How to sell on TikTok Shop UK, from sign-up to payout.

At a glance

Who can register

You register through TikTok Shop before you list anything, choosing one of two account types¹. The Sole Trader account is for an individual acting for trade, business, craft or profession¹. The Corporate Seller account is for a business “legally registered in the country where they are located”¹.

• As a Sole Trader, you must be 18 or over, hold a valid passport or driving licence, and live at a UK address you can prove¹.
• As a Corporate Seller, your company must be incorporated in the UK, with a UK business address¹.
• The company’s representative must be a UK resident and supply a passport or driving licence and proof of a UK home address¹.
• Larger enterprises can, case by case and at TikTok Shop’s sole discretion, show that their representative lives outside the UK¹.
• They can also name a “Primary Authorised User” to register, with a letter of authorisation signed by a director¹.

Both account types must show that their goods were imported into the UK lawfully and accept liability for import VAT and customs duties¹.

If you are based outside the UK:

• The registration policy describes no route for a business based abroad to open a local UK shop, beyond the case-by-case representative exception for larger enterprises¹.
• If you ship from Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands or Belgium, you can use “Sell to UK”, where Ship by Seller is the only shipping option⁷.
• The seller terms let a Cross-Border Seller sell and ship to UK customers from outside the UK, using TikTok’s cross-border logistics services¹².

Going the other way, a UK seller who meets the UK criteria may apply to open shops in EU markets under “Sell Across Europe”¹.

Documents and verification

The paperwork depends on the account type¹.

Scans and photos of ID must be in colour, legible and show both sides, saved as PNG or JPG¹. TikTok Shop rejects copies that are angled, blurry, black and white or cropped¹. An EU bank account is accepted only for Sell Across Europe shops¹.

No approval time is given¹. The policy says a third-party provider may carry out verification and that TikTok Shop may ask for supplementary documents¹. A shop name cannot include a brand name unless the brand owner has given written permission¹.

Fees, and when each took effect

TikTok Shop UK’s commission is a percentage of what the customer pays for each order¹². The Commission Rate Policy says the rate “is currently 9% before incentive reductions are applied”⁴, and that 9% is inclusive of VAT².

The commission base is net sales plus customer-paid shipping and platform discounts, minus refunded net sales and refunded platform discounts⁴. Refund a whole order and the whole commission comes back; refund part of it and you get back the commission on those items⁴.

The reduced rate has conditions. A product can carry only one reduction at a time, and reductions do not stack⁴. You qualify for category-level reductions only once you are past your initial new-seller reduced commission period². TikTok Shop says a lower rate “can be available for eligible sellers, including new sellers”, but publishes no figure for it². TikTok Shop’s category commission page gives details of rates by product category in a linked spreadsheet².

According to ChannelX, the £0.50 fee is charged on delivery, and Fulfilled by TikTok and Shipped via Platform orders do not pay it⁵. Co-funded promotions are optional: you can opt out and re-enrol⁵.

Unless the terms or TikTok Shop’s policies say otherwise, its fees include VAT¹². Before any fee rise, TikTok Shop must give notice, and you can close your account during that notice period if you do not accept the change¹².

The new-shop probation limits

Every new shop starts in the Shop Probation Program, which caps its daily orders and listed products⁶.

TikTok Shop says “There’s no fixed timeline” for graduating⁶. A shop’s daily order limit may also be affected while TikTok Shop completes platform and seller security checks, and TikTok Shop may adjust the product listing limit based on the shop’s operating metrics and compliance risks⁶.

Beginner shops are paid 31 days after delivery, and Standard and Premium shops 8 days after delivery¹⁰. Only shops out of probation can reach the 3-day and 1-day payout tiers¹⁰.

Listing rules and product categories

TikTok Shop sorts products into restricted, invite-only and unsupported groups¹⁴¹⁵. In a restricted category, you supply documents, complete mandatory attributes and wait for TikTok’s review before a product can be listed¹⁴. The restricted list covers auctions, beauty, dangerous goods such as batteries, aerosols and flammable liquids, electrical products and electronics, electric hot water bottles, media, pet food, safety workwear, surprise-based products, teeth whitening, toys and sand-based toys¹⁴.

The evidence depends on the category¹⁴:

• Electrical goods: photos of the UKCA or CE marking and a user manual¹⁴.
• Dangerous goods, including products with batteries: a Safety Data Sheet¹⁴.
• Toys: UKCA or CE marking images with age and safety warnings¹⁴.
• Beauty: images of the packaging and labels, and the ingredients list¹⁴.

Invite-only categories require an application, an invitation and onboarding, with documents uploaded in Seller Centre under My Account > Account Settings > Qualification Centre¹⁴. Among them are power tools, e-bikes and e-scooters, SIM cards, TV sticks and IPTV devices, second-hand and pre-owned goods, jewellery and watches with precious metals or diamonds, food and drink, coins and bullion, and baby and maternity products¹⁴.

Pre-owned electricals need a UK business incorporation certificate, a Companies House registration number and a Declaration of Conformity¹⁴. Smartphones also need a refurbishment certification report, and for laptops the certification must confirm battery health of at least 80%¹⁴. Refurbished household appliances count as second-hand products and need UKCA or CE marking on each product and refurbishment certificates on every listing¹⁴.

TikTok Shop publishes a separate guide for sellers to the products it does not support¹⁵.

Clause 18.1(m) of the seller terms covers listing software: content made with third-party tools or AI models must be reviewed and approved by you before publishing¹². The terms also limit offers to products “where you have the requisite stock to fulfil any Orders placed”¹².

Dispatch and tracking

UK Local to Local orders default to Ship by TikTok⁷. Under that model, TikTok assigns the carrier, you hand over the parcel within 2 working days, and delivery follows the carrier’s estimated date⁷. Switching to Ship by Seller needs no approval and is done in Seller Centre⁷.

Ship by Seller comes with a deadline for each stage⁷:

• Confirm the order: within 2 working days⁷.
• Pack it: within 2 working days⁷.
• Create and attach the label: within 2 working days⁷.
• Delivery: the order must show as “Delivered” within 4 working days of receipt⁷.
• Carrier hand-over: after 7 working days without it, the order is cancelled automatically⁷.

Ship by Seller orders go only with Approved Integrated Carriers, and you pay all delivery costs¹². Once you enter a valid tracking ID in Seller Centre, the order moves to “To Ship - Awaiting Collection”⁷. An incorrect tracking ID can be edited within 36 hours⁷. Delays and gaps in carrier tracking still count against your Valid Tracking Rate⁷. On Ship by TikTok orders, there is no tracking for you to add⁷.

Until an order reaches “To Ship - Awaiting Collection”, the buyer can ask to cancel it⁸. Cancellations are automatic on Ship by TikTok orders, and on Ship by Seller orders within 1 hour of purchase⁸. Later than that, you have 1 working day to respond before the cancellation is processed automatically⁸.

An order counts as delayed 48 hours after its estimated delivery date, and if it is still undelivered after 96 hours, TikTok Shop may approve the customer’s refund request automatically⁸.

Returns, refunds and seller cancellations

Customers can raise a return or refund request “up to and including 30 calendar days from delivery”, and you are free to offer longer⁸. The seller terms separately require you to give customers a right to cancel of at least 30 days from delivery¹².

When a change-of-mind return begins within 14 days of delivery, you must also repay the standard delivery charge; from day 15 after delivery, that refund is not required⁸.

• Most return requests are approved automatically; the exceptions are personalised items and products that deteriorate or expire rapidly⁸.
• Where a request is not approved automatically, respond within 2 working days⁸.
• After a returned item reaches you, act within 2 calendar days, or TikTok refunds the customer automatically⁸.

Change-of-mind returns do not cover personalised items, hygiene items once opened, perishables, opened software or media, newspapers and magazines, or trading cards opened live⁸. If you have to cancel an order yourself, notify the customer promptly in the app and by email, and never ask a customer to cancel because you are short of stock⁸.

Performance standards

For customer service, answer enquiries within 24 hours of the message being sent and keep a 24-Hour Response Rate of more than 90%⁹. The rate looks back 30 calendar days and applies only if the shop received at least 5 customer messages in the past 7 days⁹. Auto-replies do not count, and Holiday Mode pauses the measurement⁹.

The Account Health Rating runs from 0 to 1,000 points, counted over the last 180 days¹⁶. Every seller begins with 200 points and gains 4 points for each 200 finished orders, up to 20 points a week¹⁶. Deductions depend on how severe and frequent a violation is, and they reset after 180 days¹⁶. A shop is Green at 200 points or more, Orange from 51 to 199 and Red at 50 or below¹⁶.

The Shop Performance Score is separate: 0 to 5, over the last 90 days, covering product satisfaction, fulfilment and customer service¹⁶. A low score does not trigger enforcement on its own, but it sets your payout tier¹⁶¹⁰.

The shipping policy defines four performance rates⁷:

• Late Dispatch Rate: the share of packages, over 7 calendar days, that take more than 2 working days from order to “Shipped”; the policy is unclear about which sellers and shipping types it covers⁷.
• On Time Delivery Rate: based on the previous 7 days and updated every Monday⁷.
• Valid Tracking Rate: the share of Shipped by Seller packages sent with a tracked method by approved couriers⁷.
• Seller Fault Cancellation Rate: worked out every week⁷.

The policy text gives no target figures for late dispatch, valid tracking or seller-fault cancellations⁷. Its one stated threshold is an On Time Delivery Rate below 70%, which brings Late Delivery Fees⁷. Weak delivery or tracking rates can lead to Order Volume Limits, and frequent seller-fault cancellations to warnings and deactivated products⁷.

Under the Seller Performance Evaluation Policy, wider enforcement runs from delisting and daily order limits to suspension or termination of the account¹⁷. While it investigates, TikTok may hold your balance for up to 90 calendar days, and each action can be appealed once¹⁷.

Dropshipping: what the rules allow

TikTok Shop UK’s seller terms and registration policy have no dropshipping section¹²¹. Three rules bear on supplier-direct dispatch:

• Clause 6.3 of the seller terms: offer only products for which you have the requisite stock to fulfil any orders placed¹².
• The registration policy: keep stock in the UK, and ship and accept returns within the UK on Local to Local orders¹.
• Clause 14.3: when you ship, use Approved Integrated Carriers, pay delivery costs and submit tracking in Seller Centre¹².

TikTok Shop may also ask for evidence of where your stock is held, such as an address or a lease¹. The policies do not say whether a supplier can dispatch for you or on what terms, so check with TikTok Shop before you build a model that depends on it¹¹².

Getting paid

TikTok Shop does not process payments itself: Stripe does, or eMerchantPay where Stripe is not offered¹². How soon you are paid depends on your settlement tier, which is reviewed every month¹⁰.

The UK settlement page states its GMV thresholds in dollars¹⁰.

Connecting software to your shop

TikTok publishes a sample application on GitHub that calls the app’s credentials the App Key and the App Secret; it says you find both in Partner Centre by clicking on the app¹¹. In the sample, a redirect URL is set in Partner Centre and the app is authorised through a development shop¹¹. The sample links to the US Partner Centre and does not mention the UK¹¹.

For agencies registered as TikTok Shop Partners, TikTok Shop has separate guidance, dated July 2024, on providing authorisation to TikTok Shop Partners (TSP)¹⁸.

Under clause 21.2 of the seller terms, TikTok is not liable for losses connected with the “TikTok API”, and clause 6.14 puts data access under TikTok’s EU/UK Access to Data Policy¹².

invtri’s TikTok Shop channel works with TikTok Shop UK: you create the connection in invtri, then authorise it on TikTok. For the set-up, see Connect TikTok Shop to invtri.

Timeline of changes

• 2 September 2024: the UK commission went from 5% to 9%, the first seller-fee change since TikTok Shop launched in 2021, Retail Gazette reported in August 2024¹⁹.
• 10 January 2025: Ship by Seller sellers had to repay the original shipping fee in every return and refund case, according to ChannelX²⁰.
• 1 and 15 July 2025: co-funded promotions started with a 14-day trial paid in full by TikTok Shop, then a 75/25 split, and the £0.50 Shipped by Seller Service Fee began on 15 July, ChannelX reported⁵.
• 18 September 2025: TikTok Shop dated its current Commission Rate Policy⁴.
• 8 January 2026: Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Ireland were due to see commission rise from 5% to 9%, the rate UK sellers already paid, according to ChannelX and Ecommerce News Europe³²¹.
• 26 August 2026: in the updated returns policy, a change-of-mind return needs a delivery-cost refund only if it starts within 14 days of delivery⁸.
• January to October 2026: TikTok Shop revised the UK policies cited here, from performance evaluation (29 January) to account health (22 October), without listing what changed¹⁷¹⁶.