How to set up a TikTok Shop affiliate program
By Collabrun. Published 6 October 2026.
A TikTok Shop affiliate program pays creators a commission for selling your products. Setting one up takes eight steps: choose products, set a commission you can afford, publish an open collaboration, invite the creators you want, write a good invite, decide samples, follow up, and measure profit per creator.
1. Choose the products
Start with products that show well on video and that you have stock of. A creator who makes a video for a product that then sells out has wasted a post, and is less likely to work with you again.
2. Set a commission you can afford
Your commission is paid on every affiliate sale, so set it from what each sale leaves you, not from what other shops offer:
- Take the price a customer pays.
- Take off the landed cost of the unit, TikTok's fees and shipping.
- What is left is the most you could pay and break even. Set your rate well under it.
Then decide two rates: a baseline you would pay any creator, for your open collaboration, and a better rate for the creators you invite. Collabrun accepts rates up to 80%, and starts an open collaboration at 15% unless you change it.
3. Publish an open collaboration
An open collaboration puts your product, at your baseline rate, in TikTok's creator marketplace for any creator to pick up. It keeps working while you do other things, and it reaches creators no search of yours would find.
You cannot choose who takes it up, and no app can list who did: TikTok's API does not give one. Seller Center shows them. Our guide on open vs target collaborations compares the two.
4. Invite the creators you want
A target collaboration is an invitation to creators you chose, with your products, your better rate, free samples if you offer them, and a message. Find creators by followers, category, sales and average views, and invite in full groups of 50.
TikTok limits invitations. As of October 2026 we measured 7,000 a week per shop, 200 groups of up to 50 per rolling 24 hours, and a follower cap set by your shop's GMV tier; TikTok can change them. The details are in TikTok affiliate invite limits, explained.
5. Write an invite worth answering
Say why the creator fits, what makes the product sell, and what you offer. Keep it short, and use TikTok's own name variable so each creator sees their name. Our guide on writing a TikTok creator invite has three examples.
6. Decide who gets free samples
Every sample costs you a unit and postage. Approve requests from creators who post after a sample and who sell, and set a monthly limit per product so a busy week does not empty the shelf. Creators who took a sample and never posted should not get another.
7. Follow up
Many invitations go unanswered. TikTok does not report a yes or no from each creator; what it reports is whether creators made videos and added the product to their showcase. Follow up on invitations that show neither after a week or so, rather than inviting the same creators again.
8. Measure profit per creator
GMV says what a creator sold. It does not say what they were worth. Take off commission, TikTok's fees, the cost of the units, refunds and the samples you sent, and some of your best sellers will look different. Invite more creators like the ones who leave you a profit.
A weekly routine
- Keep your invites going until the weekly allowance is used.
- Decide sample requests, best record first.
- Follow up on invitations with no video and no showcase add.
- Check profit per creator and adjust who you invite and what you offer.
How Collabrun runs it
- Campaigns save a creator search and send target invites in the background until your weekly allowance is used. See TikTok affiliate invites.
- Open collaborations are published from the Outreach page with your product and rate.
- Sample requests are scored from 0 to 100, with nightly rules and a monthly limit per product. See TikTok sample requests.
- Commission is shown on every affiliate order, estimated and paid. See TikTok Shop commission tracking.
- Profit per creator takes every cost off. See profit per creator.
Questions
How much commission should I offer TikTok Shop creators?
There is no single right rate. Work out what is left on each sale after the cost of the unit, TikTok's fees and shipping, and offer a rate you can pay on every sale from that. Offer more on target invites than on your open collaboration, so an invitation is worth taking up.
Do I have to offer free samples?
No. Samples help a creator make a better video, but each one costs you the unit and the postage. Offer them to the creators you most want, decide requests on the creator's record, and set a monthly limit per product.
How many creators can I invite?
TikTok sets the limits. As of October 2026 we measured 7,000 target invitations a week per shop, 200 invitation groups of up to 50 creators per rolling 24 hours, and a follower cap that depends on the shop's GMV tier. TikTok can change them.
What should I measure?
Profit per creator, not only GMV. A creator who sells a lot at a low margin, with returns and samples, can be worth less than one who sells less. Look at who posted, who sold, and what each creator left you after every cost.