Evaluation
Written by an agency, which you should weigh accordingly. Every claim here is checkable against us too, and most of the questions are ones we would rather you asked.
On this page
We are a TikTok Shop agency. Read this as a competitor's checklist and use it on us. Our pricing is published, our fee stack is explained in full, and our one case study says plainly what it does not prove.
Researched across published rate cards, September 2026. Knowing the range is most of the negotiation.
| Tier | Monthly | Typically includes |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | $1,500–$3,000 | Strategy and management, limited or no content production |
| Mid | $3,000–$8,000 | Content production, affiliate management, paid |
| Upper | $8,000–$15,000 | Full service, often plus a GMV percentage |
| TikTok's own managed service | $10,000 | Flat, plus 10 to 20% commission per sale |
On top of any fee: creator commission of 15 to 20% on affiliate sales, product samples of $2,000 to $10,000 a month, and ad spend. An agency that does not raise those unprompted is either inexperienced or hoping you will not model them.
| Structure | The incentive it creates |
|---|---|
| Flat retainer | Neutral. They earn the same whether you grow or not, so you must hold them to outcomes yourself |
| Percentage of GMV | Aligned on paper. In practice their fee rises fastest exactly when you are winning, for identical work |
| Percentage of ad spend | Actively misaligned. They are paid more for spending more, which is the one thing you cannot verify from outside |
None is disqualifying on its own. The percentage-of-ad-spend model is the one worth the most scrutiny, because the lever they control and the lever that pays them are the same lever.
Worth saying, because unrealistic expectation is the most common cause of a failed engagement, and it is not always the agency that caused it.
Full-service agencies charge $3,000 to $10,000+ a month, commonly a retainer plus a percentage of GMV. TikTok's own US managed service pilots at $10,000 flat plus 10 to 20% commission. Anything under about $1,500 a month is unlikely to include real content production.
It is common and it misaligns the incentive: their fee rises fastest exactly when you are already winning, and they are paid more for the same work. A flat fee is not automatically better value, but it is easier to hold to account.
Ask for your password. Access should be delegated through TikTok Business Center or an approved third-party tool connected by OAuth, which you can revoke at any moment. You keep ownership, recovery credentials and payouts throughout.
Shop setup and first content in two to three weeks. A functioning affiliate programme takes six to ten weeks, because creators must be recruited, sampled and given time to post. Anyone promising revenue in week one is describing paid ads.
Ask what the numbers are attributed on, and what the comparison period was. A percentage growth figure with no baseline, or a ROAS with no attribution window stated, is not a result. Ask which parts they ran and which the client already had.
Not on TikTok specifically. Distribution is decided per video, so the constraint is content volume and creator roster, not media buying scale. Ask who is actually on your account day to day.
Figures checked 2 September 2026. Platform rules and rates change; verify against TikTok Shop Seller Center before acting on any of them.
Thirty minutes. If our answers do not hold up against this list, you have lost half an hour and gained a checklist.