How to Sell on TikTok Shop (2026 Guide)

TikTok Shop lets people see a product in a video or LIVE, tap the link and check out without leaving the app. This guide explains how to sell on TikTok Shop in 2026, who can become a TikTok Shop seller, what documents you need, how signup works and how to get your first orders.

TikTok Shop seller vs affiliate creator: which one are you?

There are two ways to make money from TikTok Shop, and people often mix them up. A seller owns the shop: you list products, set prices, ship orders and handle returns. An affiliate creator owns no products at all: you add other sellers' products to your videos and LIVEs and earn a commission on each order you drive.

Sellers can also link their own TikTok account to the shop. TikTok calls this an Official Account: it carries the shop's name, can promote only that shop's products and has no follower minimum. So you can be a seller and a creator at the same time, but the follower rule only applies when you want to promote other sellers' products.

Advantages of selling on TikTok Shop

• Buying happens inside the app. TikTok says shoppers can buy tagged products straight from videos and LIVEs in the For You feed, so there is no website or checkout page to send people to.
• You get several storefronts at once: shoppable videos, LIVE shopping, your shop page and the Shop tab, where people search and browse products like in a normal marketplace.
• Creators can sell for you. Through the affiliate program, creators promote your products for a commission, which only costs you money when a sale happens.
• You don't need followers to start. A brand-new shop can grow through affiliates and ads before its own TikTok account has an audience.
• Logistics help is available. Fulfilled by TikTok is TikTok's own service that stores, picks, packs and ships your products if you don't want to do it yourself.

TikTok Shop seller requirements (US)

Each country has its own Seller Center and its own rules, so always check the Seller Center for the market you want to sell in. These are the TikTok Shop seller requirements for the United States, taken from TikTok Shop Academy, the official seller help center at seller-us.tiktok.com:

• Age: "Applicants must be at least 18 years old."
• Residence: Individual sellers "must reside in the USA" and the shop's region must be set to the US.
• ID: a valid US passport or passport card, US driver's license, state ID or permanent resident card. TikTok says all other types of ID are rejected.
• Tax number: the last 4 digits of your SSN, or your ITIN if you don't have an SSN. Business sellers also give their EIN.
• Tax form: US-based sellers fill in a W-9 (companies and partnerships may need other IRS forms). You can start selling without tax documents, but only until you earn $2,000.
• Matching details: your name, date of birth and address must match your ID exactly. Files must be full, clear images under 10 MB in JPG, PNG, JPEG or PDF.
• Proof of address, if asked: a utility bill, bank or credit card statement or insurance policy that shows the same address you typed in.
• Proof of business, if asked: an IRS letter such as CP 575 or 147C showing your legal business name, address and EIN. Screenshots and tax returns are not accepted.

Corporations and partnerships also have to list their Ultimate Beneficial Owners, meaning anyone who directly or indirectly owns at least 25% of the company. Outside the US the documents change completely. Singapore, for example, verifies individuals with SingPass or an NRIC and companies with an ACRA BizFile, and the UK and other markets use their own local documents.

How to become a TikTok Shop seller: step by step

Here is the signup flow for an individual seller in the US, based on TikTok Shop Academy's registration guides. Business sellers follow the same path but pick Corporation or Partnership and upload company documents.

1. Go to the TikTok Shop Seller Center for your country (seller-us.tiktok.com in the US) and sign up with your TikTok account, an email address or a phone number. If you use email or phone, enter the code you receive and set a password.
2. Read the terms in the pop-up and enter an invitation code if you have one.
3. Choose your business type: Individual, Sole Proprietorship, Corporation or Partnership. An individual is the fastest start if you don't have a registered company.
4. Enter your legal name, date of birth, residential address, ID details and the last 4 digits of your SSN or ITIN, exactly as they appear on your ID.
5. Set your shop name, your main product category and your contact details.
6. On the Review Application page, check that every section shows a green checkmark. Fix anything marked with a yellow caution sign and upload proof of address if TikTok asks for it. Then click Submit.
7. Complete your tax form (W-9 for US-based sellers) and add your bank details so you can be paid.
8. Add your warehouse and return addresses, then upload your first product with the Upload Now button.
9. Link an Official TikTok Account to the shop. Each shop can link to only one Official Account, so choose the account you plan to post product videos from.

Once verification is done, your products go live and can be tagged in videos, LIVEs and the Shop tab. If you want creators to promote you, open the affiliate section of Seller Center and set the commission you are willing to pay.

TikTok Shop fees: what you pay

TikTok Shop does not publish a single public price list for every country, and the rates have changed several times since launch. We could not confirm the current US percentages from an official page we were able to load, so we describe the costs without numbers. Check the fee schedule in your Seller Center before you set prices.

• Referral fee: a percentage TikTok keeps from each completed order. The rate can depend on the product category, and TikTok has run reduced-rate promotions for new sellers.
• Affiliate commission: if a creator sells your product, you pay the commission rate you agreed to. This is on top of the referral fee.
• Shipping and fulfillment: you pay for your own shipping, or Fulfilled by TikTok fees if you use TikTok's warehouses.
• Returns and refunds: when an order is refunded you lose the sale, may pay for return shipping, and some refunds come with an admin charge.
• Ads and promotions: paid ads, discounts and free samples for creators are optional, but most growing shops use at least one of them.

Tips to get your first sales on TikTok Shop

• Pick products that are easy to show in 15 seconds. A clear before and after, a satisfying demo or an obvious problem solved sells far better on TikTok than a product that needs explaining.
• Post product videos from your linked account every day. Shop videos still need to be good TikTok videos first.
• Send free samples to affiliate creators who already make videos in your niche, and give them a fair commission. Most early shops get their first orders from creators, not from their own account.
• Go LIVE once your products are approved. LIVE lets you answer questions and show the product in real time, which helps people decide.
• Keep your return policy and product pages accurate. TikTok's default lets buyers return most items within 30 days of delivery, and it expects sellers to answer return requests within 4 business days, so slow or misleading shops pay for it in refunds.
• Read the prohibited products and content policies in TikTok Shop Academy before you list anything. A listing removed for a policy violation can hurt your shop's standing.

The slowest part for most new shops is building an audience on the linked account. Product videos from an account with zero followers can still reach the For You feed, but an account that already has an audience gets seen faster. That is why some sellers start with an account that already has followers and TikTok Shop turned on.

If you would rather earn from views as well, TikTok pays creators through the Creator Rewards Program once they reach 10,000 followers. Our TikTok accounts with 10,000+ organic followers and Creator Rewards already on start at $159.99, and TikTok Shop-enabled accounts are $229.99.

Sources

• TikTok Shop Academy: Registering for TikTok Shop (seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=3396404588660481).
• TikTok Shop Academy: How to register as an Individual (seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=6837894379964161).
• TikTok Shop Academy: Beginner's Guide: What documents do I need to register? (seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=3460256793413390).
• TikTok Shop Academy: What documents do I need to register as a Corporation or Partnership? (seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=258395901675310).
• TikTok Shop Academy: What You Need to Know Before Becoming a TikTok Shop Creator (seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=7608640301074219).
• TikTok Shop Academy: Requirements for Managing Returns, Refunds, and Replacements (seller-us.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=984433248438058).
• TikTok Shop Academy (Singapore): TikTok Shop Seller Registration Guidelines (seller-sg.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=7651420421801729).
• TikTok Newsroom: Introducing TikTok Shop (newsroom.tiktok.com/introducing-tiktok-shop).

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