How to Set Up A TikTok Shop in USA 2024? (Step-By-Step)

Selling products on social media platforms like TikTok Shop is becoming more and more popular, because you can reach a large number of users and potential buyers.

Getting started on TikTok Shop as a seller is simple. Brands and small businesses need to create a shop on the TikTok Seller Center and upload the required documents for verification. Currently, TikTok Seller Center is available in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. 



In this article, we will go over what TikTok Shop is and how to open a TikTok Shop in USA.


	
What is TikTok Shop?
	
Benefits of selling products on TikTok Shop
	
How much does it cost to sell on TikTok Shop?
	
How to set up a TikTok Shop in USA? 
	

		
Documents required
		
Steps to set up a TikTok Shop
	
	
	
Tips on how to get sales on TikTok Shop


 

What is TikTok Shop?
TikTok Shop is an ecommerce feature integrated within TikTok that enables sellers and creators to showcase and sell products for the TikTok community, who can discover and purchase directly within the app. 




TikTok Shop provides 3 ways for customers to shop: 


	
Live shopping. When doing a livestream, sellers or creators can pin a product on screen, allowing customers to simply tap and browse through the products they're offering.
	
Shoppable videos. Sellers or creators can add a product to an in-feed video, making it easy for customers to tap and make a purchase.
	
Product showcase. Once your shop is set up, users will be able to view your shop from your profile, allowing them to shop directly from a brand or creator account.

 

Benefits of selling products on TikTok Shop
Here are a list of advantages of opening a TikTok Shop: 


	
Reach a Wider Audience & Increase Brand Awareness: Selling on TikTok Shop allows you to reach a much wider audience than if you just stuck to selling through your own website or other retailers. This is thanks to TikTok's 170 million active users, most of whom are aged 18-24– the age demographic that is mostly likely to purchase products online.
	
Boost Sales: Because TikTok is such a visual and authentic platform, it is the perfect place to show off your products. Once you have your audience hooked with an engaging video or LIVE, they can then easily purchase your product from the link without having to leave the app. It reduces the amount of time and resistance a customer has to go through to buy.
	
Get to know your audience: When promoting products on TikTok, you will be able to communicate with your audience and potential customers from within the comments. In real time, you can see if they like what you're offering and some will likely share their criticisms, which can help improve your business.
	
Seamless shopping experience: TikTok Shop offers a seamless shopping experience that allows users to discover, purchase, and track their orders all within the app. This makes it easy for shoppers to buy products on impulse, which can lead to higher sales.
	
Have affiliates promote your products more easily: As a seller on TikTok Shop, you can collaborate with thousands of creators on TikTok through its affiliate program. Offer an enticing commission that will encourage creators to promote your products. Influencers can request a sample and they will be required to post a video linking to your product.
	
Easy to set up: Setting up your TikTok Shop is quick and easy to do. It doesn't require any special coding skills like a regular website does and you can get everything up and running within a couple of minutes.
	
Low Commission Fees: TikTok charges much lower commission fees compared to other selling platforms.



 

How much does it cost to sell on TikTok Shop?
We need to also understand how much it costs to sell on TikTok Shop so we can properly set the profit margins and price our products.

Now creating a TikTok Shop account in itself is free.

However, you might incur additional costs at some point in this process. 

Like running paid ads, collaborating with UGC creators/affiliate/influencers, 5% commission fees, for instance. 

 
How to set up a TikTok Shop in USA? 
Ready to set up your shop on TikTok? Before we get started, let's quickly review what documents are required to create a TikTok Shop in USA. 



Documents required:

Individual seller:


	
Email address
	
US phone number
	
US passport or US driver's license
	
US Residential address (home address)
	
US social security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)



Business seller:


	
Email address
	
US phone number
	
Business registration document
	
Employer identification number (EIN)
	
Registered business address on your business license
	
Primary business representative's passport or driver's license
	
Primary business representative's residential address in US
	
Business representative's US SSN or ITIN



How to start selling your products on TikTok Shop?

We are gonna unpack the whole process in just 7 steps.



Step 1: Create a TikTok Shop seller account

As mentioned above, you need a TikTok shop to start selling, and here's how to get that done: 

Open the TikTok Seller Center in USA, you can use your phone number or email or existing TikTok account to sign up. If you have a TikTok business account, you can use the same details to log in. There'll be no need to sign up afresh. 



Here take the email as an example.

Input your email and enter the verification code sent to your email and set your password and click Continue. 





Step 2: Choose your business type and upload verification documents

There are 4 types for you to choose: Individual/Sole proprietorship/Corporation/Partnership.


If you are just an everyday person, go ahead and select Individual. You can choose Corporation if you are a company.  

Continue to follow the prompts and upload all the business information.













After adding the necessary information, set up your shop information, including drafting a shop name, telling TikTok what your primary product/service type is, and adding your contact info like phone number for verification purposes. 

Continue to confirm all your information and click Submit. 





Congratulations! You've finished the onboarding application.





Your account will be under TikTok review before you can start selling products. You will be notified by email within 3-5 days once the review is completed.





Step 3: Verify your tax info

In the meantime, you will need to add your tax information so you can start selling and declare taxes for your shop. TikTok Shop requires that all sellers complete the U.S. Tax Identity Information Interview. US businesses/individuals need to fill in W9 Form information.







Step 4: Set up warehouse and shipping service

Before adding products to sell on TikTok, you will need to set up your store's warehouse/pickup address to show where your products will be shipped from as well as add a return warehouse address. You can set your return address to be the same as the pickup address, or you can fill in a different address.





After that, go to Shipping Options to plan your shipping logistics (TikTok shipping or Seller shipping) so you are ready to ship when you make a sale.







Step 5: Add your first product

Important: 

1. Product that has been added to TikTok Shop will not be visible until document verification is completed.

2. Be aware that it takes the TikTok team around 24 hours to review and approve your product submission, so until they do, you'll see it marked as 'Pending'. 


There are many ways for you to upload your products to TikTok Shop. 


a. You can upload manually from the TikTok Shop Seller Center.



b. TikTok Shop Seller Center also allows you to bulk upload products by downloading a template.



c. If you've downloaded the TikTok Shop Seller Center App on your mobile, you can also manually upload and manage your products anytime with the Seller App.



d. If you are also selling on other sales channels, like Shopify, Amazon, for instance, you can also sync them to your TikTok Shop.


If you are gonna sync products from Shopify or Amazon, you can search the TikTok Shop App Store for "4Seller". 4Seller is a free app/website for multi-channel e-commerce sellers to manage their businesses in one simple and central platform. You can turn to the below links to sync your products from another platform.

How to sync products from Shopify to TikTok Shop

How to sync products from Amazon to TikTok Shop





Step 6: Bind bank account

Once TikTok has verified your business documents, you will need to bind a bank account to your shop so you can get paid for purchases and process returns.


	
For individual sellers, the Account Name needs to be the same as the registered name.
	
For business sellers, the Account Name needs to be the same as the company name.





Step 7: Connect your shop to a TikTok account

Connect to a TikTok account where you want your products and shoppable videos to go.

Go to My Account > Linked Accounts to link your TikTok account to your TikTok Shop.





This linked TikTok account will officially represent your shop on TikTok. Your official account is automatically granted permission for e-commerce LIVE and videos, so sales can be generated directly by the account. It will also be the TikTok account where your ads will be displayed.

Note: TikTok Shop in the probation period can only link to 1 official account and 0 marketing accounts. When you advance from the probation period, the numbers will change to 1 official account and 4 marketing accounts.
 

Tips on how to get sales on TikTok Shop
Once your TikTok Shop seller account is approved, you can begin promoting your products to your TikTok audience by creating engaging content with product links or going live and showcasing your products to a live audience as well as running TikTok Shop ads.

Another way to make sales on TikTok Shop is to collaborate with TikTok creators/affiliates/influencers. They will be requested to post a video featuring your product, helping your product go viral and get sales.




If you are an ecommerce seller, I encourage you to explore TikTok Shop and see how it can help your brand reach new customers and gain more sales. If you have any more questions about how to set up a TikTok shop to sell your products. Feel free to contact 4Seller support team. 



Manage your TikTok Shop businesses with free 4Seller all-in-one platform.