Fee guide
TikTok Shop Fees Explained: From Sale to Settlement
A clear framework for TikTok Shop referral fees, affiliate commissions, shipping, refunds, discounts and adjustments—without treating one rate as your whole cost.
TikTok Shop fees are a stack, not one number. Separate platform fees, creator costs, fulfilment costs and refund costs before you estimate margin or compare a payout with sales.
The planning formula
Net settlement = revenue − platform fees − creator costs − seller-funded discounts − refunds − fulfilment costs + subsidies ± adjustments.
Worked example
A 6% referral fee can be material, but a 15% affiliate commission or refund-heavy category can be the larger driver of actual net revenue.
Referral fee
Treat the referral fee as a distinct transaction cost. Confirm the current fee policy for your market and category instead of applying an old blended rate to every sale.
Affiliate commission
Affiliate cost is not a platform fee in the same sense. It is a sales-channel spend tied to creator participation, so it should be compared with margin and incremental revenue.
Shipping and refunds
Shipping fees, subsidies, refunds and refund administration costs can make a single order's settlement differ significantly from its product price.
What this first estimate leaves out
- Subscription tools
- Packaging and fulfilment labour
- Taxes and duties
Upload a short statement export locally, see the fields that are recognized and retain the original report for any unresolved line item.
Open the settlement reconciliation tool →Sources and verification
TikTok Shop can change report fields and marketplace policies. This page was last reviewed on 2026-08-20.
FAQ
Questions to settle before you close the books.
What is the most important TikTok Shop fee?
There is no universal answer. The largest controllable cost is often affiliate commission, shipping or refund exposure rather than the base referral fee.
Are platform discounts a cost?
They should be shown separately from seller-funded discounts so you can see which party funded the promotion.