To set up your TikTok Shop integration, make sure to read TikTok Shop - How to Set It Up first. This article is focused on how payouts and financials work with TikTok Shop, while the article above will help you set up TikTok Shop.
With TikTok Shop, buyers pay for the product directly on TikTok, and TikTok handles the payment processing and emails related to the order, as well as paying you the money earned from sales on TikTok. This article describes how the flow works, though you can also go to TikTok Seller University or TikTok Help Center for more information.
Who pays me for TikTok Orders?
Let’s start with the important one! Orders made on TikTok are processed by TikTok, and all payment details and revenue live in your TikTok Business Account. TikTok does not share this information with Fourthwall and only lets us know the details for sending orders for production and fulfillment. This takes us to the next question:
Why do I see a negative profit on my Fourthwall dashboard for TikTok Shop orders?
Because the order payment is processed by TikTok, they collect all the money your customers pay for their order, and then TikTok will send you your profits directly. To process your order for production and fulfillment, Fourthwall will charge you the product cost and shipping cost for each TikTok order we receive.
Normally, when an order is placed on Fourthwall, we can automatically deduct the cost of the product and shipping from the total sale price, meaning you see your net profit. However, because TikTok collects the payment, we have to charge you for the product and shipping when the order is received, and you will see a charge on your account.
Why is a credit card on file required to set up TikTok Shop?
You need to have a credit card on file so that Fourthwall can charge you the cost of the product and shipping when TikTok orders are received (your payment method will only be charged if your account balance does not cover the cost of fulfilling the order).
Whenever a TikTok order comes through, the product and shipping cost will be covered in this order:
- First, if there’s enough shop balance to cover the product and shipping costs, the cost of the order will be deducted from your shop balance.
- If there’s not enough shop balance to cover the costs, then the payment method on your account will be charged.
To avoid confusion, we do not partially cover costs with a mix of shop balance and credit card on file. It is either one or the other for the full cost of the order.
What happens if I hit my monthly charge limit on my card on file?
When you set up a card on file on your Fourthwall settings, you can set the maximum total amount that your card can be charged in a given month. When a TikTok order comes through that requires your card on file to be charged to cover the order costs and would cause you to exceed your monthly limit, the TikTok order will be automatically canceled. You will get an email notification letting you know of the blocked transaction. You can update your monthly limit or add a new card on file so future orders can be processed.
If you get three TikTok orders that are canceled due to blocked card transactions, we will automatically limit the availability of your products on TikTok until there’s enough shop balance or an updated monthly card limit to cover future TikTok orders. This is to protect you against TikTok strict settlement policies, where if orders are constantly canceled, they may increase your payment settlement period or ban your account from using TikTok shop.
When does TikTok pay me for orders from my TikTok Shop?
TikTok has what they call settlement period rules on when you get paid for each order. You can read more on TikTok Finance FAQs, but the basic is TikTok Shop will settle the order revenue (net of TikTok fees) within 1 to 8 calendar days after the order is delivered to your supporter. Once you have a good amount of orders to establish a good shipping track record, you can apply for accelerated processing with TikTok to get paid faster. You can see the payment timeline below.
Once an order is settled, the amount will be automatically paid to the bank account you have linked to your TikTok account. If no bank account is linked, you will see a pop-up in your TikTok Shop dashboard asking you to set up a bank account.
What are TikTok fees?
TikTok charges fees for orders processed by the platform. They call these fees “Referral Fee,” and it applies to all successfully paid and delivered orders in TikTok Shop. The referral fee is 6% per order. If the order is canceled/ refunded/returned, the referral fee will be returned. You can read more about the fees in this TikTok help article.
Who covers TikTok order discounts and free shipping?
TikTok Shop periodically offers discounts and/or free shipping on items in your store. The discount amount, or free shipping costs, are covered by TikTok and will be refunded to you so you make the same profit as you would on a normal order.
If a supporter uses a TikTok-funded promotion, you can find the discount amount by going to the order settlement breakdowns in the Statements option under Finances in the Seller Center navigation menu. You can see an example below:
One thing to note is that for shipping discounts, the platform discount will not show up in the settlement breakdown until the Settlement Date. This is unique to the way TikTok does it, but we tested it, and the TikTok team confirmed this is expected behavior for TikTok-funded shipping discounts.
What information is shared between my TikTok and my Fourthwall shop?
Orders placed via TikTok Shop will only send to Fourthwall order details needed for production and fulfillment like item, item size, quantity, shipping address, and such. TikTok does not share any payment information or the customer’s email address (nor do they share that information with you via the TikTok Shop dashboard). We send TikTok information on the progress of the order, like when it is shipped and delivered, so they can keep the customer informed.
Do I need to do customer support for TikTok orders?
Yes and no. Because we do not have access to your TikTok account, you will need to respond to any messages that come via your TikTok Seller dashboard. For any support questions that come via your unique Fourthwall support email, we will handle any request there, including cancellation of orders.
For any quality or order issues where they contact you via the TikTok Seller dashboard, you can direct them to your unique Fourthwall support email.
How do I cancel a TikTok order?
To cancel a TikTok order, you will go to your Orders tab within your Fourthwall dashboard and find the order you want to cancel. Then click the three dots on the right-hand side above the supporter details. There, you will click cancel and follow the steps prompted.