Refundable Samples Terms & Conditions for Sellers
07/07/2025
Summary
What is the TikTok Shop Refundable Sample Program and who is eligible to participate?
- The Program allows eligible sellers to offer refunds to content creators for sample products purchased, subject to specific terms and TikTok Shop policies.
- Eligible sellers must not be high-risk, have no GNE violations affecting their shop/products, and have no negative account balance in Seller Center.
How do sellers set up and manage refundable sample products and refund criteria?
- Sellers select which products are eligible for refundable samples and set refund criteria based on sales (1 to 3 sales), with default at 1 sale.
- Refund criteria can be modified anytime via one-click banners, batch sample features, or bulk edit tools; prior orders honor criteria at purchase time.
What is the refund process and how are commissions handled in the Refundable Sample Program?
- Refunds are automatically issued from the seller’s account, covering the full purchase amount including 100% of platform commission.
- TikTok Shop fully returns the platform commission on refundable sample orders, and sellers do not pay commission to the original creator if another creator purchases the sample.
What happens if products become unavailable or if there are abnormal cases affecting refundable samples?
- Temporary unavailability (out of stock, negative reviews, expired plans) pauses posting for 10 days; if unresolved, refunds are auto-processed and deemed seller fault.
- Permanent unavailability (permanent bans, shop closure, product delisting) triggers automatic refunds.
What are the implications of program termination or violations for sellers?
- TikTok can modify, suspend, or terminate the Program anytime without notice; there is no fixed end date.
- Violations of Program terms may lead to refund forfeiture or removal from the Program.
- Introduction
- Seller Eligibility
i. Sellers must not be high-risk sellers.
ii. Sellers must not have any GNE violations that cause their products or shops
iii. Sellers with a negative account balance in Seller Center will not have their refundable sample entrance shown to creators.
- Sample Product for Refund Flow
b. Creators determine which products to purchase as potentially refundable samples, which will showcase to creators at the time of purchase such Refund Criteria that must be met in order to receive a refund.
c. Upon purchase by creator, seller will receive the corresponding purchase amount minus TikTok Shop (TTS) platform fees and subject to any/all settlement policies.
- Refund Criteria Offer Flow
i. For the Sales Criteria, the criteria must be set at one product sale, and no more than three product sales.
ii. The default setup is "generating 1 sale," which can be manually changed by Seller.
b. Sellers can modify the Refund Criteria using various methods:
i. One-click pop-up banner to set all active affiliate products with refundable samples using the default setup.
ii. Batch sample feature to change criteria across products.
iii. Bulk edit tool to turn on refundable samples and set criteria.
c. Sellers can edit the Refund Criteria at any time, but any refundable sample order generated on previous criteria will be honored using the Refund Criteria at the time of purchase.
- Refund Flow and Requirements
i. The refund amount is the full purchasing amount to creators, including 100% of the platform commission.
b. TTS platform will fully return the initial platform commission on refundable sample orders.
c. In the event that a creator (Creator B) purchases a Refundable Sample from another creator's content (Creator A), the seller will not need to pay commission to Creator A for that Refundable Sample transaction.
- Abnormal Cases
i. Out of stock
ii. Negative reviews (reversible GNE violation)
iii. Expired open plan
The TTS platform will pause the posting timeline by 10 days; if products become available again after 10 days, the posting timeline will resume. If products are still unavailable after 10 days, it is deemed the seller's fault, and refunds will be automatically processed.
b. A refund will be automatically processed if products become permanently unavailable due to:
i. Permanent ban by GNE.
ii. Permanent shop ban by GNE.
iii. Seller closing shop.
iv. Seller delisting products from TTS.
- Termination or Modification
b. The Program has no determinable termination or end date and will continue until TikTok decides to terminate it.
- Compliance with Program Terms and Conditions and Guidelines
b. Violation of guidelines may result in the forfeiture of a refund and/or termination from the Program.
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