your own website. Since September 2025, Shops on Facebook and Instagram use website checkout, so people browse in the app and pay on your site. The shop is free to set up, and the fees on each sale are the ones your website and payment processor charge.
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. It is pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, so it is not in the fee comparison. See where Nation fits.
How to sell on Instagram today
Instagram's built-in selling tool is a shop on Facebook and Instagram. Meta says Shops let you display and sell products on Facebook and Instagram. You set the shop up in Meta's Commerce Manager, connect it to your Instagram business account and point it at your own website. People find your products on your profile, in posts with shopping tags and in ads. When they decide to buy, they go to your website to pay.
Meta's help center says that since September 2025, you can no longer conduct transactions in your Shops on Facebook and Instagram. Inside the apps, a shop still has the home page, collections and product pages, but the payment, the order and any return happen on your site. So the real order of work is: get a website that can take payments, then add the Instagram shop on top of it.
The table sums up what a shop on Facebook and Instagram does now, as Meta's own help pages describe it.
What changed in September 2025
Before the change, some shops used checkout on Facebook or Instagram, so the payment happened inside the app. Meta's help page on the change lists what went away with it. For a shop that used in-app checkout, Meta says the checkout method has been updated or your shop is invisible.
- Payments: Meta says payment processing has been discontinued for Shops. Old balances, payout history and tax forms remain visible as archived data for a period of time after the update.
- Orders: order management in Commerce Manager was discontinued for orders placed after the migration occurred.
- Returns: you manage them on your own website or on a connected e-commerce platform.
- Disputes: Meta no longer offers chargeback or dispute resolution services.
- Messages: you can no longer use Inbox to respond to customer messages.
- Ads: Shops ads still send people to the destination that Meta has determined is more likely to lead to a conversion, whether that's your website or your shop. Old Meta purchase data stays in ads reporting for up to 39 months from the date of the update.
In practice, an Instagram shop is now a catalog and storefront that lives inside the apps, and your website does the selling. Guides that tell you to turn on Instagram checkout were written before this change.
What you need before you sell on Instagram
Meta's commerce eligibility requirements apply to every business that sells on Facebook and Instagram. In Meta's own words, to sell on Facebook and Instagram as a business, your Facebook account and Page, or your Instagram professional account, must:
- comply with our policies;
- represent your business and your domain;
- be located in a supported country;
- demonstrate trustworthiness;
- provide accurate information and follow best practices.
Meta warns that failing them at any time may lead to loss of access to Facebook commerce surfaces, Commerce features, or may lead to your account being disabled.
On top of that list, Meta's setup pages ask you to have a website for your business and to have an Instagram business account in your business portfolio if the shop should show on Instagram. The full Shops experience is available in the United States, not including American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands. A second group of countries on Meta's list is in an open beta for the full Shops and Shops ads experience, and Meta notes that some sellers may not have full capabilities.
How to set up an Instagram shop and a Facebook shop
These steps follow Meta's help article on setting up a shop on Facebook and Instagram. One shop covers both apps: after setup you can control whether your shop is visible on Facebook and Instagram, so setting up a Facebook shop and an Instagram shop is the same job. Shopify sellers have a shorter route, covered in the Shopify section below.
Create a Commerce Manager account
Start with a Commerce Manager account. If you do not have a Facebook business Page or a catalog yet, Meta says you can create both when you set up your shop. If you only want to sell on Instagram, you don't need to create or provide a Facebook business Page.
Connect your Instagram business account
To make the shop visible on Instagram you need an Instagram business account in your business portfolio.
Add products to the catalog
Meta's Blueprint lesson says you can upload products manually, use a product feed or API, or connect your catalog to an ecommerce platform like Shopify or Magento. It calls manual upload the easiest method if you have around 50 products and your inventory doesn’t change often. By default, the shop includes all products from your catalog, and you can choose which products appear.
Set up a shipping profile
Choose the areas you ship to. You must add at least one type of shipping speed. Meta describes standard shipping as typically 5-8 days including handling time, expedited as 3-5 days including handling time and rush as 2-3 days including handling time.
Add and test your checkout URL
Meta's help center says you must add a checkout URL for your shop to be visible. The section below explains what the link has to do.
Choose optional extras
You can show customer ratings and reviews from your website and third-party sources. With Display offers turned on, Meta will crawl your website and ads to detect offers, then display them in your shop.
Publish and wait for review
When every setup task is done, click Publish shop. Meta reviews your commerce account during setup, and its help center says the review process can take up to 4 weeks. When you later edit the shop's home page, Meta's lesson says your updated shop will be reviewed to ensure that it follows Commerce Policies.
The checkout URL decides whether your Instagram shop is visible
The checkout URL is the link that carries a shopper's cart from Instagram or Facebook to the checkout page on your website. Meta asks for a checkout URL that can receive cart information including product IDs, quantities and promotions, so your site can fill the cart automatically when the shopper arrives.
Meta notes that you may need technical support from a developer to build and test the link. You submit the link in Commerce Manager, and Meta's test can take up to 10 minutes. After launch, Meta will automatically review your checkout URL periodically to ensure it’s working properly, so keep the product IDs on your site in step with the catalog.
Instagram shop setup on Shopify
Meta has a separate route for Shopify sellers. You install the Facebook and Instagram app in the Shopify app store, connect it to Facebook and Instagram, and create the shop as part of that process. Meta says setting up a shop this way is free and only takes a few minutes.
Once connected, products from your website will automatically sync to your shop. Orders are placed on your Shopify store, where you also manage payouts and other post-purchase steps. For Shopify sellers who use Shopify Payments, Meta says there are no additional charges from Meta, and Shopify charges its own card fees directly.
Product photos and what Meta lets you sell
Meta's Commerce Policies apply to Shops on Facebook and Instagram. Meta's policy page says products offered for sale there "must comply with our Commerce Policies", and some common small-business products do not pass. The table lists the rules most relevant to makers and small brands. Meta's full policy list is longer.
Photos have their own rules. In shops, product images are shown in square (1:1) format. They must be at least 500 x 500 pixels, and Meta recommends 1024 x 1024 pixels. Files must be in JPEG or PNG format and 8 MB maximum, and Meta recommends 4 or more images for each product you sell in a shop. Meta also recommends that you use the same product images that appear on your website, which keeps the shop and your checkout page consistent.
How people find products in an Instagram shop
Posts and ads bring people to the shop. Shopping tags can be added to Instagram Reels, Stories, image and video posts, and Instagram's help center says product tags can direct customers to purchase those products from your website.
You can let everyone or only approved branded content partners tag your products, which lets customers and creators point their own posts at your shop. People who tag products must be over the age of 18. If you travel temporarily outside a supported country, Meta says you may lose the ability to tag products on Instagram.
Ads with product tags do not need a shop. According to Instagram's help center, you don't need a Shop to create ads with product tags or boost posts with product tags.
What one Instagram sale costs on the website behind your shop
Because payment processing has been discontinued for Shops, the fee on an Instagram sale is the fee your website charges. The chart shows the same $30 sale on four store builders, using each platform's own published rates. Before you choose one, check that it can give you a checkout URL that receives cart information the way Meta requires.
- Shopify Basic baseline $1.17 plus $39 a month Card 2.9% + 30¢ $1.17
- Big Cartel $1.17 free plan Card 2.9% + $0.30 $1.17
- Square Online $1.29 free plan Card 3.3% + 30¢ $1.29
- Squarespace Basic $1.77 plus $25 a month Transaction 2% $0.60, Card 2.9% + $0.30 $1.17
Assumes a $30 item, a standard US card, free shipping, no tax and no ads. The shop itself is free to set up. Squarespace uses its Basic plan, which adds a 2% transaction fee. Big Cartel's free plan allows up to 5 products.
Where Nation fits
Nation
Category: an AI store builder
Nation says one description of what you make builds the store, then agents handle orders, customers and delivery and run ads, content and social posts, with you approving the work. Because pricing is not announced yet, it is not in the fee comparison.
Limits today
- Status: pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai.
- Pricing and fees: not announced yet.
- Shopper marketplace: no shopper marketplace has been announced.
- Track record: no independent reviews or public stores yet.
Nation publishes this page. Nation is not in the fee comparison until signup is public and pricing is published.
Describe what you makeQuestions about selling on Instagram
Can you still check out on Instagram?
Checkout inside Instagram is no longer available for shops. Since September 2025, Shops on Facebook and Instagram use website checkout: people browse products in the app, then go to the seller's own website to pay. Meta says payment processing has been discontinued for Shops, so the seller's website handles payment, orders and returns.
Do I need a website to sell on Instagram?
Selling on Instagram through a shop needs a website. Meta's setup lesson tells you to have a website for your business, and its help center says you must add a checkout URL for your shop to be visible. The checkout URL is the link that carries the cart from Instagram to your site, so a shop without one stays hidden from shoppers.
How much does an Instagram shop cost?
An Instagram shop is free to set up in Commerce Manager. Because payment processing has been discontinued for Shops, the fees on each sale are the ones your website charges. Example: a $30 card sale on Shopify Basic costs $1.17 in card fees, plus the Basic plan at $39 a month when billed monthly.
How do I set up a Facebook shop?
A Facebook shop is set up in Meta Commerce Manager, like an Instagram shop, and you can control whether your shop is visible on Facebook and Instagram. You create a Commerce Manager account, choose or create a Page and catalog, set up shipping, add a checkout URL and publish. The checkout URL matters: Meta says you must add a checkout URL for your shop to be visible.
Can I sell on Instagram without a Facebook Page?
You can sell on Instagram without a Facebook Page. Meta's setup guide says that if you only want to sell on Instagram, you don't need to create or provide a Facebook business Page. You still need an Instagram business account in your business portfolio, a Commerce Manager account and a website with a checkout URL.
Can I sell digital products in an Instagram shop?
Downloadable digital products cannot be sold in an Instagram shop. Meta's Commerce Policies say commerce content may not promote the buying, selling or trading of downloadable digital content, digital subscriptions or digital accounts. Sellers of ebooks, templates or other downloads have to take those sales outside a Meta shop, for example on their own website or a digital product platform.
Which countries can use Instagram shops?
Instagram shops have the full experience in the United States, according to Meta's supported countries page. A second group of countries is in an open beta for the full Shops and Shops ads experience, and Meta notes that some sellers may not have full capabilities. Your business must also be located in a supported country under Meta's commerce eligibility requirements.