TikTok Shop affiliates for brands: how to get creators to sell for you
This guide is for a brand owner who wants creators to sell their products on TikTok. If you are a creator who wants to join, this isn't the page.
An affiliate is a person who recommends your product and earns a cut of each sale they send. A commission is that cut, set as a percentage of the order. On TikTok Shop, a creator is the affiliate.
This post is a read of TikTok's own help pages. It covers the US version of TikTok Shop, because the seller academy pages we read are the US ones. If you sell in the UK or the EU, check your own Seller Center, since the rules and the fees can differ. Seller Center is the dashboard where a seller manages products and orders, plus affiliate settings.
What is the TikTok Shop affiliate program?
It is TikTok's built-in way to connect a seller with creators. You list a product. You set a commission. Creators who choose it show it in their videos, live streams or shop page, and earn the commission when someone buys.
It only works if you sell on TikTok Shop. A Shopify store can connect to it. Shopify's help center says you add the TikTok sales channel, and your store must be in the US, UK, Spain, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Japan or Brazil (Shopify Help Center, checked 28 October 2026). You also need a TikTok for Business account, a return policy page and products that meet TikTok's rules. The country list changes, so check Shopify's page. TikTok's affiliate rules below are the US ones. The Product Marketplace is TikTok's directory where creators browse products to promote. A store that hasn't connected to TikTok Shop isn't part of it. If that is you, start with our guide to finding TikTok creators for a Shopify brand, which works without a TikTok Shop.
TikTok's help pages call the program "affiliate collaborations". They come in two kinds.
Open or target collaboration: which should you pick?
Pick open to reach many creators with little work. Pick target to win the ones you want.
TikTok's seller academy describes the two like this (updated 16 July 2026, checked 27 October 2026):
| Setting | Open collaboration | Target collaboration |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees it | All TikTok Shop creators | Creators you invite |
| Products | Selected or all of your products | Specific products |
| Commission range | 1% to 80% | 1% to 80% |
| Approval | You can require approval | You choose the creators |
| Edits take effect after | 30 days | 5 days |
Source: TikTok Shop Academy, Setting Up Affiliate Collaborations, updated 16 July 2026, checked 27 October 2026.
Two rules matter. First, a product can sit in both kinds at once, but a creator is paid one rate per product. Second, TikTok says rates set in a target collaboration "always override" the open rate. So a target invite is how you offer a top creator more than the public rate.
TikTok's help page on target collaborations says you can invite "certain creators to promote specific products on your behalf" (TikTok help page, last updated August 2025, checked 27 October 2026). The same page lists two ways to pay. A flat fee is a fixed amount you pay TikTok up front. TikTok Shop then pays the creator once the video is approved. It applies to video only. Commission-only means you pay only when a sale is made.
What commission should you offer?
TikTok lets you set 1% to 80% of the order value. It doesn't tell you where in that range to sit. That is your margin math.
Start from what each sale leaves you after the product, shipping and TikTok's fee. Then pick a rate you can afford. Our guide on what commission to pay shows how to work it out and what other brands pay.
Two settings from TikTok's academy page are worth knowing:
- You can set the rate per product, per group or for all products.
- An ads commission is a separate rate paid when a sale comes from a TikTok ad that features the creator's video. It is optional. Without it, ad orders use your standard rate.
Here is an example with made-up numbers. A product sells for $40. It costs you $10 to make and $5 to ship. A creator earns 15%, which is $6. That leaves $19 before TikTok's fee. If the fee were 5% ($2.00), you keep $17.00. If it were 6% ($2.40), you keep $16.60. Those are the two ends of the 5% to 6% range in the example on TikTok's US fee page. Why a range? The page's rule is a flat 6% per order. Its example table says 5% to 6% "based on the category" and points to a separate category list that we did not read. Treat 6% as the safe figure and 5% as a possible best case. Swap in the figure Seller Center shows for your category.
Edits to an open rate take 30 days, so don't guess. Start with a rate you can live with. Use target invites for anything higher.
How do free samples work?
Creators want the product in their hands before they make a video. TikTok handles this with two kinds of sample (updated 16 July 2026, checked 27 October 2026, per TikTok Shop Academy).
- Free samples go to creators who ask, or who get a target invite. TikTok's page says sellers pay "for the product, shipping and tax".
- Refundable samples are bought by creators in the Product Marketplace. The purchase is refunded if they meet the criteria. If they don't within 90 days, it becomes a normal purchase.
The clock is short on your side:
- You must review a free-sample request within seven days, or it is cancelled.
- After you approve, you have seven days to ship.
- A creator must post content within 14 days of getting a free sample.
In a target collaboration you can approve requests by hand or automatically. TikTok's page says that with automatic approval, "our system will instantly approve their requests". Approving by hand costs time. Approving everything can mean you ship to people who never post. Our guide to product seeding covers how to pick who gets a free item.
What does TikTok take, and when do creators get paid?
TikTok charges sellers a referral fee on each order. Creator commission is a separate cost.
TikTok's US referral fee page, the latest version we could find, is dated 8 May 2025. It gives 6% per order, effective 1 April 2024. Its worked example shows 5% to 6% depending on category. That page is over a year old on 28 October 2026, and TikTok may have changed the fee since, so treat the numbers as a guide. The fee is worked out on the customer payment plus any platform discount, minus tax. Check your category in Seller Center before you plan around it.
TikTok's commission update page, dated 16 July 2024, said commission is final only after delivery and the 14-day US after-sales period. A full refund pays nothing, and a partial refund reduces the payout. That page is more than two years old and gives no payout date, and we found no newer TikTok page to confirm it. Third-party guides say creators are paid about two weeks after delivery, sometimes later, but we did not verify that with TikTok. Check Seller Center for your own timing.
For your sums, count three costs on every order: the product and shipping, TikTok's fee and the creator's commission. Then see what is left.
Is TikTok Shop the only way to get TikTok creators to sell?
No. TikTok Shop is one route, and it reaches the creators in the marketplace on TikTok's terms. It is a good fit if you sell there. It misses everyone who isn't on TikTok.
On 22 October 2026 we ran a first search for 30 public Shopify brands. It showed 2,924 people, and TikTok gave 49 of them. TikTok creators are a small part of the people who cover shops like yours, so most brands need other places to find affiliates too (method and counts, what we found on TikTok). That is a small first search, not a census.
The other route is to find creators yourself. You run your own program, with your own link or code and payouts. That works for a Shopify store that isn't on TikTok Shop. It also reaches bloggers, reviewers and YouTubers that TikTok Shop doesn't show you. See our guides to finding affiliates for a Shopify store and where to find affiliates.
If you run both, keep the offers close. A creator who sees 10% on one and 25% on the other will ask why. Our guide on affiliates, influencers and ambassadors explains how the three deals differ.
A simple plan for your first 30 days
- Pick three products. Choose ones that show well on video and leave a fair margin.
- Open collaboration for those three. Set a rate you can afford. Turn on approval so you see each creator first.
- Offer free samples to a small group. Start with the number you can ship within seven days.
- Invite five creators by target collaboration. Pick people who already make videos in your niche, and offer a little more than the open rate.
- Check week by week. Who posted, what sold, what each sale cost you after fees.
Vet each name before you send a sample. Read ten recent videos and the comments. Check whether past brand posts were marked as ads, which the FTC's guidance on influencer endorsements expects when there is a material connection to a brand.
Where RecruitAffiliates.ai fits
RecruitAffiliates.ai doesn't run TikTok Shop for you. It finds the people who already cover shops like yours and sends the first email. That includes TikTok and Instagram creators, and also bloggers, reviewers and podcasters. Each one comes with the page that shows it. It looks for each person's email and checks what it finds, so you get a verified email where it can confirm one.
AI drafts a personal first email. You approve it, and it sends from your own inbox. Replies land in that inbox.
Launch is $79 a month for one brand, with a 7-day free trial and no card.
Frequently asked questions
Does TikTok Shop have an affiliate program?
Yes. Sellers set a commission on their products, and creators earn it on each sale. You can open it to all creators or invite chosen ones.
What is the difference between open and target collaboration?
Open makes your products visible to all TikTok Shop creators, and you can require approval. Target lets you invite chosen creators to promote chosen products. Target rates override open rates.
How much commission can I set on TikTok Shop?
TikTok's help pages say 1% to 80% of the order value. The right rate depends on your margin after product costs, shipping and TikTok's fee.
Do I pay for free samples on TikTok Shop?
Yes. TikTok's academy page says sellers pay for the product, shipping and tax on free samples. You must review requests within seven days and ship within seven days of approval.
Can I use TikTok Shop affiliates if I only sell on Shopify?
Yes, if your store is in a country Shopify supports and you connect the TikTok sales channel. The program belongs to TikTok Shop sellers. A store that hasn't connected can find TikTok creators by hand or run its own affiliate program instead.
Sources
- TikTok, About target collaborations in Seller Center (last updated August 2025): TikTok help page (checked 27 October 2026)
- TikTok Shop Academy, Setting Up Affiliate Collaborations (updated 16 July 2026): TikTok Shop Academy (checked 27 October 2026)
- TikTok Shop Academy, How to set up and manage samples (updated 16 July 2026): TikTok Shop Academy (checked 27 October 2026)
- TikTok Shop Academy, TikTok Shop Referral Fee Updates (dated 8 May 2025): TikTok Shop Academy (checked 27 October 2026)
- TikTok Shop Academy, TikTok Shop Affiliate Commission Update (dated 16 July 2024): TikTok Shop Academy (checked 27 October 2026)
- Shopify Help Center, Set up the TikTok sales channel (no date shown): Shopify Help Center (checked 28 October 2026)
- FTC, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers: FTC (checked 27 October 2026)