TikTok Shop Profit Guide for New Sellers

TikTok Shop is the fastest-growing US marketplace, but its fee model is unusual. Beyond the platform commission, you set an affiliate rate paid to creators — and that rate often makes or breaks the product.

The two fees you must know

TikTok platform commission is around 8% in 2025. The creator affiliate commission is whatever you set, usually 10–20%. Both come out of your revenue, before shipping and ads.

A worked example

A $25 product with $8 COGS, 8% TikTok fee, 20% affiliate, $3 shipping, and $2 ad spend nets $5 per unit — 20% margin. Drop the affiliate to 10% and net jumps to $7.50 (30% margin) — but you'll get far less creator pickup.

Pricing for TikTok Shop

Build prices that survive a 20% affiliate rate. If a $15 listing only works at 5% affiliate, it's the wrong product for TikTok Shop.