Sources & Methodology

Purpose

This site helps sellers estimate contribution-style net profit per unit on TikTok Shop after major fees. It is an educational calculator, not an accounting system and not an official TikTok product.

Primary source of truth

TikTok Shop Seller Academy / Seller Center policies for your market are the only authoritative source for live rates, promotions and category exceptions. Our calculator defaults are planning assumptions derived from those official articles (reviewed 2026-08-09) and may lag policy changes.

When a number in this tool disagrees with your Seller Center settlement or Academy article, trust Seller Center.

Official sources (linked)

Below are the public TikTok Shop Academy / policy pages this calculator’s defaults are based on. Some pages require a seller login or show rate-card images that change over time.

United States

Topic	What we take from it	Official page
Referral fee (standard)	6% on qualified orders from Apr 1, 2024; formula uses customer payment + platform discount − tax; “referral” encompasses platform fees except shipping/tax	Referral Fee Updates (US Academy)
Category referral rates	Most categories 6%; selected jewelry sub-categories 5% (Diamond, Gold, Jade, Platinum/Carat Gold, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald) from Oct 31, 2024; pre-owned often 5%	Referral Fees by Category (US Academy)
Refund administration fee	20% of referral fee on refunds; capped at $5 per SKU from May 15, 2025	Same Referral Fee Updates article
Settlement / fee line items	How referral, refund admin and affiliate commissions appear in statements	How to Access Your Settlement Report
FBT fulfillment rate card	Official weight-tier fulfillment fees, multi-unit pricing, storage, returns handling (tables update frequently; enter your live unit fee in the calculator)	FBT Rate Card & FAQ (US Academy)
FBT program overview	What FBT covers (pick/pack/ship) and links to rate card	Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT) overview
Affiliate commission (seller-set)	Sellers set collaboration rates; commission formula (Revenue − Refunds) × rate; typical collab range 1%–80%	Setting Up Affiliate Collaborations · How Standard Affiliate Commission Works
Shop Ads commission rates	Optional separate ads commission (1%–80%) vs standard organic affiliate rate	TikTok Business Help – Shop Ads commission
Seller portal (entry)	Public entry point; notes no setup fee and points to referral fee docs	seller.tiktok.com

United Kingdom

Topic	What we take from it	Official page
Platform commission fee	Standard commission rate 9% (VAT-inclusive); worked examples and formula	Platform Commission Fee (UK Academy)
Commission rate policy	9% before incentive reductions; category reductions for specified Electronics & Beauty (effective 5% on eligible SKUs)	TikTok Shop UK Commission Rate Policy
Category commission list	Full category/sub-category commission table (linked from the policy)	Commission Rate by Product Categories (UK)
Affiliate commission (UK)	Creator payout formula and rules	Affiliate Commission and Payout Rules (UK)

Model note (UK): Our calculator defaults UK to 9% (most categories). Eligible Electronics / Beauty SKUs can be 5% per the official policy—override by treating them as a custom scenario or use Seller Center for exact category rate.

European Union (EU5: DE, FR, IT, ES, IE)

Topic	What we take from it	Official page
EU commission rate policy	Standard 9% on settled orders (VAT-inclusive); new-seller reduction to 4% for up to 60 days (mission-based); electronics category reduction to 7%	EU5 Platform Fee / Commission Rate Policy
EU category commission rates	From 8 Jan 2026: 9% standard; 7% for listed Electronics / selected Beauty device sub-categories (and related)	Commission Rate by Product Categories (EU5)
EU category reductions (DE portal)	Cross-link to category-level 7% electronics list used by EU Seller Center	EU category commission detail (DE Academy)

What is user input (not a fixed TikTok “rate”)

• Creator / affiliate commission % — set by the seller (open/target collabs), typically within platform bounds (often 1%–80%). Official: US collab setup & UK affiliate payout pages above.
• COGS, self-ship postage, ad CPA, Smart Promotion — your costs; not published as a single TikTok global fee.
• Return rate % — your trailing shop data; we convert it into an expected-value cost (see methodology below).
• FBT $/unit override — official rates are weight/size tier tables (images in Academy). Defaults in the tool are planning placeholders only.

Default fee assumptions (2026) ↔ sources

Item	Default model	Based on
US referral	6% general · 5% jewelry	US referral policy + category table
UK referral	9% most categories	UK Platform Commission Fee
EU referral	9% standard · 7% selected electronics	EU commission policy + EU category rates
US new seller promo	Optional toggle → 3%	Promotional plans referenced in US Academy referral docs; eligibility and rate are time-bound—confirm in your Seller Center missions. Not a permanent published base rate.
EU new seller promo	Optional toggle → 4% (up to 60 days)	EU policy § New Seller Reduction
US FBT single / multi (Light default)	~$3.58 / ~$2.86 (editable); optional Standard/Heavy/Oversize planning bands	Illustrative planning placeholders only — see FBT tiers in this tool. Live fees: official FBT rate card (tiered by weight/units; updated through 2026). Always paste your unit fee from the card or billing.
US refund admin	20% of referral × return rate, cap $5	US Referral Fee Updates (expected-value model in our tool—not a per-order guarantee)
Creator commission	User input (examples 12–20%)	Seller-set; see affiliate collaboration docs (US/UK) above

UK/EU FBT-like logistics defaults in the UI are rough placeholders for comparison only—use local Seller Center logistics pricing when available.

Profit formula

Per unit:

• referral_fee = price × referral_rate
• creator_fee = price × creator_commission_%
• fulfillment = FBT unit fee OR self-ship cost
• return_cost ≈ return_rate × (referral_fee + 0.5 × creator_fee + 0.3 × COGS) + refund_admin_EV
• total_costs = COGS + referral + smart_promo + creator + fulfillment + ad_spend + return_cost
• net_profit = price − total_costs
• net_margin% = net_profit / price

Why return cost is an estimate

True return economics depend on restockability, reverse logistics, and whether creator commission is clawed back. We use a transparent expected-value model that is intentionally a bit conservative. Override return rate with your trailing 30-day data.

Break-even

We treat percentage-of-price fees as variable and COGS / fulfillment / ads as fixed per unit, then solve for price where net ≈ 0. Non-linear fees (caps, thresholds) are approximated.

FBT vs self-ship comparison

For every run we recompute net profit under both fulfillment modes using the FBT unit cost and self-ship cost you entered (or regional defaults). “Better” means higher estimated net per unit in that scenario only.

FBT tiers in this tool

The calculator includes a small set of simplified weight tiers (Light, Standard, Heavy, Oversize) so you can ballpark heavier SKUs without leaving the page. These bands are planning placeholders only— they are not an official TikTok FBT rate card and must not be treated as live billing rates.

• Default: Light single-unit (~$3.58 US / multi ~$2.86) matches the historic ballpark defaults in this tool.
• How it works: Choosing a tier fills the FBT cost/unit field (single vs multi from the multi-unit checkbox). You can still paste any custom fee from Seller Center; that override wins until you pick another tier.
• Share links: fbtTier=light|standard|heavy|oversize is supported in calculator URLs.
• Source of truth: Use the official weight/size tables in the US FBT rate card (and local Seller Center logistics pricing for UK/EU). Tables update frequently.

Privacy

All calculations are client-side JavaScript. Product inputs are not uploaded to our servers for computation. (Standard web hosting logs may still record page visits.)

Update process

• Review Seller Center / official announcements every 1–2 months.
• Bump the visible last updated date when defaults change.
• Prefer editable inputs over hard-coding when rates are volatile (FBT, promos).

Limitations

• Category lists are simplified (not every TikTok category tree).
• Taxes (VAT/sales tax) and currency conversion are out of scope unless you bake them into price/COGS.
• Promotional discounts, multi-item carts and partial refunds are not fully simulated.
• Not financial, legal or tax advice.