How to Sell on TikTok Shop: Requirements, Fees and Sign Up

To sell on TikTok Shop in the US, you sign up in TikTok Shop Seller Center, verify your identity (or your business), add tax and bank details, upload a product and link your TikTok account. You need to be 18 or older and live in the US, and there is no follower minimum to open a shop. TikTok keeps a referral fee on each completed order, 6% for most categories.

Check you can sell before you start

TikTok Shop's US registration page sets out a short list of requirements for individual sellers:

• You are at least 18 years old.
• You live in the USA.
• You have a valid US Passport or Passport Card, US Driver License, State ID, or Permanent Resident Card. TikTok rejects every other type of ID.
• Your phone number and email address have not already been used to open another shop.
• You are not a politician. TikTok prohibits politicians from becoming sellers.

You'll also enter your legal name, date of birth, residential address, your ID's expiration date, the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number (an ITIN works if you don't have one) and your bank account details.

Have these documents ready:

Every document has to be valid, uncropped and match exactly what you typed into the form. TikTok won't accept expired documents, paper IDs or photos of a phone or computer screen. Registering as a business (sole proprietorship, corporation or partnership) instead of an individual takes extra paperwork. If TikTok asks for proof of business, it accepts IRS-issued documents showing the legal business name, address and EIN.

You don't need the W9 on day one. TikTok lets you list and sell without tax documents until you earn $2,000. After that you have to submit them to keep selling and get paid.

Sign up in Seller Center, step by step

These steps follow TikTok's own registration guide for individual sellers. You can read the full version on TikTok Shop Academy.

1. Open the TikTok Shop sign-up page in Seller Center.
2. Choose how to sign up. With your TikTok account, select "Use QR code" or log in with the phone, email or username on that account, then select "Authorize". With an email or phone number, enter it, type in the verification code TikTok sends and set a password.
3. Choose your business type. Pick "Individual" if you sell under your own name and don't have a registered business.
4. Enter the account owner's details exactly as they appear on your ID, then upload the ID.
5. Enter your business address. US rules require sellers to show it on product pages. If it's your home address, tick "Certify" and TikTok only shows part of it.
6. Create a shop name and select a primary product or service type. Your shop name can't be only numbers or special characters, and it can't include "flagship" or "official". You can change it later.
7. On the Review Application page, look for green checkmarks. A yellow caution symbol means something couldn't be verified: edit the information or upload documents as proof.
8. Once every field shows as verified, select "Submit".

If you see "Account already exists", that phone number or email is already registered to a TikTok Shop account or to TikTok for Business, such as the ads platform. Log in instead, or use a different number or email.

Finish setup: tax, warehouse, first product, TikTok account

TikTok's registration course lists what's left after verification:

1. Tax details. US sellers complete a W9.
2. Warehouse and return addresses. Set where orders ship from and where returns go.
3. First product. Select "Upload Now" to add products one at a time, use bulk upload, or sync an ecommerce store you already run. Your products stay hidden until document verification is complete.
4. Link your official TikTok account. Your shop's products then show up on that account automatically. Each shop links to one official account, and you can change it up to three times.

If you haven't switched your profile over yet, our guide to the TikTok business account explains the difference between account types.

What TikTok Shop charges

TikTok's registration steps include no sign-up fee. TikTok makes its money from a referral fee on each completed order. TikTok's policy says this fee covers all TikTok Shop fees except shipping and tax. TikTok's US category table, last updated October 8, 2026, lists these rates:

The fee is worked out as Referral Fee Rate x (Customer Payment + Platform Discount - Tax), and that base includes any shipping the customer pays. Say a customer pays $59 for an item: $50 for the product, $5 for shipping and $4 in tax. At 6%, the fee is 6% of $55, or $3.30.

Some 2026 seller blogs say the standard rate went up to 8% in August 2026. TikTok's own referral fee table still shows 6% for most categories, so treat that table and your Seller Center statements as the final word.

A few more money rules:

• Refunds. If an order is refunded, returned or canceled, TikTok gives back the referral fee minus a Refund Administration Fee of 20% of it. Since May 15, 2025 that fee is capped at $5 per SKU.
• Payouts. TikTok settles an order once it's delivered and there's no open refund or return request. Money goes to your bank account once you reach the $1 threshold.
• Affiliate commission. Any commission you agree to pay creators comes on top (see below).

What you can and can't sell

TikTok Shop is built for physical products. Its Prohibited Products Policy bans virtual or digital products unless they're approved under the Virtual Goods category. A physical item with digital content on it, such as a DVD, is fine.

The prohibited list is long. It includes alcohol, tobacco and e-cigarettes, live animals, weapons, drugs and certain services, such as real estate and multi-level marketing. Breaking the rules can cost you Account Health Rating points, get listings removed or your selling access revoked, and mean refunds to customers. Read the policy before you list anything in a gray area.

If you sell ebooks, presets, courses or other downloads, TikTok Shop is probably the wrong tool. Our guide on how to sell digital products covers better options.

Get creators to sell for you with affiliates

TikTok Shop's affiliate program lets other creators promote your products. You pay creators a commission on every item sold through their content. Their commission works out as (Revenue - Refunds) x Commission rate.

What to know as a seller:

• If you raise a commission rate in Open Collaboration, creators already promoting the product get the higher rate right away.
• If you lower it, creators already promoting the product keep the old rate for 30 days.
• Creators are usually paid 15 days after delivery, but never before your order settles.

You can also bind creator accounts to your shop. A new shop starts in probation, and TikTok limits binds during that time. An individual shop gets 1 official account, and a business shop gets 1 official plus 1 marketing account. After probation, you can bind 1 official and 4 marketing creators. Official accounts need no minimum follower count. Newly bound accounts may start in a Pilot Program with content limits, such as up to 3 ecommerce videos a day. They leave it after 30 days bound and 1,000 followers.

Sell from your bio if TikTok Shop isn't for you

Maybe you aren't eligible, you sell digital goods, or you'd rather keep checkout in a store you already run. You can still sell to your TikTok audience by putting a link in your bio that points to your products.

You can use Stripe payment links, an Etsy shop, a Shopify store or Gumroad. Anything with a checkout page works. A link in bio page lets that one link lead to everything you sell. Our guide on adding a link to your TikTok bio walks through the requirements and steps.

Olaa is one way to build that page. It gives you one short link, olaa.im/yourname, and setup takes a few minutes with no code. On Olaa Pro, $8 a month or $72 a year, you can add products with their photo and price from Stripe, Etsy, Shopify or Gumroad. They show as a button or a buy card, and checkout happens in your own shop, so Olaa takes no cut. Pro also adds email signups sent to Mailchimp and 30 and 90 day analytics. The Olaa page for TikTok creators shows how it looks.

The same setup works on Instagram too. Our pillar guide on how to sell on Instagram covers that side.

FAQ

Do you need followers to sell on TikTok Shop?

No. TikTok Shop has no follower minimum for opening a shop or binding your official TikTok account to it. Follower counts matter for creators: a newly bound account leaves the Pilot Program at 1,000 followers, and marketing accounts can apply for affiliate access at 5,000.

How much does it cost to start a TikTok Shop?

TikTok's sign-up steps include no fee to open a shop. TikTok takes a referral fee on each completed order, 6% for most US categories according to its fee table. Some jewelry and pre-owned categories pay 5%. Any commission you pay creators comes on top.

Can I sell on TikTok Shop without a business?

Yes. Choose "Individual" as your business type and sell under your own name with your ID, the last 4 digits of your SSN or an ITIN, and a bank account. You only need business paperwork if you register as a sole proprietorship, corporation or partnership.

Can I sell digital products on TikTok Shop?

Usually not. TikTok's Prohibited Products Policy bans virtual and digital products unless they're approved under the Virtual Goods category. Selling downloads through a link in your bio is the usual way around this.

When does TikTok Shop pay sellers?

TikTok settles each order after it's delivered, as long as there's no open refund or return request. Payouts go to your bank account once your balance reaches $1.

Why does TikTok say my account already exists?

Your phone number or email is already registered to a TikTok Shop account or to TikTok for Business, such as the ads platform. Log in with it, or sign up with a different number or email, since each one can only open one shop.