TikTok Shop fees for US sellers come down to one main charge: a referral fee of 6% on most orders, calculated on what the customer pays for the item and shipping, excluding sales tax. There is no separate per-order fixed fee, so a $30 sale with free shipping costs you $1.80.
This TikTok Shop fee calculator also adds a second cost most new sellers forget: the commission you pay creators who sell your product through their videos or lives. Set it to the rate you offer in your affiliate plan.
TikTok Shop referral fee by category
| Category | Referral fee |
|---|---|
| Most categories | 6% |
| Pre-Owned (all subcategories) | 5% |
| Jewelry Accessories & Derivatives: Diamond, Gold, Jade, Platinum/Carat Gold, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald | 5% |
| Collectibles and Pre-Owned, portion of a sale above $10,000 | 3% |
The 6% rate has been in place since 1 April 2024. The five jewelry subcategories were cut to 5% on 31 October 2024.
| Fee | How it is charged (US) |
|---|---|
| Referral fee | 6% of the item price plus shipping. Category: Most categories (6%). |
| Referral fee | 5% of the item price plus shipping. Category: Pre-owned, fine jewelry (5%). |
| Creator affiliate commission | your chosen rate, charged on the item price. Only on sales made through a creator's video or live. You set the rate. |
What the referral fee is charged on
TikTok's formula is: rate × (customer payment + platform discount − tax). In plain terms:
- Shipping the customer pays is included.
- Sales tax is excluded.
- A discount TikTok funds is added back, so you pay the fee as if the customer paid full price.
- A discount you fund yourself lowers the base, so you pay less fee.
On a $50 item with $5 shipping and $4 tax, the base is $55 and the fee is $3.30. You receive $51.70 before your own shipping label and any creator commission.
| Sale price | Total fees | Fees as % of price | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $0.60 | 6.0% | $9.40 |
| $25.00 | $1.50 | 6.0% | $23.50 |
| $50.00 | $3.00 | 6.0% | $47.00 |
| $100.00 | $6.00 | 6.0% | $94.00 |
| $250.00 | $15.00 | 6.0% | $235.00 |
Default settings, no sales tax, no optional fees.
Creator affiliate commission
When a creator sells your product, you pay them the commission rate you set. It's calculated on the product price after seller and platform discounts, not on shipping. Sellers commonly set somewhere between 10% and 20%.
This is often the biggest cost on TikTok Shop. Take the $50 example above with a 10% creator rate: another $5.00 goes to the creator, and your $51.70 drops to $46.70. At 20%, you'd lose $10 to the creator and $3.30 to TikTok, or more than a quarter of the item price.
Other TikTok Shop seller fees
- Refund administration fee: when an order is refunded, TikTok returns the referral fee minus 20% of it, capped at $5 per SKU. It isn't charged on creator sample refunds or eligible automatic cancellations before shipment.
- Sales tax on the referral fee: since 1 November 2025, sellers registered in Texas and West Virginia pay sales tax on their referral fees.
- Transaction fees: the separate transaction fee only applied to orders before April 2023. TikTok's current US fee pages don't list a separate payment processing charge.
- Smart Promotion campaigns: an opt-in program with its own fee on campaign sales. Its rates aren't on TikTok's main fee pages, so the calculator leaves it out.
What a refund costs you
A refund doesn't give you the whole referral fee back. On a $40 order with no shipping, the fee was $2.40. TikTok keeps 20% of that as an administration fee, which is $0.48, and returns $1.92. The administration fee tops out at $5 per SKU, so at 6% it only hits the cap once the fee itself passes $25, on an order of about $417 or more.
TikTok Shop profit: what to subtract
To turn the payout into profit, take away:
- the cost of the product,
- your shipping label (the customer's shipping is already in your payout),
- creator commission and any ads you ran,
- packaging and any free samples sent to creators.
Example: you sell a $30 phone case with free shipping through a creator at 15%. TikTok takes $1.80, the creator $4.50, so you receive $23.70. If the case cost you $6 and the label $4, profit is $13.70.
The TikTok Shop profit calculator at the top does this sum for you. Put the product cost in item cost and your label in postage, and it shows profit, margin and ROI next to the payout. To go the other way, switch the TikTok Shop calculator to "What price to list at" and enter the profit you want; it gives you the price that covers the referral fee and creator cut.
Ways to lower TikTok Shop fees
- Use seller-funded discounts rather than raising the price and discounting back: they reduce the fee base.
- List items in the right category. Pre-owned goods at 5% instead of 6% saves $1 on every $100.
- Set creator commission per product. High-margin items can carry 20%; thin-margin items may not survive it.
Common questions
How much does TikTok Shop take per sale?
6% of the item price plus customer-paid shipping, after tax is removed. On a $100 order with no shipping that's $6.
Is there a TikTok Shop fee on shipping?
Yes. The referral fee base includes the shipping the customer pays.
Does TikTok Shop charge new sellers less?
TikTok ran a 3% rate for new sellers in 2025, but the official page for that offer now returns an error, so it isn't clear whether it still runs. The calculator uses the standard rates.
Is the $10,000 rule per item or per order?
TikTok doesn't say. The calculator applies the normal rate to the full amount.
Selling in Britain? The TikTok Shop UK calculator uses the 9% UK commission. For live selling elsewhere, compare with the Whatnot fee calculator.
Sources
TikTok Shop (US) fees last checked against these official pages on 2026-10-12. We re-check every source daily and update the calculator when a platform changes its fees.
- TikTok Shop US: Referral fees by category
- TikTok Shop US: Referral fee updates
- TikTok Shop US: Seller Terms of Service