How TikTok Shop free samples work

The seller decides who gets TikTok Shop free samples. Rules change, so check your market in Creator Center.

TikTok Shop is not open locally in the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Türkiye, so these sample rules do not apply there. Where it is open lists each market with its status.

What is the difference between free and refundable samples?

• Free samples: the seller covers everything and approves each request, or sets automatic approval for creators in a target collaboration. You keep the product, and TikTok expects a qualifying video or LIVE.
• Refundable samples: offered in some markets, including the UK, the EU and the US. You buy the product first, without seller approval, and get a refund if your content meets the seller’s criteria within the set period.

This guide covers free samples.

Who can request TikTok Shop free samples?

Eligibility depends on the market. TikTok’s own guides set these rules:

• In the UK, creators with 1,000 or more followers can request samples. TikTok’s UK guides allow up to five open requests at a time in open collaborations and set no limit in target collaborations.
• In the US, free sample requests from the Product Marketplace are limited to creators who generated sales in the last 120 days. How many you can request depends on your creator level and a sample score that TikTok updates daily.
• In the EU, TikTok’s creator samples guide, which covers 13 countries including Ireland, Germany and France (more than the eight where local sellers can register), states no follower threshold; check Creator Center for your country.

New creators can also get samples through seller invitations and TikTok Shop campaigns, which can have their own rules. Sellers may look at your recent sales and sample fulfillment record, and in the US your creator level.

How does a sample request work?

1. Find a product in the Product Marketplace in Creator Center, using the Free Sample filter.
2. Send a sample request with your size, contact and shipping details.
3. The seller reviews it; for creators in a target collaboration it can approve automatically. TikTok’s UK, US and Singapore guides give sellers seven days to approve or decline, and the UK and US guides say the system then cancels the request automatically. A canceled request is not a rating of you, so request other products meanwhile. We found no EU approval time.
4. The seller ships it, and you can follow the status under Manage samples.
5. You post within the deadline.

In the US, you can request one sample of a specific item from a seller. TikTok’s US and EU guides let you request the same item again 30 days after a request expires or is declined; the US guide also counts a canceled request.

What does TikTok expect after a free sample arrives?

You meet the 14-day posting rule by:

• posting a shoppable video featuring the sample that stays online for at least three days, or
• featuring it in a LIVE that meets your market’s LIVE requirements for samples (in the UK, a LIVE that makes at least one sale; in the EU, the sample pinned for at least 10 minutes; in the US, a LIVE of at least 10 minutes).

TikTok’s US sample policy lets creators who cannot make the deadline request one seven-day extension. Samples from TikTok Shop campaigns can follow different rules, so check the campaign page.

A sample video with a product link is affiliate content. In the UK and the EU, mark affiliate content as an ad, upfront; the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority prefers a clear “Ad” label and says “aff” or “affiliate” on its own is likely not enough. In the US, the FTC expects a clear disclosure of any material connection, such as commission or a free product. A free sample can count as a material connection too, so disclose it even before a product link is added. Check your country’s advertising rules.

What happens if you don’t post?

TikTok’s UK guide warns that repeated misses can mean fewer samples or removal from the program; its EU guide says a missed sample lowers the fulfillment score sellers see. TikTok’s Singapore creator guide warns that creators with a 0% fulfillment rate on five or more delivered samples may have free sample access restricted. If you cannot make the deadline, contact the seller before it passes; in the US you can also request the one seven-day extension.

For sellers: how should you choose who gets a sample?

Each sample costs a seller the product and the shipping, so the choice of creator matters. In the US, an outreach quota also limits how many new creators a seller can invite.

• Check category and recent sales (and, in the US, level) before you approve a request. See TikTok Shop creator badges and levels.
• Send a short brief with the sample: what matters about the product, what to avoid and which commission plan applies.
• Pair samples with the right plan. Samples can go with target collaborations; see TikTok Shop affiliate plans.
• Track each sample from request to video, and stop sending to creators who do not post.

UK and EU sellers can check the current sample settings and limits in Seller Center.

Rules change. Sample rules, quotas and deadlines differ by market and are updated by TikTok.