This TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy for Sellers (hereafter referred to as "this Policy") contains the rules related to how Sellers may interact with Customer Reviews on TikTok Shop.
This Policy applies to Sellers only.
All references to TikTok Shop in this Policy are a reference to TikTok Shop UK.
Sellers may wish to seek independent legal advice if they have questions about the laws and regulations concerning their practices.
Our TikTok Shop UK Policies are updated periodically. Please see the TikTok Shop UK Seller Terms of Service for details of how we may make changes to our terms and policies and how we notify you.
Customer refers to an individual who has purchased a product from a Seller on TikTok Shop.
CustomerReview refers to a review by a Customer, may include a review of a product, seller, and/or any other matter relating to the TikTok Shop purchasing experience.
Fake Customer Review refers to a Customer Review, both positive and negative, that purports to be, but is not, based on a person's genuine experience.
Seller refers to a third-party trader on TikTok Shop.
Customer Reviews
Only Customers may leave a Customer Review on TikTok Shop. Sellers must not by any act or omission put TikTok Shop or its customers in breach of the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy.
Customers have 60 calendar days from the date their order was received by them to leave one Customer Review per product they have ordered. Reviews cannot be posted for a group of orders.
Customers can edit their Customer Review at any time. Sellers must not ask Customers to edit their Customer Review.
TikTok Shop will publicly display Customer Reviews that comply with applicable laws and regulations and our TikTok Shop UK terms and policies.
Customer Reviews will remain visible where the product has been returned and refunded.
In addition to the provisions of this Policy, the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy contains additional information on how Customer Reviews are processed by TikTok Shop, including the fact that TikTok Shop may display Customer Reviews submitted by Customers who have made purchases on TikTok Shop in other countries, and that reviews from third party sites may be imported onto TikTok Shop to help Customers make informed decisions. Please see the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy and section 3.4 of this Policy for more detail on Customer Reviews from TikTok Shop in other countries and imported Customer Reviews.
Incentivised Customer Reviews
Sellers may also offer incentives for reviews, but only to verified buyers and exclusively through the Seller Center platform's 'Product ratings > Incentivised reviews' feature. To qualify for such an incentive, a customer's review must include at least one picture of the product and a minimum of 11 words. Incentivised reviews offered by sellers must not be arranged or solicited through any other channel (including but not limited to social media, direct contact, third-party services, or offline methods). While incentivised, all reviews must reflect the genuine and independent opinion of the customer, and sellers must not attempt to influence the content of the review.
TikTok Shop may offer small rewards (e.g. vouchers) to encourage Customers who have made a purchase on TikTok Shop to leave genuine Customer Reviews, which can be helpful for other Customers to read, to help them decide whether or not to make a purchase.
If Customers are offered a reward by TikTok Shop or by Sellers and the Customer chooses to leave a review, TikTok Shop wants the Customer to give their honest opinion, whether it is positive or not. As long as the Customer Review complies with applicable law and TikTok Shop terms and policies, the Customer will receive the reward and the Customer Review will be published regardless of the rating applied to the purchase (e.g., whether it is a 1 star review or a 5 star review) or whether the comments are positive or negative.
Reviews which have been left by Customers who received a reward from TikTok Shop or by Sellers will be labelled to make clear that the Customer Review was incentivised, and they will not be ranked above reviews which have not been incentivised.
Incentivised reviews rewarded by TikTok Shop: will be labelled with TikTok Shop logo
Incentivised reviews rewarded by Sellers: will be labelled with Sellers logo
Sellers must not:
commission another person to submit or write a Customer Review that conceals that it has been incentivised; and/or
offer services to other traders to:
submit, or commission another person to submit or write a Customer Review that conceals that it has been incentivised; and/or
facilitate the submission or commissioning of another person to submit or write a Customer Review that conceals that it has been incentivised.
Reporting Customer Reviews
If a Seller believes or suspects that a Customer Review is a Fake Customer Review, conceals the fact that it has been incentivised, or contains information that is false or misleading, or is otherwise contrary to the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy and/or this Policy, the Seller must report the Customer Review.
Sellers can report a Customer Review by clicking on Seller Center > Help center > Contact Us -> Under Topic, select "Complaints and Dispute", "Customer" and "Malicious Product Review'' or via Live center and contact us via Live chat
TikTok Shop will then assess such reviews for any non-compliance with this Policy and/or the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy, applicable laws and any other terms and policies, and remove them from publication if found to be non-compliant.
How are Prohibited Customer Reviews Detected, Investigated and Sanctioned by TikTok Shop?
TikTok Shop has a zero-tolerance approach towards any violation of this Policy, applicable laws and any other TikTok Shop terms and policies and implements systems, processes and actions to detect, investigate and sanction non-compliant Customer Reviews.
TikTok Shop uses an automatic system to moderate Customer Reviews before they are visible to all customers, in order to detect Customer Reviews that do not comply with this Policy, the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy, applicable laws and any other TikTok Shop terms and policies. If any such Customer Review is detected by the automatic system, the Customer Review will be sent to a human moderator for thorough and timely investigation.
As part of its system to detect Customer Reviews that do not comply with this Policy, applicable laws and/or any other TikTok Shop terms and policies, TikTok Shop may review and audit the Customer Reviews on a Seller's product listings at any time.
If TikTok Shop receives reports of Customer Reviews made in breach of this Policy, applicable laws or other TikTok Shop terms and policies, we will investigate such reviews for non-compliance and remove them if necessary. Reported Customer Reviews are investigated and reviewed by human moderators, rather than by an automatic process.
If TikTok Shop reasonably considers that a Customer Review is found to be non-compliant, TikTok Shop will respond by taking reasonable and proportionate action and sanctioning users.
If TikTok Shop has reasonable grounds to suspect that a Customer Review or Seller breaches this Policy, the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy, applicable laws and any other TikTok Shop terms and policies, the sanctions that TikTok Shop may impose are:
Removal of the relevant Customer Review so that it is no longer visible to other customers.
Suspending or banning from TikTok Shop any user that TikTok Shop considers has been involved in the provision of the relevant Customer Review.
TikTok Shop will remove a Seller's response to a Customer Review that violates applicable laws and/or regulations, or our terms and policies.
Imported Customer Reviews
Sellers can import Customer Reviews for their TikTok Shop products into the platform using third party customer review platforms available in the TikTok Shop Seller Center. These third party platforms collect reviews from other websites offering products also sold on TikTok Shop.
When Sellers import Customer Reviews from third party platforms into TikTok Shop, Sellers can manage those reviews from the Seller Center.
Sellers must ensure that product identification details of their products listed on TikTok Shop are accurate and up to date to prevent errors that could mislead Customers when displaying imported Customer Reviews.
Sellers must ensure that any imported Customer Review linked to a product on TikTok Shop refers to the exact same product sold on any third party platform under the same or equivalent conditions, including, but not limited to, price and delivery or shipping timelines.
When managing imported Customer Reviews, Sellers can choose to link or unlink entire sets of reviews from a third party platform to a specific product sold on TikTok Shop. Linking or unlinking individual reviews within those sets is not allowed.
Sellers may report individual imported Customer Reviews that have been linked to a product sold on TikTok Shop if they believe the reviews raise concerns or do not comply with applicable laws, the TikTok Shop UK Customer Review Policy and/or this Policy. Reports can be submitted from the “Review details” section in the Seller Center.
Imported Customer Reviews will be clearly marked as originating from a third party platform. They will include disclosures such as the name of the customer review platform, the specific source, the date the review was originally written and any others according to applicable laws.
Imported Customer Reviews are included in the overall product star rating calculation.
The prohibited behaviors outlined in section 4 of this Policy also apply to imported Customer Reviews.
When imported Customer Reviews were originally published on websites or platforms controlled by Sellers:
Sellers must hold the rights to use, and grant TikTok Shop the rights to use, any intellectual property and other third-party rights contained in the imported Customer Reviews globally, for the purpose of publishing them on TikTok Shop. This includes, but is not limited to, granting TikTok Shop a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sub-licensable, and transferable licence to use the imported Customer Reviews. This licence should cover reproduction, adaptation, creation of derivative works, public performance and communication, and translation of the imported Customer Reviews on TikTok Shop.
Sellers must clearly and transparently inform their customers on their own websites or platforms and before any customer reviews are posted about how such reviews are published, processed, and verified according to applicable laws. TikTok Shop may request Sellers to provide both the method used to share this information and the specific details disclosed.
Sellers must have policies and procedures in place to ensure that customer reviews published on their own websites or platforms comply with applicable laws and do not include fake, misleading or non-genuine reviews. TikTok Shop may request Sellers to provide such policies and procedures.
Sellers must have policies and procedures in place to identify and remove customer reviews published on their own websites or platforms if those reviews breach applicable laws or are fake, misleading or non-genuine. If any such reviews have been imported into TikTok Shop, sellers must notify TikTok Shop so they can be removed from the platform. TikTok Shop may request Sellers to provide such policies and procedures.
Sellers must regularly carry out risk assessments to check whether their customer review policies and procedures are still effective, especially in preventing the import of unlawful, fake, misleading or non-genuine reviews into TikTok Shop. The results of these assessments must be shared with TikTok Shop.
Sellers must have a valid legal basis for processing any personal data included in imported Customer Reviews and for sharing that data with TikTok Shop.
The systems, processes and actions for detecting, investigating and sanctioning non-compliant Customer Reviews under section 3.3 of this Policy also apply to imported Customer Reviews.
TikTok Shop will not be liable for any claims, costs, or other consequences resulting from a Seller’s breach of applicable laws or this Policy in connection with imported Customer Reviews. If any such issues arise, Sellers must defend TikTok Shop and hold it harmless.
Other Prohibited Seller Behaviour
Sellers must not engage in, write, display, promote, encourage, commission another person to submit or write, submit, facilitate or trade in Fake Customer Reviews and/or misleading Customer Reviews.
Sellers must not offer services to other traders to submit or commission Fake Customer Reviews, or to facilitate the submission or commissioning of Fake Customer Reviews.
Sellers must not publish misleading Customer Reviews or information about Customer Reviews in a misleading way, including information that is derived from or influenced by Customer Reviews (such as overall star ratings). For example, Sellers must not display a star rating that is not updated to account for reviews that have been identified as fake and removed.
Sellers must not offer services to other traders to publish or facilitate the publication of Customer Reviews or information about Customer Reviews in a misleading way.
Sellers must not modify, misrepresent, delete or manipulate genuine Customer Reviews in any way (including the presentation of such Customer Reviews and/or in order to promote products).
Sellers must not ask or put pressure on a Customer or any third party to remove or amend a Customer Review, or to leave a positive Customer Review, or otherwise influence or misrepresent Customer behaviour in relation to Customer Reviews.
Sellers must not attempt to divert a negative Customer Review to a different (non-public) feedback channel (such as Customer Service).
Customers may request that TikTok Shop removes their Customer Review. Sellers must not encourage or ask a Customer to delete their Customer Review.
Sellers must not request a Customer to leave a Customer Review of their product, or for the products of any other Seller.
Sellers must not ask third parties who are not genuine TikTok Shop Customers or who are connected to the Seller in any way (for example, the manufacturer of the product being sold, or a family member) to leave Customer Reviews.
Sellers must not solicit or submit Customer Reviews that do not relate to a real TikTok Shop purchase.
Sellers must not leave fraudulent, malicious, defamatory or misleading Customer Reviews on other Sellers' products, or Customer Reviews that unfairly distort a customer's perception of a product or a Seller.
Sellers are prohibited from engaging in abusive, threatening or inappropriate behaviour with the intention of causing the Customer to provide a Customer Review or prevent them from giving honest feedback.
Sellers must not disclose personal information or personal data (from the Seller, the Customer or any third party) when responding to a Customer Review.
Sellers must not use or allow Customer Reviews of their product(s) (including by importing Imported Customer Reviews) unless they hold documentary evidence that the review is from a Customer who has actually used or purchased the exact product.
Sellers must not impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent their affiliation with a person or entity.
A Seller's response to a Customer Review must be intelligible and comply with this Policy, and must not mislead or manipulate Customers, contain offensive or rude language or media, or any content that contains harassment or bullying intent. A Seller's response to a Customer Review must not include content that the Seller does not have the right to use.
The above rules apply regardless of whether a Seller is acting on their own behalf or whether someone is acting on behalf of that Seller (for example, a marketing agency).
Privacy
For more information about how TikTok Shop processes and shares your information, including for the purposes of enforcing this Policy, please see the TikTok Partner Privacy Policy, which does not form part of the contract with TikTok Shop.
