Selling on TikTok differs from selling on other social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram. This article will help your business stay in good standing with TikTok and maximize your exposure via TikTok’s algorithm.
How Selling on TikTok Works
Setup
Before you can sell on TikTok, you'll need to create and configure your seller account. This process has three steps that must be completed in the following order:
- Register your business with TikTok
- Configure shipping for TikTok orders
- Sync your products from CommentSold to TikTok
| Note: You’ll want to ensure you sync products you intend to feature and sell on TikTok 48 hours before a live sale. Why? All products require approval from TikTok before they are sellable, and this approval can take up to 48 hours. This will also give you time to address any missing product information that may prevent products from syncing. |
Checkout & Order Management
When shoppers shop a TikTok live or a shoppable TikTok, they will complete their purchase through TikTok’s native checkout. The order will then flow to your CommentSold dashboard, where your team can process and fulfill the order.
| Important! TikTok has strict turnaround times for order shipment. You must ship a TikTok order within 3 business days of receiving the order; otherwise, you risk negatively impacting your Seller Score. |
TikTok Payouts
TikTok pays out for orders 14 business days after the order is shipped. This excludes weekends and holidays.
New Seller Probation Period
TikTok requires all new sellers (both individual and corporate) to enter a New Seller Probation Period. The period helps sellers adjust to the unique fulfillment requirements of the platform and ensure a positive experience for both the seller and the shopper.
To learn more about the New Seller Probation Period, such as daily order limits and criteria for graduation from the period, please review TikTok's New Seller Probation Period article.
Your TikTok Seller Score
TikTok has specific expectations of performance and behavior from sellers using their platform to sell products.
Your Seller Score impacts your visibility and discoverability on the platform. As a business accumulates violation points, it will be more difficult for new viewers and shoppers to see and discover its content.
As such, TikTok will issue “violation points” to those sellers whose behavior goes against those expectations. If a seller accumulates a total of 48 violation points, TikTok will revoke your ability to sell on the platform.
The following are policies regarding violation points for sellers:
- A seller’s accumulated violation points will reset every 180 calendar days beginning from the date TikTok issued selling permission.
- Upon accumulating 48 points or more, TikTok will permanently revoke a seller's e-commerce permission.
- If TikTok temporarily deactivates a seller's e-commerce permission, then their accumulated violation points will not reset unless the seller successfully appeals against the violation record.
Learn more about TikTok Seller Score violations here.
Best Practices for Avoiding Violations
Avoiding these behaviors ensures your business stays in good standing with TikTok and reduces the risk of receiving violation points.
When selling on TikTok, avoid the following:
- Target and promote products specifically geared towards children (aged 18 and under).
- Use copyrighted music or images (e.g., logos).
- Sell products prohibited by TikTok.
- Run preorders. These orders violate TikTok’s strict shipping turnaround requirements.
- Promote CommentSold or other externally created coupon codes. These codes will not work on TikTok. You must create TikTok-specific coupon codes.
- Sell gift cards.
- Encourage shoppers to checkout via your webstore or mobile app instead of through TikTok.
Need to Know Info on Syncing Products to TikTok
We walk through how to connect your TikTok account in CS and start your initial product sync here. However, there are some important, high-level things to know about the general product sync process:
- TikTok only syncs 100 products a day. This means that for your initial product sync, TikTok will only sync your 100 most recent products (in the time frame you choose).
- Newly created products auto-sync. When you create a new product record, it will automatically sync to TikTok and count as part of the "100 products a day" maximum.
- Edited products will automatically re-sync. When you edit a product, such as the name, product details, or images, the product will automatically resync to TikTok and count as part of the "100 products a day" maximum.
- All synced products must undergo review & approval from TikTok. The review and approval process can take up to 48 hours.
If you would rather choose which products sync to TikTok, then you can disable automatic product sync and manually sync products individually. Learn more here.
Best Practices for Shipping TikTok Orders
You must ship out TikTok orders within 3 Business Days. If you ship out TikTok orders after three business days, your TikTok Seller Score may be impacted.
If an order is not shipped out within five business days, then the customer can cancel their order in TikTok using the option Order was Not Shipped on Time and TikTok will process a refund for the order.
TikTok customers can cancel orders without your approval if the Seller ships your TikTok shipping type and the customer makes the request less than one (1) hour from the time of ordering.
TikTok and Dropship Products
CommentSold will not automatically sync CommentSold Dropship Program products unless they are specifically marked as TikTok Approved. We ask that you NOT sell any other CommentSold Dropship Program products through TikTok because of TikTok’s shipping requirements.
If you do choose to sell dropship products from another dropship supplier, please be aware that TikTok requires orders to be shipped within 3 business days. Failure to meet this shipping time can result in TikTok Seller violations and points against your Seller Score.
FAQs
Are there any additional fees for selling on TikTok?
- Standard CS fees (commission, subscription) and any payment gateway/processing fees will apply.
- TikTok charges its own fees, and other in-app fees may apply. Read more here.
What shopper information shows on TikTok orders synced to CommentSold?
- TikTok only requires a shipping address and phone number at checkout. An email is not required.
- TikTok does not sync customer emails to third parties, including CommentSold. This means TikTok customers are not eligible for CommentSold loyalty programs, gift cards, and marketing automations.
Will my cart timer work on TikTok the way I set it up in CommentSold?
- No, the CommentSold cart timer does not work in TikTok. Since checkout is completed entirely on TikTok, it’s essentially “First Paid, First Served” for TikTok customers.