TikTok Shop Fee Calculator
The full fee stack. Not just the 6% referral fee. Includes FBT fulfillment, creator fees, and returns.
Inputs
Referral fee effective 2024-04-01 · FBT rate card effective 2026-07-13 · last checked by hand 2026-09-29 · Sources: US commission policy, FBT rate card
Source: TikTok Shop Seller Center 2026 docs. FBT return handling starts at $0.70 per returned unit for non-inspection service ($1.00 with inspection). Refund admin fee is an estimate (20% of referral, capped at $5). This page models platform fees only — product cost lost on non-resellable returns is not included, so use the Profit Calculator for a full net-margin view. Ad spend, FBT storage fees, inbound shipping, and disposal fees are also excluded. Real fees vary by region, category, and seller status.
Quick answer
On the default $29.99 product, TikTok Shop takes $6.32 — 21.1% in platform fees: a 6% referral fee ($1.80) plus $4.52 of FBT fulfillment, leaving a $23.67 payout. Because FBT is a flat per-unit charge, that same fee is 36.1% of a $15 item and 10.5% of a $100 one. Add a 25% creator commission and a 20% return rate and the take on that $29.99 item reaches 46.1%.
What each TikTok Shop fee actually is
01 / referenceBase commission (6%)
6% flat for all US categories, charged on the total the buyer pays — shipping included (TikTok Shop US commission policy). TikTok's published policy documents one commission and lists no separate processing or transaction charge. Jewelry and Pre-Owned sit at 5%.
FBT fulfillment
$4.28–$12.67 per unit by weight, single-item rate for items up to 16 lb (FBT Rate Card). This is a flat per-unit charge — it does not scale with your sale price, which is exactly why it dominates the stack on cheap items.
Creator commission
1%–80% (the official range), set by you, paid to the creators and affiliates who move your product. Charged on the sale price and stacked on top of everything else.
Refund admin + FBT return handling
On a refund TikTok keeps 20% of the referral fee, capped at $5 per SKU, and FBT adds $0.70–$1.00 per returned unit. Both scale with your return rate.
What is NOT in this calculator
Ad spend, FBT storage fees, inbound shipping to the TikTok warehouse, aged-inventory surcharges, removal fees — and the product cost you lose on a non-resellable return. Those live in the Profit Calculator.
Worked example: the default $29.99 product
02 / worked exampleEverything below is the calculator's own output on the default inputs — $29.99 sale price, nothing charged to the buyer for shipping, 6% referral, the 4–8 oz FBT tier, one unit per order, 0% creator commission and a 0% return rate. Nothing is rounded up or "approximated."
| Line | Amount | % of sale |
|---|---|---|
| Buyer’s total (item price + shipping) | $29.99 | 100.0% |
| − Base commission (6%) | −$1.80 | 6.0% |
| − FBT fulfillment (4–8 oz, 1 unit) | −$4.52 | 15.1% |
| − Creator commission (0%) | −$0.00 | 0.0% |
| = TikTok payout | $23.67 | 78.9% |
| − Refund admin fee (0% returns) | −$0.00 | 0.0% |
| − FBT return handling (0% returns) | −$0.00 | 0.0% |
| = Net after returns | $23.67 | 78.9% |
| Total TikTok take | $6.32 | 21.1% |
Two things stand out. First, FBT ($4.52) is more than twice the commission ($1.80) — if you think of "the TikTok fee" as 6%, you are modelling less than a third of it. Second, there is no transaction line: TikTok US retired the old 2% + $0.30 structure when the flat 6% rate took effect on 1 April 2024, and TikTok's published policy has documented a single commission with no separate transaction line ever since.
Why the same fee is 36% on one product and 10% on another
03 / price sensitivityThe 6% commission scales with price. FBT does not — it is a flat charge per unit. Hold the 4–8 oz tier fixed and price becomes the single biggest driver of your effective take rate:
| Sale price | Base commission (6%) | FBT (4–8 oz, 1 unit) | Total take | Take % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $0.90 | $4.52 | $5.42 | 36.1% |
| $29.99 | $1.80 | $4.52 | $6.32 | 21.1% |
| $45.00 | $2.70 | $4.52 | $7.22 | 16.0% |
| $60.00 | $3.60 | $4.52 | $8.12 | 13.5% |
| $100.00 | $6.00 | $4.52 | $10.52 | 10.5% |
This is the arithmetic behind the well-worn advice that TikTok Shop rewards higher-ticket, lighter items. A $15 impulse buy hands TikTok more than a third of its price before you have paid a cent for the product itself; the same fulfillment cost on a $100 item is roughly a tenth. If your take rate looks alarming, check the weight tier and the price point before you start renegotiating anything else.
Three scenarios on the same product
04 / scenariosCreator commission and return rate are the two inputs sellers most often leave at zero, "to keep it simple." Leaving them at zero does not make them go away — it only hides them from the model. The same $29.99 product, three ways:
| Scenario | Total take | Take % | Payout | Net after returns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean — 0% creator, 0% returns | $6.32 | 21.1% | $23.67 | $23.67 (78.9%) |
| Typical — 15% creator, 10% returns | $10.82 | 36.1% | $19.17 | $19.07 (63.6%) |
| Creator-led — 25% creator, 20% returns | $13.82 | 46.1% | $16.17 | $15.96 (53.2%) |
Same product, same price, same weight. The gap between the lean and creator-led rows is $7.50 per unit — on 1,000 units a month that is $7,500 of margin which simply never appears in a model built on 0% and 0%. Figures are as displayed by the calculator; display rounding can differ by a cent from the sum of the individual rows.
Five ways sellers mis-model TikTok Shop fees
05 / pitfalls- Reading "6%" as the whole fee. On most sub-$30 items FBT is the larger line. The blended take is rarely under 20% — see the claim-by-claim table behind these rates.
- Assuming FBT scales with price. It does not. A cheap, heavy product can lose more than 40% before COGS.
- Leaving creator commission at zero. If your growth plan involves affiliates at all, 0% is a placeholder, not a forecast.
- Treating a return as "just the admin fee." This page models the fee side only. The product cost lost when a return cannot be resold is charged against COGS in the Profit Calculator — run both before you set a price.
- Forgetting that shipping sits inside the referral base. Commission is charged on price plus shipping, so "free shipping" is not free to TikTok — it is priced into your fee.
FAQ
06 / questionsIs the 6% referral fee all TikTok takes?
No. TikTok's published commission policy documents one commission (6%, 5% for select categories) and lists no separate transaction or processing charge — but FBT fulfillment ($4.28–$12.67 per unit), creator commission (0–30%) and refund-related fees all stack on top. On the default $29.99 product the blended take is 21.1%.
Does the 6% referral fee include shipping the buyer pays?
Yes. TikTok’s US commission policy gives the referral formula as platform commission = platform commission rate × (buyer payment + platform discounts − taxes), and the note under that formula says, in TikTok’s own Chinese wording (page last revised 2026/2/11), translated here: “buyer payment includes shipping paid by the buyer, net of shipping discounts provided by the seller or TikTok Shop.” This calculator adds any shipping you charge the buyer to the referral base; the field defaults to 0, so a price with the shipping baked in changes nothing. This calculator does not model platform discounts or taxes, so if either applies to your order the real base will differ from the figure here.
Do I pay creator commission on top of everything?
Yes. Creator commission is set by you (0–30%); this calculator charges it as a percentage of the item price, stacking on top of the referral fee and FBT fulfillment. A product that is comfortable at 0% can flip thin at 25%.
Is there still a $0.30 transaction fee?
No. TikTok's published commission policy lists no separate per-order transaction fee. The flat 6% referral rate that took effect on 1 April 2024 replaced the older 2% + $0.30 structure, so the transaction line in the results panel reads $0.00 and is hidden by default.
What does FBT return handling cost?
FBT charges a per-return handling fee — $0.70 for non-inspection service and $1.00 with inspection — for each returned unit, so it scales with your return rate. Separately, TikTok keeps 20% of the referral fee on a refund, capped at $5 per SKU.
Why is FBT bigger than the commission on my product?
Because FBT is a flat per-unit charge while the commission is a percentage. On a $29.99 item, a $4.52 fulfillment fee is 15.1% of the price while the 6% commission is only $1.80. Raising the price dilutes FBT; lowering it magnifies it.
How do TikTok Shop fees compare to Amazon FBA?
On headline commission, TikTok (6%) sits far below Amazon's typical referral fee (15%). On the full stack, TikTok's 6% plus FBT usually still comes out ahead of Amazon's referral fee plus fulfillment, placement and low-inventory surcharges — but Amazon's fee includes Prime shipping and warehousing. The side-by-side calculator puts both on the same inputs.
Keep going
07 / related- Profit Calculator — the fee stack plus COGS, shipping, inbound freight and ad spend, down to net profit per unit.
- TikTok Shop vs Amazon FBA — the same product costed on both platforms.
- TikTok Shop fees in 2026 — the written guide behind this rate card.
- 8 TikTok Shop fee myths — the 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee and seven other numbers, checked against TikTok’s own pages.
- FBT fulfillment explained — weight tiers, storage, and the costs this page leaves out.
- FBT fee per unit — the 2026 weight-tier table, from $4.28 to $12.67 (single items up to 16 lb).
- Fees on a $20 product — why the 6% headline becomes 28.6% below $25.
- TikTok Shop fees vs Shopify — commission versus subscription and payment processing.
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