Our Services · TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop Virtual Assistant
& Account Manager
TikTok Shop has almost no search demand. Sales come from creators and LIVE. We run the affiliate programme, the GMV Max campaigns and the compliance that keeps your shop trading.
A TikTok Shop virtual assistant manages the parts of the platform that actually drive GMV: sourcing and briefing creators through the affiliate programme, running GMV Max campaigns, protecting your Account Health Rating, and keeping product compliance documentation current. TikTok Shop rewards content supply and operational discipline, not keyword optimisation, and agencies that treat it like Amazon get nowhere.
What We Offer
How We Help You Grow
Creator & Affiliate Programme
Open Collaboration to list products in the Product Marketplace, and Target Collaboration to invite specific creators directly. We set commission rates, run free-sample programmes and manage creator relationships, this is where the revenue comes from.
GMV Max Campaigns
Since July 2025 GMV Max is the only supported campaign type for TikTok Shop Ads, in Product and LIVE variants. Manual bidding, keywords and placements are gone. We manage what is left: product setup, offer design and creative supply.
Account Health Rating
Every shop starts at 200 points and violations deduct from the balance. Drop to 150 and you lose new listings and mega campaigns for seven days; hit zero and the shop is permanently deactivated. We monitor it and fix the causes before they compound.
Product Compliance
Regulated categories need CPCs, CPSC lab reports and FDA filings. Listings get pulled pre-emptively when documentation is missing. We keep the paperwork ahead of the enforcement.
Fulfilment & Logistics
Seller Shipping, TikTok Shipping, Upgraded Shipping or Fulfilled by TikTok. We pick the model that fits your margin and volume, and manage late-shipment rate against the Shop Performance Score.
LIVE Selling Operations
Scheduling, host briefing, product line-ups and LIVE GMV Max campaigns. LIVE is an operational discipline with no Amazon equivalent, and it converts very differently to feed content.
What Makes TikTok Shop Different
Six things Amazon sellers get wrong here
There is no search demand to optimise for
On Amazon you optimise a listing against keyword demand that already exists. On TikTok Shop the demand is manufactured by content. If no creator is making videos about your product, your listing does not get seen no matter how well it is written.
The 6% referral fee is not your real cost
Standard US referral is 6% and has not changed since April 2024, with 5% on pre-owned and several jewellery categories. But once you stack creator commissions, fulfilment, returns and ad spend, realistic all-in take rates land somewhere around 20% to 35% of revenue. Budget against that number, not the headline.
Your contract counterparty changed in January 2026
TikTok US closed its joint venture deal on 23 January 2026, with ByteDance holding 19.9% and Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each around 15%. The day before, on 22 January, TikTok assigned US seller contracts to BD TikTok USA LLC, trading as TT Commerce and Global Services. TikTok said there were no other substantive changes to the terms. Your obligations did not move. The entity you are contracted with did, and that is worth knowing if you are reviewing terms or handling a dispute.
Compliance failures disable your advertising
This is the trap. On Amazon a listing violation affects that listing. On TikTok Shop, an AHR drop gates Smart Promotion and Countdown Bidding across the whole shop. A documentation problem becomes a revenue problem immediately.
Policy changes fast
In February 2026 TikTok announced it was ending independent Seller Shipping, then reversed the decision weeks later after seller backlash. A lot of published advice still describes the mandate as active. Treat any TikTok Shop policy you read about as needing verification in Seller Center.
Viral demand versus inventory commitment
Fulfilled by TikTok requires you to pre-commit inventory to their warehouses. TikTok demand is spiky and unpredictable by nature. Reconciling those two facts is a genuine forecasting problem and one of the more useful things an experienced manager brings.
TikTok Shop By The Numbers
Growing fast, and concentrated at the top
TikTok Shop is the fastest growing large marketplace in the United States. It is also the most unequal, and the gap between the two facts is where most seller disappointment lives.
Sources: Momentum Works (February and August 2026), Marketplace Pulse (June 2026), TikTok Shop Academy fee documentation.
What You Get
What a month of TikTok Shop management looks like
TikTok Shop account management splits roughly into creator supply, campaign management and compliance. Volume of quality content is the single biggest driver of GMV, so that is where most of the effort goes:
- Creator sourcing and outreach through the Product Marketplace, plus direct Target Collaboration invitations to higher-performing creators
- Commission rate setting and free-sample programme management, reviewed against what each category actually pays
- GMV Max campaign management for both Product and LIVE, with budget and offer adjustments logged
- Account Health Rating monitoring, with root-cause fixes rather than one-off appeals
- Compliance documentation tracking, CPCs, lab reports and category filings kept current ahead of enforcement windows
- Order and late-shipment-rate management against Shop Performance Score
- Returns handling, including the return-shipping split that varies with your performance score
- A monthly report covering GMV by source, creator performance, ad spend, AHR and the true all-in take rate
A good fit if
- Your product demos well on video, visual, giftable, or solves a visible problem
- You can support creator commissions on top of referral fees and still make money
- You can supply or fund a steady flow of creative
- Your category is not heavily regulated, or you already hold the documentation
- You can handle spiky, unpredictable demand
Probably not a fit if
- Your product needs explaining rather than showing
- Your margin cannot absorb roughly 20% to 35% all-in
- You want the keyword and bidding control Amazon gives you
- You are in a regulated category with no compliance paperwork in place
- You need predictable, level demand for production planning
The Mechanics That Matter
Four systems that quietly control your account
Shop Performance Score gates the things you want
TikTok scores sellers from zero to five once they have delivered 30 orders in 90 days. The score is not vanity. It opens specific benefits at specific levels. At 2.5 you get flash deals and a visibility lift. At 3.5 affiliate marketing, campaigns and five day settlement open up. At 4.0 settlement drops to one day. Below 3.0 benefits pause, and that includes affiliate access, which is how most TikTok Shop brands actually sell. Recent orders weigh more heavily than old ones, so a bad fortnight moves the score faster than a good quarter repairs it.
Account Health Rating is a bank balance, not a warning light
Every shop starts at 200 points. Violations deduct, and finished orders earn points back at four per 200 orders in the last 180 days, capped at 20 per week. Every point applied expires 180 days later. Fall to 150 and you lose new listings and campaign entry for seven days. At 100 it is 14 days, at 50 it is 28 days, and at zero the account can be deactivated permanently. Because earning back is slow and capped, the only workable strategy is prevention. We review listings against restricted category rules before publishing, not after a deduction.
GMV Max is the only campaign type left
Since July 2025 GMV Max has been the default and only supported campaign type for TikTok Shop Ads. Product Shopping Ads, Video Shopping Ads and LIVE Shopping Ads can no longer be created or edited under the Sales objective. You still control the ROI target, the budget and which Spark Ads creative goes in. TikTok automates product selection, creative choice, placement and audience. One reporting caveat matters more than any tactic: GMV Max attributes organic and affiliate orders into its own dashboard alongside paid, so the headline ROAS overstates incremental return unless you measure against a baseline.
Fulfilment rules carry hard numbers
Regular orders must reach in transit status within two business days. Late dispatch rate above 10% triggers enforcement. On time delivery rate must stay at or above 80%. Seller fault cancellation rate must stay at or below 2.5%, and a shop at a 90% cancellation rate can be deactivated. These are published thresholds, not guesses, which makes them manageable. We watch the seven day fulfilment view rather than the 30 day one, because the seven day view shows a problem while there is still time to fix it.
Our Process
How We Work
Shop & Compliance Audit
We review your Seller Center setup, Account Health Rating, product documentation and any suppressed listings, then tell you what is blocking growth before we spend a dollar on creators.
Offer & Commission Design
Creator commission rates, sample policy and promotional structure set against your real margin, not the headline referral fee.
Creator Programme Launch
Products listed in the Product Marketplace for Open Collaboration, plus direct outreach to creators who already perform in your category.
Campaign Management
GMV Max campaigns for Product and LIVE, managed against contribution margin rather than vanity ROAS.
Scale & Protect
Doubling down on the creators and content formats that convert, while keeping AHR and compliance clean so the growth is not interrupted.
Where Accounts Go Wrong
Four mistakes that get TikTok Shop accounts penalised
Writing health claims into product copy
TikTok bans statements suggesting weight loss, fat reduction or muscle gain in words, images or voiceover, and it bans before and after body comparison imagery tied to a promoted product. From July 2026 it also prohibits GLP and GLP-1 terms in titles and branding. This is the single most common route to an account level penalty in supplement and beauty categories.
Listing into a restricted category without qualification
Dietary supplements, over the counter medication, sexual wellness, baby diapering and several collectibles categories are invite only. Others need product level documents. Publishing first and sorting paperwork later costs points that take months to earn back.
Reading GMV Max ROAS as incremental
The dashboard folds organic and affiliate orders into paid results. Sellers scale spend on a number that already includes sales they were going to make anyway, then wonder why blended margin falls. Hold a control period and compare total revenue, not campaign revenue.
Treating affiliate commission as set and forget
Open collaboration commission changes take 30 days to apply, while targeted collaboration changes take five. Sellers who plan a launch around an open rate discover the timing too late. We stage rate changes to match the campaign calendar rather than the other way round.
FAQ
Common Questions
Do I need to make the videos myself?
No, and mostly you should not. The volume comes from creators in the affiliate programme making their own content. Your job is to make the product worth promoting, good commission, reliable stock, fast shipping and samples available. We manage that side.
Can you guarantee a viral product?
No, and treat anyone who says otherwise as a warning sign. What is controllable is the number of creators promoting you, the quality of the offer, stock availability and compliance. Do those consistently and you improve your odds materially, but virality is not a deliverable.
Do you run LIVE sessions for us?
We handle scheduling, product line-ups, briefing and LIVE GMV Max campaigns. Hosting is usually better done by you or by a creator with an existing audience, and we help you source and brief them.
Which product categories are restricted on TikTok Shop?
Three tiers exist. Invite only categories include dietary supplements, over the counter medication, fresh and frozen packaged food, baby diapering, sexual wellness, virtual goods and certain collectibles. A second tier needs product level qualification, covering dangerous goods, some baby and maternity items such as sleepwear, monitors, car seats and strollers, some health and medical devices, e-bikes and scooters. A third tier needs category level approval, including beauty and personal care, electronics and shelf stable food. Publishing before you qualify costs account health points.
How fast do TikTok Shop orders have to ship?
Regular orders must reach in transit status within two business days of the order. Made to order, backorder and custom handling items get your stated handling time plus one business day. Pre-orders must dispatch within two business days of the pre-order closure date. Late dispatch rate above 10% triggers enforcement, on time delivery rate must stay at or above 80%, and seller fault cancellation rate must stay at or below 2.5%.
What does TikTok Shop charge sellers in 2026?
The US referral fee is 6% per order and has not moved since April 2024. Pre-owned categories and several jewellery categories sit at 5%, and sales above $10,000 in collectibles and pre-owned drop to 3% on the portion above that line. In the UK the platform commission is 9% including VAT, with a reduced 5% effective rate on electronics and beauty. Refund administration is charged at 20% of the referral fee, capped at $5 per SKU type.
Can I still run manual TikTok Shop ad campaigns?
Only partly. Since July 2025 GMV Max is the only supported campaign type for TikTok Shop Ads. You keep control of the ROI target, budget, campaign permissions and which Spark Ads content is added. Product selection, creative selection, placement and audience targeting are automated. Existing older campaigns continue to run but cannot be recreated.
Did TikTok Shop force everyone onto its own shipping?
It tried, then paused. In January 2026 TikTok Shop moved to end independent seller shipping in the US, with rollout due to complete by 31 March. Sellers reported real losses during the transition, and TikTok paused the change on 18 February 2026. The pause has not been confirmed as permanent, so we keep client fulfilment set up to switch either way rather than betting on one outcome.
Other services we run
Our Guarantee
What we put in writing
What you always get
- One named account manager who knows your account, not a rotating pool
- A written report every month covering what we changed and why
- Every file, login and asset stays yours, handed over on request
What you never get
- No lock-in. Cancel any month, with no notice period
- No setup fee, and the audit before you start is free
- If we miss the scope we agreed in your first 30 days, that month is free
We do not promise a ranking, a Buy Box share or a sales figure, because those sit with the platform and not with us. We promise the work, the reporting and the terms above, and all three go in the contract.
Ready to Sell on TikTok Shop?
Book a free audit and we will tell you whether your product is a realistic fit for creator-led TikTok Shop account management.
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