Overturning Paddle's 'Consulting Services / Opaque Value Delivery' Rejection
How an embedded SaaS marketplace app overturned a firm Paddle rejection by purging legacy consulting agency copy, publishing an unlisted Loom demo, and benchmarking an approved competitor.
consulting_services_blocked1. The Initial Rejection Trigger
Official Verbatim Underwriter Notification:
Notice delivered via automated email notification to account administrator without prior informal warning.
2. Underwriting Root Cause Analysis
The company operated as an embedded productivity app inside Monday.com and Zendesk marketplaces. Because authentication occurred inside closed enterprise portals, the public marketing site lacked a public checkout link. Furthermore, the domain retained legacy consulting service case studies from the founders' earlier agency days, causing underwriters to classify the entire business as non-software consulting.
3. Step-by-Step Website Rectification Plan
Before submitting the formal appeal dossier, the founders completed these mandatory on-page compliance fixes:
- 1Purged 100% of legacy consulting, hourly agency services, and custom development packages from the public website.
- 2Relaunched the homepage with distinct SaaS recurring pricing tiers and interactive feature walkthroughs.
- 3Recorded an unlisted 5-minute Loom video demonstrating user authentication, marketplace installation, and in-app automated utility.
- 4Submitted technical documentation detailing how the marketing apex domain (`domain.ai`) routed and authenticated to the embedded web-app instance (`domain.co`).
4. Attached Evidence Package (Dossier)
End-to-End Product Loom Walkthrough
Comprehensive video demonstration of user onboarding, billing integration, and instantaneous automated digital value delivery.
Website Changelog & Domain Separation
Documented proof that consulting services were terminated, with public links to dedicated SaaS pricing plans.
Competitor Benchmark Citation
Live references to approved partner vendors currently operating identical marketplace apps on Paddle's Merchant of Record.
Software Architecture Blueprint
Technical schema proving that customer payments trigger programmatic API access rather than manual labor.
5. Formal Appeal Letter (Ready-to-Use Excerpt)
Dear Paddle Onboarding & Compliance Underwriting Team, Thank you for your initial review of our merchant application for [Company Name]. We are writing to clarify our business architecture following the note indicating that our site appeared to offer consulting services. We want to clarify unequivocally that [Company Name] is a 100% automated B2B SaaS application. We do not provide manual consulting, bespoke agency services, or hourly professional engagements: 1. Site Purge & Clean Repositioning: We have completely overhauled our public domain (https://example.com). All historical agency case studies have been removed, and our standalone self-service recurring tiers ($29/mo and $79/mo) are now live with automated provisioning. 2. End-to-End Loom Product Demonstration: Because our core software operates as an embedded app inside verified enterprise marketplaces, we have recorded an unlisted walkthrough (https://loom.com/share/xxxx) demonstrating live user signup, automated feature execution, and self-serve billing. 3. Industry Reference: We operate under the exact same architecture as [Competitor App], which processes compliant subscriptions through Paddle. We have attached our full technical overview and look forward to your re-evaluation of our merchant account.
6. Plan B: Compliant Alternative If Upheld
Need a human expert to review your appeal before sending?
You typically get one decisive opportunity to appeal an account termination before risk operations mark your ticket as final. For complex multi-tiered models, book a 1-on-1 Founder Review ($149) to have our team audit your website, proofread your appeal dossier, and tailor the exact card network defense.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding This Rejection
Why does Paddle hate consulting services?
As a Merchant of Record, Paddle takes on full chargeback liability. Consulting and manual services suffer from subjective deliverability criteria, leading to high dispute rates under Visa/Mastercard rules.
Can I have both SaaS and consulting on the same website?
No. Paddle will reject hybrid sites. You must host consulting on a completely separate domain and keep the Paddle-connected domain 100% pure software.