Teachers Pay Teachers has announced changes to its seller terms that would restrict sellers from offering their educational resources through their own websites, memberships, storefronts, or other platforms.

For many TPT sellers, this is not a small policy change. Educators and creators have spent years building independent businesses alongside their TPT stores, investing significant time and money into websites, email lists, memberships, marketing, and direct relationships with their customers.

These sellers have built their businesses based on the understanding that they could choose where and how to sell their own original resources.

The new terms could force sellers to make an unfair choice: accept greater restrictions on how they operate their independent businesses, or step away from a marketplace they may have spent years building.

This comes alongside changes to seller earnings, adding further concern for creators who rely on TPT as one part of a broader small business.

We believe sellers should be able to continue participating in the TPT marketplace without giving up the ability to independently sell and market their own work elsewhere.

We are asking Teachers Pay Teachers to reconsider these restrictions, listen to seller feedback, and revise the new terms in a way that respects the independence of the educators and creators who have helped build the TPT marketplace.

We are asking Teachers Pay Teachers to:

1. Remove or revise the restrictions on off-platform sales.
   Sellers should be able to sell their own original resources through their own websites, memberships, storefronts, and other platforms while continuing to participate in the TPT marketplace.
2. Protect sellers’ ability to operate independent businesses.
   TPT should not require sellers to give up control over where they sell or market their own work as a condition of using the marketplace.
3. Reconsider the changes affecting seller earnings.
   We are asking TPT to review the recent changes to seller compensation and consider the cumulative impact of reduced earnings and increased restrictions on independent teacher-creators.
4. Provide meaningful notice before major changes to seller terms.
   Sellers need enough time to review significant policy changes, understand how they affect existing businesses, and make informed decisions.
5. Consult with sellers before implementing major marketplace changes.
   TPT should create a transparent process for gathering meaningful seller feedback before introducing policies that significantly affect how sellers earn income or operate their businesses.
6. Provide clear, plain-language guidance about what is and is not permitted.
   Sellers should not have to interpret vague language or worry that operating a website, membership, email list, or independent storefront could put their TPT account at risk.
   
   We are not asking TPT to stop evolving its marketplace. We are asking for policies that allow TPT to grow while respecting the independence, ownership, and businesses of the educators and creators who sell there.