The referral fee is the percentage TikTok sets. The affiliate commission is the percentage you set — and both come out of the same order.
Rates last verified: October 30, 2026 · US referral baseline: 6% official table rate
The short answer: affiliate commission is a percentage you set yourself, and it stacks on top of TikTok's referral fee. On a $40 sale at the official 6% referral rate with an example 15% commission, the two together take 21% of the sale before any other cost.
The referral fee is TikTok Shop's platform fee. In the US, TikTok's published table lists 6% for most categories (many sellers report an effective 8% since August 2026 — we break that down in our referral fee guide). You cannot negotiate it and it applies to every order.
The affiliate (creator) commission is different: you choose the percentage when you list a product for creator promotion. It is only charged when a creator's video, LIVE or product link actually drives the sale. There is no platform-published standard rate — the number is yours, which is exactly why it is the fee sellers most often get wrong.
Both percentages are taken from the same order, so they simply add up. The order TikTok deducts them in does not change the total. Say you sell a product for $40.00 (example price) and you have set a 15% affiliate commission (example rate — you set your own):
| Sale price | $40.00 |
| − Referral fee (6% — verified US baseline) | $2.40 |
| − Affiliate commission (15% — your setting, example) | $6.00 |
| Platform + creator take | $8.40 (21% of the price) |
| Paid out to you, before product & shipping costs | $31.60 |
The same $40 order sold without a creator loses only the $2.40 referral fee — you would be paid $37.60. The creator-driven order pays you $6.00 less. At 300 creator-driven orders a month, that is $1,800/month — which is fine if the creators bring sales you would not otherwise get, and a slow leak if they are discounting orders you would have won anyway. If your settlement reflects the widely reported 8% referral rate instead of 6%, the same example takes $3.20 + $6.00 = $9.20 off the top (23%) and pays out $30.80.
Commission percentages are charged on the price, but sellers tend to think in terms of their margin. Take a $40 product with a 25% gross margin — $10 of room before fees. The 6% referral fee takes $2.40. A 20% affiliate commission takes $8.00. Together: $10.40 — more than the entire margin, before shipping or ads spend a cent. The product looked profitable at "25% margin" and loses money on every creator-driven order. Work backwards instead: margin first, minus referral fee, minus the shipping and ad costs you carry, and whatever is left is the most commission you can offer. The full fee stack is listed on our complete TikTok Shop fees page.
The free FeeFact calculator has a creator commission field built in — enter your price and the commission you are thinking of offering, and see the real net per sale at 6% and 8% referral, side by side.
Is affiliate commission charged on top of the referral fee?
Yes. They are separate deductions from the same order: the referral fee goes to TikTok Shop, the commission goes to the creator who drove the sale. On a creator-driven order you pay both.
Who sets the affiliate commission rate?
You do. TikTok Shop does not publish a standard affiliate rate — you set the percentage per product or per creator plan in Seller Center, and you can change it. Any rate you see mentioned elsewhere (10%, 15%, 20%) is another seller's choice, not a platform fee.
Do I pay commission on every order?
No — only on orders attributed to a creator's affiliate promotion. Orders from your own videos, your shop page or ads carry the referral fee but no creator commission. That difference is why the same product can be profitable in one channel and unprofitable in another.
What commission should I offer?
There is no universal right number. Start from your margin: subtract the referral fee (6% official US baseline) and your per-order shipping and ad costs from your gross margin, and offer less than what remains. If the remainder is 8%, offering 15% guarantees a loss on every affiliate order, no matter how many creators pick it up.
How can I check what I actually paid?
Your settlement report breaks out each deduction per order. Run it through our free settlement checker to see the effective rate on every line and flag anything that does not match what you set.
Stack every fee and see what you keep — per sale and per month.
The complete 2026 breakdown for US, UK and EU.
Buyer-paid vs free shipping, and what each does to profit.
All tools: Profit Calculator + Settlement Checker · Settlement Checker · UK Calculator · EU Calculator · All TikTok Shop Fees · Fee Change Log · Affiliate Commission · Shipping Fees