A TikTok Shop calculator that starts with the fee base everyone gets wrong
TikTok's referral fee is not simply a percentage of your list price. It is charged on the customer's payment plus any platform-funded discount, minus tax — so when TikTok funds a promotion on your product, your fee grows on money you never see. Most TikTok calculators also skip the costs that actually decide whether a product survives the For You feed: creator commissions (and the share of orders that carry them), free samples shipped to affiliates, Shop Ads and GMV Max spend, and refunds — where TikTok returns your referral fee minus a 20% refund administration fee, capped at $5 per SKU. This calculator models the whole stack, per order, with the fee base shown on its own line.
The platform-funded discount cancels out of the base exactly the way TikTok's formula does — it is added back after reducing the customer payment. Net profit then subtracts referral, affiliate commission, shipping or FBT, product, packaging, samples, ads and the expected cost of refunds at your refund rate.
Worked example
At the defaults — a $24.99 product, 6% referral, 12% creator commission on 60% of orders, seller-paid shipping and an 8% ad load — the order keeps about $7.12. Flip the scenario toggle to the reported 8% rate and the same order keeps about $0.51 less, with nothing else changed: at any real volume, that two-point dispute is worth more than most fee lines on the page — which is why the rate here is editable and date-stamped instead of buried.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your list price and split discounts honestly: yours reduce your revenue, TikTok's do not — but both change the fee.
- Pick your shipping reality: your own labels, Fulfilled by TikTok at your rate, or buyer-paid.
- Set the creator commission you actually offer and the share of orders affiliates drive — the two numbers TikTok sellers most often price without.
- Add samples and ad spend per order, and your real refund rate (apparel and beauty run far above the site average).
- Compare the official 6% against the reported 8% scenario before you commit to a price.
The fee defaults used here
Referral: 6% for most categories per TikTok Shop US's official category table (revised 8 October 2026), with payment processing bundled — there is no separate US processing fee in the official model. Five jewellery sub-categories sit at 5%. Refund administration: 20% of the referral fee, capped at $5 per SKU, since May 2025. The claim that referral rose to 8% in August 2026 circulates widely in seller content but, as of this page's October 2026 check, does not appear in TikTok's public table or any official notice — it is offered here as a labelled scenario, never as the default. FBT rates are yours to paste: TikTok's official FBT card is published as images and public transcriptions conflict, so this page takes your rate rather than inventing one.