To comply with data protection regulations and user requests, it’s important to ensure that users are able to delete their personal data, or that you, as a marketplace operator, can do so on their behalf. There are two ways to delete user data:
Through the user’s account settings (for users)
Through the Console (for operators)
Before deleting user data, consider any connected data, especially related to Stripe accounts. This article explains both the deletion process and what happens with Stripe-connected accounts.
Deleting an account through the user account setting
Users can delete their own account by navigating to Account Settings → Manage Account → Delete Account. When a user deletes their account, all personal data related to that user is permanently removed from your marketplace.
If the user has a connected Stripe account, the system will attempt to delete it automatically. If the user has a Stripe connected account, the system will attempt to delete the Stripe account as well.
If the Stripe account balance is zero, the account will be deleted.
If the balance is not zero (because of pending payout, or extra transfers payments or negative balances), the user will receive an error. They will need to contact you to process the deletion.
Note: Deleting a user account is permanent and cannot be undone.
Deleting user account through Console
You can delete a user account from the Manage users page in Console. This method provides more flexibility and additional control, as you can decide whether or not the Stripe connected data is deleted at the same time as the user account. In most cases, it makes sense to delete all the data in a single operation, but you can choose only to delete the information from the marketplace.
If you choose to delete the connected Stripe account. The balance of the account must be 0 in order for the deletion to go through.
If the balance is not zero, the deletion will fail when the checkbox to delete Stripe data is selected.
If you still want to delete some user data, you can ignore the checkbox and delete only the user account from your marketplace. You can manage the Stripe deletion later.
Bear in mind that if the account balance is not 0, then you probably don't want to delete the user account right now. More information is needed.
If an account was previously deleted in the marketplace but not in Stripe, you can contact the Sharetribe support team for assistance with finalizing the deletion.
Note: Deleting a user account is permanent and cannot be undone.
What Happens If the Stripe Account Balance Is Not Zero?
If a user’s connected Stripe account has a balance that is not zero, the user will not be able to delete their marketplace account. In this case, they will need to contact you for help. As the marketplace operator:
You cannot delete the user’s Stripe account until the balance is zero.
However, you can delete the user’s account from the marketplace only.
This will remove their data from your marketplace, but their information may still remain in Stripe.
Be cautious when doing this to avoid keeping personal data unintentionally in Stripe.
In most cases, the situation can be resolved by:
Waiting for pending transactions to complete, or
Sending the remaining payout manually to the user from your Stripe Dashboard.
Once the Stripe balance reaches zero, both the marketplace account and the connected Stripe account can be safely deleted.
If you are unsure about the transaction status or the best next step, contact the Sharetribe Support team for assistance.
Check other integrations (Optional)
If your marketplace is connected or integrated to third-party tools and systems, for example, through Zapier or custom integrations, you should also review and delete any related user data stored there. Sharetribe’s user deletion process only covers your marketplace data and Stripe data, but it cannot automatically remove end-user data stored in other systems.
To stay fully compliant with privacy regulations and user requests, it is your responsibility to ensure that all user data across your connected tools and integrations is deleted as well.