How Much Does TikTok Shop Charge? Fees, Commissions & the Costs Sellers Miss

Ask most new sellers what TikTok Shop charges and they'll quote one number — the referral fee. Then their first settlement lands and the real number turns out to be very different. TikTok Shop doesn't charge one fee. It charges a stack of them, and the sellers who get caught out are the ones who priced their products against the headline rate alone.

Here is the full stack for UK and US sellers in 2026 — every layer, what it actually costs, and a worked example of what you really keep from a £20 sale.

The Fee Stack at a Glance

• Referral fee: 6% (US) / 9% (UK) on every order
• Payment processing: budget roughly 2% on top
• Affiliate commission: 10–30% on creator-driven sales — set by you
• Refund administration fee: 20% of the referral fee when an order is returned
• Fulfilment (optional): per-order fees if you use Fulfilled by TikTok

1. The Referral Fee — the Headline Number

This is TikTok's cut of every sale, charged on the order total:

• US: 6% for most categories; 5% for jewellery and pre-owned items
• UK: 9% for most categories; 5% for electronics. The UK rate is VAT-inclusive and calculated on the final customer price
• New-seller discounts: US sellers pay 3% for their first 30 days; UK sellers pay just 1.8% for their first 90 days

That introductory window matters more than most sellers realise. The UK 90-day rate is the cheapest selling window you will ever get on the platform — launching your best products and your affiliate push inside it is free margin most sellers waste on setup admin.

2. Payment Processing — the Quiet 2%

On top of the referral fee, payment processing takes roughly a further 2% of the order value in most cases. It rarely gets its own headline — it is folded into your settlement statement — which is exactly why sellers miss it when they price. Build it into your margin maths from day one: referral fee plus processing is your true platform cost, around 8% in the US and 11% in the UK before anything else is deducted.

3. Affiliate Commission — the Cost Sellers Forget

This is the layer that blindsides people. If a creator sells your product through their affiliate link, you pay them a commission you set — anywhere from 1% to 80%. Typical rates by category:

• Beauty & wellness: 15–30%
• Fashion: 10–20%
• Home & kitchen: 8–15%
• Electronics: 5–13%

Around 42% of US TikTok Shop sales are creator-driven, so for most growing shops this is not an edge case — it is the main channel. The trap: sellers set a generous commission to attract creators, then discover that a "15% commission" actually costs closer to 26% of the sale once platform fees, processing and returns are stacked on top. Price the product for the full stack, or don't offer the commission.

Commission is only paid on affiliate-attributed sales. Direct sales from your own content, shop page or ads carry no affiliate cost — which is why your own content engine matters. See our guide on recruiting TikTok Shop creators and affiliates for how to set rates creators actually accept.

4. Shipping, Returns & Fulfilment — the Hidden Layer

• Refund administration fee: when a customer returns an order, TikTok keeps 20% of the original referral fee (capped at $5 per item). A high return rate quietly taxes every sale.
• Shipping: if you fulfil orders yourself, your courier cost is yours. If you offer free shipping to compete — and on TikTok Shop, you usually have to — that cost comes straight out of the same margin.
• Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT): optional. TikTok stores, picks, packs and ships for a per-order fee (from around $3.50 for a small standard parcel in the US, £2.80 in the UK, plus storage). Worth it for some catalogues, a margin leak for others — model it per product, not per shop.

The Worked Example: a £20 Sale in the UK

A customer buys a £20 product through a creator's video, with a 15% affiliate commission set:

• Sale price: £20.00
• Referral fee (9%): −£1.80
• Payment processing (~2%): −£0.40
• Affiliate commission (15%): −£3.00
• You receive: £14.80 — before product cost and delivery

Over a quarter of the sale price is gone before you've paid for the product itself. The same sale without an affiliate keeps £17.80. Neither number is "wrong" — affiliate sales bring volume you'd never reach alone — but if your product cost £9 and shipping £3.50, the affiliate version of this sale loses money. This is the calculation to run on every product, at every commission rate you offer.

How Smart Sellers Keep the Stack Down

1. Price for the full stack, not the headline fee. Your price needs to survive referral + processing + commission + returns at your target margin.
2. Use the new-seller window properly. Launch hero products while your referral rate is discounted — 1.8% in the UK for 90 days is a genuine head start.
3. Tier your commissions. Higher rates on high-margin hero products, leaner rates elsewhere — and time-limited boosts instead of permanent increases.
4. Cut your return rate. Accurate sizing, honest descriptions and clear photos reduce the refund fees and lost shipping that stack up invisibly.
5. Re-run the maths monthly. Rates, categories and your commission offers change; a product that was profitable in January can bleed by March.

Frequently Asked Questions