Do you have a TikTok account with an engaged audience? Do you sell products online? Thanks to TikTok Shop, you can leverage your TikTok audience to sell just about anything.
But is selling on TikTok worth it? How does it work, and how do you get sales? I’ll cover all this and more in our in-depth TikTok Shop guide.
What is TikTok Shop and How Does it Work?
TikTok Shop is a new feature on TikTok that lets you sell products or services directly to your followers and other users on the platform.
Creators have a few ways to sell their products:
- Live shopping
- Shoppable videos
- Shop page
- Shop tab
Naturally, you’ll have to pay a referral fee to TikTok. In January 2024, they raised their commission fees from 2% to 8% per transaction.
But the best part about TikTok Shop is that any creator can take advantage of this feature. You don’t need to have a certain number of followers – or any followers for that matter. Even new accounts can have a Shop.
Getting started seems simple enough, but is it really worth your time to sell on TikTok? Can you really make $1,000 a week selling products? The answer to both of these questions is simple: yes.
Is It Worth Selling on TikTok?
According to TikTok, 70% of users discover new brands and products on the TikTok platform. It makes sense to start selling products on the very same platform they discover products – and while they’re still in the buyer mindset.
Plus, TikTok Shop is still a new feature, so getting in on the ground floor and taking advantage of this opportunity early on will give you an advantage.
If you’re one of the first people to start selling on TikTok, you’ll have less competition. And less competition equals more money, right?
Of course, there are other great reasons to start selling on TikTok.
- Your audience is already on the platform
- Buying products is a seamless process
- It’s quick and easy to set up a shop
- TikTok gives you lots of options to promote your shop
What Are the Top Selling Products on TikTok?
Selling on TikTok is a worthwhile venture, but what should you sell? If you already have an established business, then you may already know what you want to sell.
But if you’re a creator or just looking for a new avenue to make money online, you may not know where to start.
Here are some of the top-selling products you can start selling on TikTok.
- Crafts, such as mugs, housewares, knitted items – things like that
- Clothes, including hoodies, t-shirts and other apparel (you can make them branded if you like)
- Art prints
- Stickers, patches, pins
- Phone cases and accessories
Clothing is still one of the top products to sell on TikTok Shop. In fact, this Redditor had a TikTok video go viral and sold over $5,000 in clothing over 2 days.
One thing to note is that TikTok doesn’t allow you to sell digital products, so if you want to sell things like courses and consultations, you’ll need to do it the old-fashioned way: add a link to your bio redirecting people to a shop elsewhere.
What Products Can’t be Sold on TikTok Shop?
TikTok gives creators a lot of freedom when it comes to selling products, but there are still some things that you can’t sell. You already know that you can’t sell digital products, but you also can’t sell:
- Adult products
- Alcohol, e-cigarettes and tobacco
- Some types of beauty and personal care items
- Certain types of baby and maternity products (mainly vitamins and supplements)
- Certain body and mental wellness products
- Discriminatory or offensive products
- Drugs, firearms and other hazardous items
- Gambling products
- Body parts (yes, you read that right)
- Theft devices and lock-picking tools
The list of prohibited products is long, so we recommend reading through their rules to ensure you understand what you can and can’t sell.
Should You Open a TikTok Shop if You Have an Etsy or Shopify Store?
If you already have an Etsy or Shopify store, you should still open a TikTok shop. Why? Because TikTok just opens one more avenue to making sales and growing your customer base.
Plus, the TikTok Shop platform integrates easily with Shopify and Etsy.
TikTok Shop Success Stories
- Brandon The Plant Guy: Received 15K+ orders since launch and generated over $350K in sales since launch
- Wyze: Generated over $1M in creator affiliate sales in 60 days and made $100K from a single video
You’ll find tons of inspiring success stories for TikTok Shop online – like Amber Wardell, who apparently made $2,000 in 7 days through TikTok Shop.
YouTuber Hayden Bowles also shared his results on TikTok Shop with an e-commerce brand he started less than two months prior to posting his video. At the time, his shop was doing about $2,500 per week. Check out his video below.
5 Best Strategies to Promote Your TikTok Shop
Making sales in any industry and on any platform is always a lot harder than it sounds. You’ll need to have strategies in place to make sales and get the world to know about and buy your products.
You can try the following strategies to promote your product, build a brand and make sales:
1. Start Working on Partnerships
Who are the leading creators in your niche? If you don’t know, it’s time to create a list of them. You’ll find that the top creators will demand top dollar for partnerships, so you’ll want to add lists for:
- Dream partners
- Micro influencers
- Nano influencers
If a partner has a high engagement rate with their audience, even the smaller creators that you partner with can make you tons of sales.
You can also create an affiliate plan for creators who make sales of your product, and this is a tactic that TikTok even recommends. If you have the budget for it, you can access relevant influencers via the Creator Trust.
2. Buy Ads on TikTok
TikTok ads helps you directly reach your targeted audience. You can opt to purchase:
- Video shopping ads
- Live shopping ads
Buying ads when you’re just starting out may not be a good option because you may lose money at first when trying to test ads and refine your audience. I recommend investing a lot of resources into understanding your ideal buyer so that you can target them with hyper-relevant ads.
3. Create Tons of Content
Create, create and create some more. If you have a larger following and become an influencer, you’ll have direct access to a loyal target audience. If you’re just starting out as a creator, you’ll need to:
- Test content ideas
- Show product demonstrations
- Review analytics
- Refine your approach
- Rinse and repeat
If you have user generated content (UGC), this social proof can help you make considerable sales. And if you do not have UGC, you can reach out to micro-influencers to start having them create some.
But it’s not enough to post a lot this week and then stop tomorrow. Remain consistent with your posting schedule and post daily. If necessary, hire someone to do the posting for you or schedule it ahead of time.
4. Respond to Comments and Engage Your Audience
Selling on TikTok means selling to leads. Your leads have questions about your products, and they’ll often leave them in the comments of your videos. Use these comments as an opportunity to engage by responding to comments in:
- Text
- Video
If, for example, a comment is so striking and needs clarification, create a video in response. Videos are powerful, and taking the time to reply to people in video will build an immense amount of trust in your brand and products.
5. Leverage the Power of Live Streaming
Live streams remain one of the most powerful forms of marketing and will open up new audiences to you along the way. You can engage with your audience on live streams with:
- Product demonstrations
- Real-time answers
- Asking questions
If your audience can see that you are confident in your product and can view this during the live stream, you’ll make sales and build up a loyal following in the process.
You don’t need to hold daily live streams, but they should be frequent enough for you to promote your products and make sales.
If you’re excited to open your shop, and I know you are, it’s time to learn how to start selling on TikTok.
How to Start Selling on TikTok Shop
Selling on TikTok can be highly profitable, but where do you even begin? If you want to watch a good video on getting started, I’ve left one below for you:
But, if you want to start, you can follow these quick steps below:
- Sign up for a TikTok Shop
- Fill out the application form
- Wait for approval
- Link your TikTok account
You don’t need to meet specific follower requirements for shop approval, but you’ll need to sell products that are not on the restricted products list.
Once you make your first dollar on TikTok, you’ll be hooked on trying to find ways to make more money on the platform that you know and love. I recommend that you keep testing and adjusting your strategy to make sales because what works today may not work tomorrow.
