Status, October 13, 2026: Everything below comes from TPT's own Help Center and what TPT said at the October 8 Town Hall. TPT promised more specific guidance on what counts as an exclusive product later in October. I will update this page when it arrives.
When the Exclusive Seller news came out, the first thing I did was list everything I have outside TPT. It is a short list, but not an empty one. There is a paperback teacher guide on Amazon, Digital Wellbeing in the Classroom, with seven lessons on the same topics as my TPT products. And there are free PDFs on this site that teachers download in exchange for an email address.
Both turned out to be fine under Exclusive. But I had to read three TPT pages and a Town Hall transcript to be sure, and most sellers I know have longer lists than mine: a Shopify store, an Etsy shop, a membership, a district that pays by invoice. So here is everything TPT has said so far about what stays allowed, in one place.
Anything that is not a digital educational resource. That covers physical products, courses and professional development, Boom Cards on the Boom platform, Kindle books, printed workbooks, and digital products that have nothing to do with teaching, such as clip art and fonts. Exclusive sellers can also keep a website and give away free resources anywhere. What they cannot do is take payment off TPT for digital teaching resources, or for memberships, licenses or payment plans that include them.
| What you sell | Off TPT? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Clip art, fonts and other digital products unrelated to teaching | Allowed | TPT's own example of what falls outside the rule. |
| Physical products | Allowed | Printed and shipped items. |
| Printed workbooks on Amazon | Allowed | TPT confirms hard-copy workbooks on Amazon are fine. Exclusivity only covers digital resources. |
| Kindle books | Allowed | Named on TPT's list. |
| Courses and professional development | Allowed | A worksheet that belongs to a video course is fine. A worksheet that works without the video has to be sold on TPT. |
| Boom Cards | Allowed | On the Boom Cards platform specifically. |
| Free digital resources | Allowed | On and off TPT, including freebies that sign people up to your email list. You cannot charge on TPT for something you give away free elsewhere. |
| Digital educational resources | Not allowed | PDFs, Google Slides, digital activities and the like, on your own site, Etsy, Shopify or any other marketplace. |
| Memberships or subscriptions that include those resources | Not allowed | Including all-access passes and resource libraries. |
| Licenses for those resources | Not allowed | Including school or district licenses sold directly. |
| Payment plans for those resources | Not allowed | Mentioned in TPT's FAQ for Basic and new sellers. |
Sources: TPT Help Center, What kinds of products can I sell outside of TPT as an Exclusive Seller? and the Exclusive Seller FAQs for New Sellers and Basic Sellers, read October 13, 2026.
This was one of the most asked questions before the Town Hall, and TPT's answer is clear: Exclusive sellers can keep a website, a blog and even a storefront. The only change is where the money changes hands. The final purchase of a digital teaching resource has to happen in your TPT store.
In practice, TPT suggests that the "Buy Now" buttons on your site link to the matching product in your TPT store, and that you remove the option to buy directly. Your product pages, previews, blog posts and freebie sign-ups can all stay where they are.
One thing to check while you are there: the freebie rule works in one direction. If a resource is free on your site or in your welcome email, it cannot be a paid product on TPT. Go through your freebies and make sure none of them is also a paid listing.
TPT's list covers the common cases. These are the ones I would want answered in writing before opting in, if they apply to you:
TPT's advice for anything unclear is to contact support. Do that in writing, and keep the answer with your records. If the written guidance promised for later this month settles any of these, I will add it here.
TPT said it will monitor Exclusive stores itself. If a store is not following the terms, the response can range from a grace period to fix things, up to a penalty and moving the store to Basic. Except in rare or extreme cases, TPT said it will contact you before it acts. It also said plainly that it is not looking to be punitive. Still, a move to Basic partway through the year would cost you the Exclusive rate and lock you out of rejoining for a year, so it is worth getting right from the start.
My checklist for the weeks before December 31 puts this alongside the other deadlines.
For some sellers this page settles the decision on its own. If you run a membership, sell licenses straight to districts, or have a direct store that earns real money, Exclusive would mean shutting down part of your business. That can still be worth it, but only if the numbers say so. The Exclusive or Basic calculator shows how much outside income it takes for Basic to come out ahead.
Whichever way you go, make a copy of your listings and product files before January. My guide to backing up your whole TPT store walks you through it, and the spreadsheet you end up with is exactly what you need to load products into any other store later.
Signal Loom reads your TPT exports and shows which products carry your store, so you can weigh Exclusive against the sales you would give up. Free to start, no card needed.