Marketing hints & tricks

TikTok Shop Affiliate Program for sellers

October 13, 2024 10 minutes

TikTok Creators have a massive global following in the billions; imagine if you could start selling to that audience!  With the launch of TikTok Shop, the social media mega-app is primed to offer the best eCommerce marketing solution for any print-on-demand seller.

Launch a TikTok Shop with Printify and connect with popular creators using TikTok’s Affiliate Program for sellers. Follow our ultimate guide to tap into the viral power of TikTok – instantly boosting your brand visibility and potential sales.

Note

The TikTok Shop Seller Center and Affiliate Program is only available for US stores.

What is TikTok Shop Affiliate Marketing?

TikTok Shop Affiliate Marketing is a social media advertising program that allows sellers to provide automatic commission payouts to creators who successfully deliver sales for products on their TikTok Shop. Basically, TikTok creators promote and sell your products, and receive a commission from the sales amount.

This program is managed by the TikTok Shop Seller Center network.

Connect with the right creators for your brand

Connect with the right affiliates in your network, or choose a Targeted Plan to invite specific content creators that match your brand and style. Customize your products even further to create fan-favorite collaborations.

Monitor how well creators are selling your products

Each product in your TikTok Shop catalog will have a dedicated list of connected affiliates and the number of sales they’ve made. Award high-performing creators with product samples and larger payouts.

Commission is paid automatically

Once an affiliate marketer has successfully made a sale, their commission is paid automatically from the retail price of the product. The seller sets a percentage commission that attracts creators with a competitive payout.

Why work with creators to sell on TikTok?

A chart showing how 66% of TikTok users are more likely to buy a product if they can access the brand's community.
TikTok is the fastest-growing online influencer platform, with over 800 million total downloads in 2022, more than any other social media giant. The short-form video app is expected to see a rise in influencer marketing usage, increasing from 36% in 2020 to 54.9% in 2025.

66% of TikTok users are more likely to buy a product from a business that generates a community around it. TikTok brings in hundreds of influencers who create the perfect community-building environment and make your products stand out as part of a broader brand narrative.

How to join TikTok Shop’s Affiliate Program as a Printify seller

Ready to sell your Printify products to a wider demographic?

Register and complete the steps on the TikTok Shop Seller Center

Register and Complete the Steps on the TikTok Shop Seller Center

To set up TikTok affiliate marketing, register on the Seller Center with a TikTok business account or create a TikTok Shop as an individual seller. Select the US region – Printify currently only offers integrations for US sellers.
Authenticate the region by uploading your identification documents and filling out the required business information and billing details. This will be your TikTok seller’s account.

Note

TikTok Shop businesses selling in the US must comply with US tax laws and receive an identification number and certification from a US Tax Information Interview.

Integrate Printify with your TikTok Shop account

“Connect your TikTok Shop” page on Printify.

With Printify’s integration, all your products will automatically be moved to your TikTok Shop account. 

Connect your TikTok shop to Printify by navigating to your Printify account’s sales channels selection page. Select TikTok Shop as your store integration.

Click Connect – Printify will redirect you to TikTok. Select the US seller account type, and your integration should authenticate in a few moments.

List products in your TikTok Shop

“Prices & variants” section of product editing view within Printify's interface, with the “Shipping cost” section highlighted.

Publishing from Printify is simple. Go to the My Products page on your Printify account and click Edit design to detail the product, description, tags, and publishing settings.

Set up shipping for your TikTok store by enabling free shipping (shipping gets added to the product price) or by creating weight-based flat rates (useful for single-category products).

Free shipping:

Remember to adjust the product price to absorb the shipping cost when selecting free shipping, as it’s not automatically included in the product price. This is a valuable option for sellers who offer multiple products in different categories or for those who don’t want to spend time setting up shipping for each product.

  1. In the TikTok Shop Seller Center, navigate to Promotions and go to Promotional tools.
  2. Find the Shipping fee discount option and click Create.
  3. Make sure to check the following options, and then click Save:
    • Promotion period: Indefinite
    • Shipping areas: All areas
    • Shipping fee discount type: Free shipping
    • Promotion criteria: None
    • Applies to: Entire shop
  1. Go to the Printify Shipping Rates page and check the Print Provider’s shipping column. Include the shipping cost in your final product price to avoid losing profit.

Weight-based flat rates:

Weight-based shipping is a useful option when selling a single type of product, like all t-shirts, mugs, hats, etc., from the same Print Provider. For more accurate pricing, products should also share the same shipping rates category.

  1. In the TikTok Shop Seller Center, navigate to Shipping and then Shipping Options.
  2. Find the Shipped by Seller section and click the Economy Shipping option.
  3. From the shipping menu, go to Shipping Templates and Add New Template. Name it after your product category.
  4. Fill in weight ranges and rates. Add a single product order’s weight and shipping rate (this can be an arbitrary weight and is relevant only to the order amount). Increase the weight for each additional product count, and set the shipping costs according to the Printify shipping rates.
  5. Go to Products and find the Manage Products section. Click to edit a product and add the product weight – the same weight added in your shipping template. Save the changes.

Once shipping is added or calculated, activate products on your TikTok profile page. In the Manage Products section, select all published Printify products and click Activate. TikTok orders will now link directly to Printify, and you’re ready to sell.

Choose and set up an Affiliate plan

When your consumer products are set up, they’re automatically listed on the TikTok Shop page. However, they’re not visible as affiliate offers yet. 

Time to set up a way for affiliate marketers to find and select your products, add affiliate links, and promote them on their social profiles.

  1. Go to TikTok Shop Seller Central and locate the TikTok Affiliate page. Go to the Open Plan section on the home dashboard and select New Open Plan.
  2. Select one or more of your activated products – they should have the green live status – and click Next.
  3. Edit the plan by adding a promotional pitch (product description, design, usage, etc.) for potential affiliate marketers and the TikTok audience. Set up a competitive commission rate for each product.
  4. Select an Affiliate Marketing Plan that best suits your TikTok account marketing strategy. Creators can promote brands freely, or you can toggle the Approve Creators button to select only short-form videos with quality content or ones that target specific TikTok users.

Discover and connect with Creators

TikTok works with creators from far and wide, but only a few will have the marketing knowledge and branding ability to generate product sales and redirect traffic to your store. Learn how to connect with a massive network of TikTok video creators with Creator Connect:

  1. Find the Creator Connect tab:
    In the Seller Center, go to Affiliate Marketing on your TikTok for Business account. On the home dashboard, locate the Find Creators section and click Creator Connect.
  2. Define your marketing strategy:
    Develop a creator strategy before searching for the right brands.
    Research your target audience and find other social profiles on TikTok that match your style or brand image. Consider what you want to gain from a collaboration, and set realistic and measurable goals.
  3. Search for potential creators:
    Use the search filters to select creators based on main category tags, number of followers, or follower demographics.
    Go to the Creator Details page to track how potential promotional videos add value based on GPM (gross profit margin) for product sales rates based on engagement metrics.
  4. Invite High-Priority Creators:
    Use the invite feature on Creator Connect or message them personally from your TikTok business account. Write an invitation message and add your contact information.
    When they accept, you’ve just partnered with your first affiliate marketer!

Track creator performance

Once set up, your affiliate marketer will start publishing promotional content in their TikTok posts, adding your affiliate URL to their TikTok bio or profile. 

Use the TikTok Shop Seller Center to track the number of sales the affiliate makes with their TikTok ads.

Offer coupon codes, product samples, and other benefits to boost sales and brand awareness. Consider sweetening the deal by increasing the affiliate’s commission payout to support the creator and motivate them to develop more marketing ideas and upload videos frequently.

TikTok Affiliate Marketing plans

TikTok offers two affiliate options – an open plan for full discoverability from any creator or a targeted plan if you already have an idea of which exact creator should represent your store.

  • Open Plan: Sellers select affiliate products available to any creator. Creators must apply and be approved by the merchant before becoming an affiliate. This plan is recommended for most sellers.
  • Targeted Plan: Sellers pick specific creators through Creator Connect. Only invited creators can promote offered affiliate products.

Learn how to set upa Marketing Plan for your TikTok Shop Affiliate Program.

Open plan

  1. In the Seller Center, go to Affiliate, select Plan, and click Open Plan. Get started by clicking Add Open Plan.
  2. Check the products you want to add to the plan and click Next.
  3. Add a commission rate in the provided column and write a product pitch to get creators interested. Click Submit when completed.

Targeted plan

  1. In the Seller Center, go to Affiliate Marketing, select Plan, and click Targeted Plan. Get started by clicking New Targeted Plan.
  2. Check the products you want to add to the plan and click Next.
  3. Add a commission rate in the provided column. Use the commission suggestions option to view recommendations for a competitive commission rate.
  4. Select the creators you want to partner with and click Submit when completed.

Join the TikTok Affiliate Program and start selling with Printify

Easy integration

Integrate your TikTok Shop with Printify and publish Printify products in just a few seconds. Optimize product shipping costs using the Printify Shipping Rates page.

No upfront costs

Create a free Printify account and design as many products as you want. All production costs are only paid once a customer makes an order, leaving you with profit and no risk.

No inventory

Start a TikTok Shop affiliate marketing and selling strategy with zero inventory. Every order is made on-demand for each customer, which means no investment losses or storage.

1000+ Products

With hundreds of products, our Catalog has everything you need to target a TikTok audience of potential customers – apparel, accessories, home decor, posters, stickers, and more.

Effortless fulfillment

Create designs, integrate TikTok Shop with Printify, and publish your products. Our vast network of Print Providers will produce, package, and deliver directly to the customer on your behalf.

Simple product creation

Use the Printify Mockup Generator to apply designs on easy-to-edit product templates. Simply upload a product brand image from your device and tweak the design until it’s perfect.

Final thoughts

Short videos with direct clickable links are the future of digital advertising, and no other social media platform has more or better options than the TikTok Shop Affiliate Marketing program.

Set your Printify products up for success by connecting with popular creators to reach thousands of Gen-Z customers ready to hop on the latest product trends and designs.

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