Samples: Seller's Guide
How to use Samples: Seller's Guide
This article will show you how to use samples to increase sales by collaborating with creators. You'll learn how to send product samples, track their impact, and manage the entire process seamlessly - all in one place: the Affiliate Centre.
What are Samples?
Samples are products that sellers provide to creators, allowing them to test, review, and create engaging promotional content. These collaborations help showcase products in an authentic way, increasing visibility and driving more orders.Seller Benefits of Samples
Note: To offer samples, you must be an Affiliate Seller.
You can access the Affiliate Centre at any time via the Seller Centre.
Samples: The Basics
Sellers can offer two types of samples: Free Samples and Refundable Samples. In most cases, you can provide both options for the same product.- Free Samples: Send free samples of products to creators who request them through Open or Target collaborations. Sellers pay for the product, shipping, and tax.
- Refundable Samples: Sell samples to creators through Open Collaboration. In order for the creators to receive a refund, they need to fulfill specific criteria that you set up. Once the creator meets those criteria, you send an automated refund for the purchase price. If the creator does not meet your criteria after 90 days, the sample becomes a regular purchase. Please note that refundable Samples can only be set up in Open collaborations at this time.
Step 1: How to Offer Samples in Open & Target Collaborations
Open Collaboration- Go to the Affiliate Centre and click Open Collaboration.
- Choose the product(s) you want to offer as samples.
- Click Batch Free Sample.
- In the Offer Samples window, toggle on:
- Refundable Samples – Set refund criteria.
- Free Samples – Set quantity, request duration, and creator threshold.
Target collaboration
- Go to the Affiliate Centre and select Target Collaboration.
- You will be prompted to the Invite Creator to Collaborate window to start the setup.
- In the collaboration setup, toggle on Set Up Free Samples.
- Choose whether to approve sample requests manually or automatically.
Step 2: How to View and Manage Sample Request
Free Samples- Go to the Free Sample Order under the Sample Request section to view creators' requests. You will also see key creator metrics, including Followers, Fulfillment Rate, Sales Volume, and Average Views per Video. From here, you can approve or reject requests.
- Keep in mind that each approval reduces the product'ss free sample quota. When you approve a creator’s request, the available inventory decreases by one.
- Go to the Refundable Sample Order under the Sample Request section to view creators' requests. You can view the status of past and ongoing Refundable Sample orders that creators have made, the refund criteria, as well as navigate to Seller Centre to arrange shipments.
Step 3: How to Ship samples to creators
- Go to Ready to Ship under the Sample Request section.
- Click Ship in Seller Centre.
- In the Seller Centre, click Create Labels to purchase shipping labels from TikTok, or click Add Tracking Info if you’ve purchased shipping labels from a third party.
Free Samples: Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1A: Open Collaboration Free Sample Set Up
There are three ways to add samples in Open Collaboration. Choose the method that works best for you.Option A: Pop-Up Notification
If you receive a pop-up in the Seller Centre prompting you to add samples to all your products in Open Collaboration, you can either accept or close it.- Once you accept the pop-up, samples will be added to all your existing products in Open Collaboration. However, products that are not part of Open Collaboration will not be added.
Option B: Auto-Add New Products Toggle
You can enable the Auto-Add New Products toggle in the top right corner to automatically add samples to Open Collaboration for future products.- Note: This setting applies only to future products and does not affect existing products.
Default Sample Settings (Applied in Options A & B):
Free Samples- Sample Quantity – No Limitations: Sellers do not impose restrictions on the number of samples, allowing for an "always-on" sample strategy. This ensures samples remain available for all creators to request, regardless of the sample quota. However, sellers retain full control by approving or rejecting requests as needed.
- Request Period – Indefinite.
- Fan Number – More than 0.
- Average Views per Video – More than 0.
- 30-Day Sales Volume – More than 0.
- Estimated Post Rate – All.
Option C: Manually Add Products
If the Auto-Add New Products toggle is off, you can manually add products to Open Collaboration by following these steps:- Go to the Affiliate Centre and click Open Collaboration.
- Choose the product(s) you want to offer as samples.
- Click Batch Free Sample.
- In the Offer Samples window, toggle on:
- Free Samples – Set quantity, request duration, and creator threshold.
Step 1B: Target Collaboration Free Sample Set Up
- Go to the Affiliate Centre and select Target Collaboration.
- You will be prompted to the Invite Creator to Collaborate window to start the setup.
- In the collaboration setup, toggle on Set Up Free Samples.
- Choose whether to approve sample requests manually or automatically:
- If you choose automatic approval, sample requests will be moved to the Ready to Ship tab in the Sample Requests Free Sample Order page. Only requests from creators in this collaboration will be automatically approved.
- To edit an existing collaboration and add free samples, go to the Target Collaborations tab, select the collaboration, and click Edit. Once enabled, invited creators can request free samples for all products in the Target Invitation, including variations.
Step 2: Manage & Track Free Sample Orders
After creators submit requests for free samples, you'll manage them in the Sample Requests page of the Affiliate Centre.- Free Sample Orders must be reviewed within 7 days, or they will be automatically cancelled.
- The To Review tab shows all requests awaiting approval or rejection. You can view details like creator name, follower count, and more.
- You can filter based on four categories:
- Creators
- Product category: Select creators who generated revenue or promoted products in selected categories
- Follower count: Select creators based their follower tier
- Content type: Select creators who create video or LIVE content, or both
- Creator agency: Select creators managed by an agency or independent creators
- Fulfillment Rate: Select creators with a 'Ok', 'Good', or 'Better' sample content fulfillment rate, based on their historical posting rates
- Past collaborations: Only show creators who generate sales with your products
- Followers
- Follower age: Select creators who have a high share of followers in the selected age demographic
- Follower gender: Select creators who have majority male or female followers
- Performance
- GMV: Select creators with revenue from LIVE, shoppable video or showcase in the last 30 days
- Average views per video: Select creators based on the average number of views per video
- Turn on the toggle if you want to search for creators whose shoppable videos meet this criteria
- Average viewers per LIVE: Select creators based on the average number of viewers per LIVE
- Turn on the toggle if you want to search for creators whose shoppable LIVE videos meet this criteria
- Sample requests
- Expiring within 1-3 days: Select creators who have sample requests that will expire within 1-3 days
- From reliable creators: Select creators who are in the top 20% of creators, based on the ratio of received free samples and posted content.
- Rejected within 30 days: Select creators whose requests were rejected within the last 30 days
- Creators
- Rejected requests will be moved to the Cancelled tab
- Approved requests will move to the Ready to ship tab
- When a request is approved, a pop-up will let you know whether the sample request was approved successfully or not. In cases when the request is not approved, it will be due to an error, such as:
- Insufficient quantity of samples available
- Insufficient quantity of product in stock
- When a request is approved, a pop-up will let you know whether the sample request was approved successfully or not. In cases when the request is not approved, it will be due to an error, such as:
- In the pop-up window, you'll be prompted to go to the Seller Centre to ship the sample. To learn more on shipping your samples from the Seller Centre, refer to our guide on How to Ship Out Samples.
Step 3: Fulfillment Rule Update: Post Criteria
To help maximize ROI on samples, fulfillment is based on whether creators:- Posts a short video and keeps it live for at least 3 days, or
- Hosts a LIVE session and drives at least 1 sale.
You can track the status of each sample in the Affiliate Centre under Pending Content, Post Failed, or Completed.
Step 4: Ship the Samples
Approved sample orders must be shipped within 7 days. Orders not shipped will be automatically cancelled.- In the Affiliate Centre, go to Sample Requests and click on Ready to Ship.
- Fulfill shipments individually or in batches.
- In the Seller Centre, click Create labels to purchase shipping labels from TikTok or Add tracking info if using third-party labels.
- Free samples will be tagged accordingly.
Step 5: Monitor creator content creation
Once samples are delivered, sellers can track and monitor the content that is being created in Sample Requests.- For Free Sample orders, creators are required to create content within 14 days of receiving the sample. TikTok Shop sends automated notifications reminding creators that they need to post content for their samples.
- Once creators post content, the request will move to the Completed tab in Seller Centre and Content Pending in Affiliate Centre.
Step 6: Analyze creator and content performance
Once content is posted, you can view the performance in View Content or Refund Pending for Refundable Samples.- You’ll see performance metrics like views, likes, comments, and orders generated from the content.
Refundable Samples: Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1A: Open Collaboration Refundable Sample Set Up
Option A: Pop-Up Notification
If you receive a pop-up in the Seller Centre prompting you to add samples to all your products in Open Collaboration, you can either accept or close the prompt.- Once you accept the pop-up, samples will be added to all your existing products in Open Collaboration. However, products that are not part of Open Collaboration will not be added.
Option B: Auto-Add New Products Toggle
You can enable the Auto-Add New Products toggle in the top right corner to automatically add samples to Open Collaboration for future products.- Note: This setting applies only to future products and does not affect existing products.
Default Sample Settings (Applied in Options A & B):
Refundable Samples- Refundable sample
- Creator generates 1 sales
Option C: Manually Add Products
You can manually add products to Open Collaboration by following these steps:- Go to the Affiliate Centre and click Open Collaboration.
- Choose the product(s) you want to offer as samples.
- Click Batch Free Sample.
- In the Offer Samples window, toggle on:
- Refundable Samples – Set refund criteria.
Please note that refundable Samples can only be set up in Open collaborations at this time.
Step 2: Manage & Track Sample Orders
After creators submit requests for refundable samples, you'll receive all requests in the Sample Requests page of Affiliate Centre to manage.- Refundable Sample Orders:
- All refundable sample orders need to be reviewed within seven (7) days, or the requests will be automatically cancelled.
- The To Review tab includes all requests to be reviewed, approved, or rejected. You can view details of creators in this section, including name, follower count, and more.
- You can filter applications based on specific criteria to find the creators you’d like to approve for samples:
- Creators:
- Product category: Select creators who have promoted products in specific categories.
- Follower count: Select creators based on their follower tier.
- Content type: Choose between creators who create video or LIVE content, or both.
- Creator agency: Select creators who are managed by an agency or independent creators.
- Fulfillment Rate: Choose creators with an "OK", "Good", or "Better" sample content fulfillment rate.
- Past collaborations: Select creators who have generated sales with your products.
- Followers:
- Follower age: Choose creators whose followers are in the selected age range.
- Follower gender: Choose creators whose followers are primarily male or female.
- Performance:
- GMV: Select creators who have generated revenue from LIVE, shoppable videos, or showcases in the last 30 days.
- Average views per video: Select creators based on the average number of views per video.
- Average viewers per LIVE: Select creators based on the average number of viewers per LIVE.
- Sample requests:
- Expiring within 1-3 days: Select creators with sample requests that will expire within 1-3 days.
- From reliable creators: Select creators who are in the top 20% based on the ratio of received samples and content creation.
- Rejected within 30 days: Select creators whose requests were rejected in the last 30 days.
- Creators:
- Rejected requests will move to the Cancelled tab.
- Approved requests will move to the Ready to Ship tab.
- When a request is approved, a pop-up will notify you whether the sample request was approved successfully or not. If the request isn’t approved, the pop-up will show an error (e.g., insufficient sample quantity, insufficient stock).
- In the pop-up window, you'll be prompted to go to Seller Centre to ship the sample. To learn more about shipping samples from Seller Centre, refer to the guide on How to Ship Out Samples.
Step 3: Ship the Samples
Once you've approved refundable sample orders, the samples must be shipped within seven (7) days, or the requests will be automatically cancelled.- In Affiliate Centre, go to Sample Requests and click on Ready to Ship. Under Awaiting Shipment, you'll see all orders that need to be shipped.
- You can fulfill shipments individually (one product per creator) or in batches (if you’ve approved one creator for multiple product samples).
- From there, arrange shipments to be fulfilled in the Seller Centre.
- In Seller Centre, you can ship the samples by:
- Creating shipping labels (if purchasing from TikTok), or
- Adding tracking info (if using third-party shipping labels).
- Note that refundable samples will be marked with a Refundable sample tag.
Step 4: Monitor Creator Content Creation
Once samples are delivered, sellers can track and monitor the content that is being created in Sample Requests.- For Refundable Samples, creators have 90 days to meet the refund criteria - if they do not meet the criteria within that timeframe, the sample becomes a regular purchase.
- Once creators post content, the request will move to the Completed tab in Seller Centre and Content Pending in Affiliate Centre.
Step 5: Analyze creator and content performance
Once content is posted, you can view the performance in View Content or Refund Pending for Refundable Samples.- You’ll see performance metrics like views, likes, comments, and orders generated from the content.
Bulk Edit Sample Rules
Sellers who manage large catalogues can edit their sample rules at scale with the feature Bulk Edit in Open collaboration. Here, you can download and upload your catalogue as flat files (.CSV, .XLS, .TXT) in order to update sample rules, set up and remove samples for SKUs, and bulk set up Refundable Samples.Step 1: Navigate to Open collaboration and click 'Bulk edit'
Step 2: Download your products as a template for future uploads
- The flat file will contain the following locked column labels:
- Product ID, product name, Product price, Stock, Product status, Add to open collaboration, Commission rate, Est. Commission, Approve creators, Creator showcase, Creator post, Offer free sample, Sample quantity, minimum follower, Minimum 30 day sales volume, Minimum 30 days e-commerce content number, Creator fulfillment rate, Refundable Samples, Refund Minimum
- Specific rows and columns will be locked to minimize data entry errors and upload failure. For instance, where product status is "unavailable", that row will be locked
Step 3: Upload your updated template in Bulk edit
- You can drag and drop or select the template from your files.
- You'll see the status of your upload via text within the flat file module.
- You can then see how many SKUs were successfully uploaded.
- Within the UI module, you can see how many SKUs failed to upload.
- You can click download failed results for a list of SKUs with failed uploads.
FAQs
Free Samples
- Who can apply for free samples?
- Any creator in TikTok Shop can apply for free samples (1K+ followers).
- How many free samples can a creator receive?
- Open Collaboration
- Creators can have up to five ongoing sample applications at the same time. If a creator has a dedicated creator manager, this quota may be adjusted on a case-by-case basis.
- Target Collaboration
- No limits.
- Open Collaboration
- Can creators request more than one sample of the same product?
- Creators can only request one sample of a specific product from a single seller. However, they can request more free samples of other products (up to the limits listed in the previous question).
- Will sellers be reminded of pending free sample requests?
- TikTok Shop will send an email reminding sellers to review pending free sample requests.
- How can I approve or reject free sample requests in bulk?
- Step 1: Filter creator requests according to specific tags (number of fans, creator tags, etc.)
- Step 2: After filtering for creators, click "Select all" to approve or reject in batches.
- If for some reason the creator cannot fulfill the free sample content requirement, what will happen?
- Creators may not be able to fulfill sample content requirements for the following reasons (and the sample request will be cancelled):
- The seller account has been closed
- The seller has been banned from TikTok Shop
- The product has been banned from TikTok Shop
- The seller is forever banned from working with affiliates
- The collaboration has been deleted
- Note: In these instances, the system will automatically cancel any requests and creators will not be required to fulfill their sample content requirements.
- In other instances, creators may not be able to fulfill their sample content requirements for the following reasons (and their fulfillment requirements will be paused):
- The product has been deleted
- The product has been inactivated
- The product is under review
- The product is sold out
- Note: If the product is sold out, the system will pause requirements in the short term until the product status returns to active.
- The seller will also receive a notification on the Affiliate homepage of the suspended fulfillment.
- Creators may not be able to fulfill sample content requirements for the following reasons (and the sample request will be cancelled):
- How do sellers change the product status back to being active?
- Product deleted: Go to Seller Centre -> Manage products -> Deleted tab -> Recover this product
- Product inactivated: Go to Seller Centre -> Manage products-> Inactive tab -> Check inactive reason and activate the product
- Product under review: Wait until it passes platform review
- Sold out: Add more inventory in Seller Centre.
Refundable Sample
- What happens if a creator does not meet the refund criteria?
- How long does it take for creators to receive a refund after meeting the requirements?
- Can creators use coupons or other discounts to purchase Refundable Samples?
