Selling through social media is nothing new, but TikTok Shop has been growing rapidly since its launch, creating a huge opportunity for you to sell directly to the nearly 2 billion TikTok users.
What’s TikTok Shop all about, and how can you get started? Here’s everything you need to know about TikTok Shop, plus the steps you need to take to start your shop and strategies to make your first sales.
Who Can Sell on TikTok Shop?
Although it’s an exciting new option to make money, not everyone has access to TikTok Shop yet. To get started on TikTok shop, you must meet the following criteria:
- Have a TikTok Business account (this is free!)
- Be based in the US, UK, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam
- Have a valid tax ID number in the country your account is based in
- Have access to Paypal or Stripe for handling payments
- Be 18 years old or above
- Have at least 5,000 followers
The program is likely to expand to other countries in the future, but this first version is only available to some people, with the biggest restrictions being location-based.
In terms of what you’re selling, everything you’re selling through your TikTok shop should have a clear photo, name, and description. All shipping details for your products should be provided on the listing.
Everyone selling in the shop will have to accept the terms and conditions laid out by TikTok.
How TikTok Shop Works

With TikTok Shop, people can buy from creators directly on the app. No need to click away to a separate shop page. This removes a huge barrier between you and your audience, allowing them to buy from you in just a few clicks.
Talk about convenience!
There are a few ways for people to see products on TikTok shop. These are the 4 main ways people can see your TikTok Shop products:
- Live Shopping: During TikTok lives, you can put up links to your TikTik live products. People watching the live stream can buy your products directly from your stream. You can put up as many products as you want per livestream. They’ll all be tucked away into an on-screen shop button accessible to everyone who tunes in.
- Shoppable Videos: TikTok videos can also include links to your TikTok shop. You can put product information up on the screen, as well as links to where the viewer can buy that product in your shop.
- Product Showcase: On your TikTok account, there’s a new tab for people to view your shop directly. This tab will show all the products you have listed for sale at that time.
- Shop Tab: All products available through TikTok shop are accessible through the TikTok shop tab. This is not creator-specific, but your products will show up in the listings when someone searches for a product you’re selling.
These 4 areas offer a lot of potential for people to see and purchase your products. You can do a lot with marketing to get your products in front of people.
Processing Payments and Fulfilling Orders
Just like with other online selling platforms, TikTok puts you in charge of fulfilling orders made through TikTok shop.
To accept payments, you need to have a valid Paypal or Stripe account, since these are the two methods that work with the platform. This is part of the criteria for listing on TikTok shop in the first place. In all countries where TikTok Shop is available, at least one of these services is available for everyone, if not both.
You as the seller are also responsible for fulfilling orders, meaning you have to receive the order and deliver the product to your customer in a reasonable amount of time.
Dropshipping through TikTok Shop
Since you’re responsible for order fulfillment, can you do dropshipping through TikTok Shop? The answer to this is a resounding yes!
Just because you’re responsible for order fulfillment doesn’t mean you have to do every step yourself. You can integrate a third-party online store with TikTok Shop, allowing you to connect your existing store account to your TikTok shop store. There are existing integrations with large apps like Shopify, as well as third-party integrations that let you connect your Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or WooCommerce stores.
If you want to do dropshipping and you don’t have a store set up yet to integrate, check to see if the platform you want to use is supported by TikTok Shop before you sign up. You can check for currently supported integrations here.
Make sure you work with a reliable dropshipping provider, and that you provide accurate details about expected shipping times, costs, and methods to your audience. If you’re not delivering your products as advertised, you could have your listings removed from TikTok shop. The same goes for print-on-demand (POD) products.
As long as you’re delivering well on what you’re selling, you should be fine.
Can You Sell Digital Products through TikTok Shop?
Unfortunately, TikTok Shop doesn’t currently support the sales of digital products. If you want to sell any type of digital product through TikTok, you have to link to outside pages or stores. People cannot buy digital products directly through your TikTok Shop links.
TikTok Shop Costs
TikTok Shop is affordable to sellers, but it’s not a free service. While it’s free to list products, every sale comes with small fees to the seller.
Because it’s a new platform, TikTok is trying to encourage people to use it. Up until July 2024, all sales are charged a tiny 2% commission, plus $0.30 per transaction (regardless of how many products were purchased at once). This is a fantastic deal compared to Amazon’s 6-45% commissions!
Unfortunately, this low rate won’t stick around forever. From July 2024, the fee will increase to 8% commissions on most sales. The transaction fee will remain the same at $0.30 per transaction. Commissions are not flat-rate. Some items will have a lower commission, while others will go to the 8% rate.
Even at the higher commission rates, TikTok shop is still an affordable selling platform for many products. Considering the huge audience, the ease of access to customers, and the costs to sell on other platforms, TikTok Shop can still be a highly profitable selling platform for you.
Getting Started with TikTok Shop
How can you get started with TikTok shop today and get on the road to your first $1000? It’s a super simple process. Here’s how you can get your shop up and running:
- Switch your account to a free TikTok Business account: If you’re using a personal account, the first thing you need to do is switch over to a TikTok Business account. This is a free process that can be done at any time. Go to your profile settings, head to account settings, and click on the button that says “Switch to Business Account”. Follow all the prompts given to switch your account for free.
- Open a free TikTok Seller Center account: This is location-specific. Make sure you go to the site for your country. You can find a full list of the URLs for different locations here. This account should be linked to your TikTok Business account.
- Sign up for a new shop for your location: You’ll need to provide the location of your shop’s warehouse or pickup locations, name of your contact person, address, postcode, phone number, and return address for products being sent back to your shop. This step is where you’ll need to confirm that you’ve read and understood the terms of service.
- Verify business documents: For your shop to be officially launched, you need to confirm business documents to show you have permission to sell from your store. Don’t be intimidated, this step isn’t as bad as it sounds! Under your TikTok Seller Center account, go to the page under “Verify Documents”. Click to upload your documents there. These are the documents you’ll need: If you’re selling as an individual or individually-owned business, you need a passport, national ID, or driver’s license. If you’re selling as a corporation, you need government documentation that identifies the legal representative of the company, as well as the business license, registration, or other similar document.
- Wait for document review: TikTok shops aren’t launched instantly after you submit your documents. You need to wait for a few days for your account to be approved. If it’s not approved, you’ll be advised on how to resubmit documents to try again. There is no restriction on reapplying or resubmitting your documents.
- Link your bank account to your TikTok Seller Center account: When your documents are verified, the last step is to link your bank account to your TikTok Seller Center account. Log into your TikTok Seller Center account and click on “Link Bank Account”. Follow the prompts to link your account.
For individual accounts, your bank account name should match the name registered to your account. The same is true for corporate sellers, with the bank account needing to match your company name.
Once you’re done, you can immediately begin adding products to your TikTok shopping and selling! If you’re going to integrate a third-party shop with products you’re already selling, you can do that any time now that your shop is set up.

Choosing the Right Products to Sell
Now that your shop is open, what should you sell to make money quickly on TikTok Shop? It’s up to you, as long as the products follow the terms and conditions set by TikTok.
Some products cannot be sold on TikTok Shop or are restricted access. For example, digital products are currently not supported by TikTok Shop. Make sure you run any ideas you have past an updated list of banned or restricted products before you go all in.
In 2023, some of the best-selling products on TikTok shop fell into these categories:
- Beauty devices
- Beauty treatments
- Sunglasses
- Pet care accessories
- Kitchen accessories
- Casual wear
- Bags
- Fashion jewelry sets
- Perfume
- Lotions and body creams
- Makeup tools and accessories
- Phone cases and accessories
- Home décor
- Home storage and organization
- Cleaning products
Although these are some of the bestselling categories, you’re not limited to this list. Search around on TikTok to find out what’s doing well and where you could compete.
Look through trends and the best-selling products on the TikTok Shop tab. This will tell you what people are talking about and buying right now, although it won’t help you understand the longevity of demand.
You can also search through hashtags to see what people are talking about and look for untapped markets. Some pockets of people on TikTok may be ripe for buying, but few people are advertising products that appeal to them specifically.
Pay particular attention to anything related to TikTik Made Me Buy It, including related hashtags. These products could be quick wins that bring you your first $1000 in sales in a snap.
You can also search through the Discover tab to see what’s popular and what people are talking about on the app. If you’re trying to capitalize on TikTok trends, make sure you hop on quickly before the trend is fading.

If you’re looking for a long-term niche instead of relying on trends, choose to sell products in a niche related to what you like to talk about anyway. The more naturally you can integrate products into your content, the easier it will be for you to sell to your audience over time.
Strategies for Making Sales
With your shop up and running, how do you make your first sales on the app? Here are a few strategies to get you to your first $1000 and beyond.
Product Demonstrations on TikTok Live
Since you can put up TikTok shop products in live streams, you have a great opportunity to do live reviews and introductions to products you’re selling. Using it on a live stream gives you the chance to show people how it works and lets people see you interacting with the product.
Seeing a product on a live stream gives people a greater sense of how it looks, feels, and functions. This could be what gives someone the push to buy something they are already interested in. Plus, you can answer questions live!
Tagging Products in Videos
Anything you use or interact with in a video can be tagged in your TikTok shop if it’s something you sell. This is a great way to subtly advertise your products to your audience and give them a chance to purchase the things they see in your content directly from you.
If you’re in a niche that relies on specific products, this is a great opportunity to sell things directly related to what you do so your audience can get started for themselves.
A good example of this is artists on TikTok. If you’re posting a timelapse of a painting, you can sell the paints, brushes, and canvases your audience would need to do the same thing for themselves.
Advertising on TikTok
You can advertise your TikTok shop products to other TikTok users for an affordable cost. This option lets you get your products in front of a relevant audience even if your audience is a bit on the small side.
Using Affiliates & Collaborations
Did you know that creators can work as affiliates to sell on a commission basis for TikTok shops? If you allow it, you can collaborate with other creators to sell your products.
This is great for sellers with a limited reach. You can connect with creators who don’t want to manage their own shop. You’ll provide the products and they’ll bring in the customers. It’s a win-win scenario that can help you make a lot of sales in a short time, depending on who you’re partnering with.
Feeling inspired yet? Go get your TikTok shop application started now so you can start earning ASAP!