Guides › TikTok Shop fees explained: reading your settlement report

TikTok Shop fees explained: reading your settlement report

TikTok Shop pays you a settlement, not your sales. Between the two sit the referral fee, creator commissions, shipping lines, refunds and adjustments, and then a reserve before the money reaches your bank. Here is how to read each part.

Where to get the settlement report

In Seller Center go to Finances → Statements (or Payouts), click Export, choose a date range, then download the file from Export History. It is an Excel workbook with five sheets. The Order details sheet has one row per SKU or adjustment with every fee. TikTok generates statements daily and the report is settlement-based: an order shows up when it settles, not when it was placed, and unsettled orders sit under Finances → On hold. (TikTok Shop Academy)

The formula behind every row

TikTok documents the settlement as four sections (source):

Costs appear as negative numbers, so the four sections simply add up. Reports generated from January 1, 2024 use this four-section layout; older periods used Total revenue, Total fees and Total adjustments.

Referral fee: TikTok’s main cut

The referral fee is charged on completed orders. TikTok’s US category table lists 6% for most categories, 5% for five fine-jewelry sub-categories (diamond, gold, jade, platinum and carat gold, ruby, sapphire and emerald) since October 31, 2024, and 3% on any portion of a sale over $10,000 in Collectibles and Pre-Owned categories (source).

TikTok’s formula is Referral fee = rate × (Customer payment + Platform discount − Tax), and the base includes shipping paid by the customer. Example: a $20.00 item with $4.99 buyer-paid shipping at 6% is 6% × $24.99 = $1.50.

Some 2026 seller guides report a higher US rate since August 2026, while TikTok’s category table (revised October 8, 2026) still shows 6%. The referral fee line in your own settlement report is what you actually paid; PayoutPeek shows it as a percentage of your sales.

Refund administration fee

When an order is refunded or returned, TikTok refunds the referral fee but keeps a refund administration fee of 20% of the refunded referral fee (source). On the example above that is 20% × $1.50 = $0.30. Shipping labels you already bought are usually still charged, so a refunded order often ends up negative.

Affiliate (creator) commissions

If a creator’s video, LIVE or showcase drove the sale, you pay the commission rate you set: (Product price excl. tax − Seller discount) × commission rate. There are three lines: Affiliate commission, Affiliate partner commission and Affiliate shop ads commission. For orders created after April 15, 2025, commissions are paid to creators about 15 days after delivery (or later if your settlement period is longer); if a refund happens before the creator is paid, the commission comes back to you, and after that it doesn’t (source). For many shops this is a bigger cost than the referral fee.

Shipping lines

The Shipping section nets what buyers paid for shipping against what it cost you: TikTok Shop shipping fee (labels), Customer-paid shipping fee and its refund, TikTok Shop shipping incentive or Shipping fee subsidy (reimbursements), Return shipping fee, signature and insurance fees, and for Fulfilled by TikTok the FBT fulfillment fee, which replaced the FBT shipping fee on August 26, 2024 (source). A negative Shipping total means shipping cost you more than buyers paid.

Adjustments

Rows with type Adjustment carry an Adjustment reason, for example logistics adjustments and reimbursements, TikTok Shop reimbursements, policy violation deductions, chargebacks, FBT warehouse service fees, and Top up ads balance using GMV payments when you let TikTok pay your ad bill from your earnings (source). PayoutPeek counts that last one as ad spend.

Why the bank payout is different again: reserves

TikTok explains the gap between settlement and payout as the reserve: Payout amount = Statement amount + Reserve amount. A negative reserve is money withheld from this settlement; a positive one is earlier reserve being released (source). Seller Center → Finances → On hold shows unreleased reserves and their dates.

Lines that aren’t your money

Sales tax payment and Sales tax refund (and the Colorado retail delivery fee) are collected and remitted by TikTok, so they aren’t part of your earnings. Customer payment, Platform discounts and the co-funded voucher columns are supporting information; the settlement already accounts for them (source). The old Transaction fee applies only to orders placed before April 3, 2023.

See every TikTok Shop cost in your own report

Drop in your settlement workbook. The fee breakdown is free, private and runs in your browser. Sell on Etsy too? Compare both side by side.

Analyze my TikTok Shop report

Common questions

What percentage does TikTok Shop take from US sellers?

TikTok Shop Academy lists a 6% referral fee for most US categories, with 5% for some fine jewelry and 3% on the part of a sale over $10,000 in Collectibles and Pre-Owned. Creator commissions, shipping and ads come on top, so the total share is usually higher. Your settlement report shows what you actually paid.

Why is my TikTok Shop payout less than my sales?

Your settlement is net sales plus shipping minus fees plus adjustments, and the bank payout then adds or subtracts reserve movements. Creator commissions, shipping labels and refunds are the usual big differences.

What is the refund administration fee on TikTok Shop?

When an order is refunded, TikTok keeps 20% of the referral fee it refunds to you, to cover the cost of processing the refund.

Where do I download the TikTok Shop settlement report?

Seller Center, Finances, Statements or Payouts, Export, pick a date range, then download it from Export History.

Sources

PayoutPeek is not affiliated with TikTok. This page summarizes TikTok Shop Academy’s published US documentation for general information; it is not tax, legal or accounting advice. Fees and rules change, so TikTok’s linked pages and your Seller Center are the authority. Last checked October 21, 2026.