TikTok Shop Guide and FAQs

ExpandNow on TikTok Shop

ExpandNow is a global Merchant of Record platform. While our capabilities span multiple marketplace and D2C channels, this guide focuses specifically on our TikTok Shop solution, the fastest way for international brands to go live and sell on TikTok Shop UK, EU and US.

We act as the official seller of record on TikTok on your behalf, providing all the legal, tax and financial infrastructure your brand needs to operate in-market. Once live, ExpandNow is designed to stay out of your way. Funds arrive automatically, invoicing is handled for you, and if you operate across more than one TikTok Shop market, everything runs through a single, unified setup: no duplication of effort, no manual reconciliation between markets.

Real-time reporting gives you full transparency across ExpandNow's fees, TikTok's own platform costs, affiliate commissions and FBT charges, all in one place.

We handle

TikTok Shop setup
Tax & VAT compliance
Payments & settlements
Automatic brand payouts
Self-invoicing & reporting
Category compliance

You handle

Product catalog & pricing
Listings & content
Customer service
Marketing & creators
Logistics & fulfillment

Markets live

UK
Germany
France
Spain
Italy
Ireland
Poland
The Netherlands
Belgium
Austria
Portugal
Czech Republic
Greece
Hungary
US

Coming soon

Additional EU markets
Further markets TBC

Speak to your account manager for the latest roadmap.

Why use a Merchant of Record?

TikTok Shop, like many other marketplaces, requires sellers to have a locally registered business entity in the market they are selling into. For most international brands this means:

Company incorporation, typically 6 to 12 months, with ongoing fixed costs and administrative burden
A local bank account in each market
VAT or sales tax registration and quarterly filing obligations
A local director or UBO in some jurisdictions

Beyond the setup, operating independently across multiple TikTok Shop markets creates compounding complexity: separate reconciliations, separate tax filings and separate payout flows for each region.

ExpandNow replaces all of this upfront cost and complexity with a success-shared model.

You pay a percentage of what you earn, nothing more. At just 2.5% of GMV, there are no setup fees and no monthly retainers. If your shop grows, our fee reflects that. If you are just starting out, your costs remain proportionate to your sales. That 2.5% buys you instant access to fully compliant, in-market operations that would otherwise take months to build and carry significant ongoing fixed costs, making it one of the most cost-effective routes to market available for international brands on TikTok Shop.

As your GMV grows, our fee decreases, with tiered rates dropping to 2.3%, 2.1% and lower beyond 10M in GMV. We actively monitor our pricing against the real cost of running equivalent in-market operations independently, and we are committed to ensuring ExpandNow never costs more than doing it yourself.

Getting started

From your first readiness check to store handover typically takes around 2 weeks. TikTok's store approval runs in parallel with contract signing, minimizing sequential waiting.

1. Readiness check

Complete our launch readiness form. We collect information on your product categories (to confirm compliance), VAT number, inventory source, agency support, trademark status and sales forecast. This step helps us assess readiness and ensure we can get you live quickly and without surprises.

2. Sign the contract

Review and sign the ExpandNow Terms of Service and Terms Sheet via DocuSign. Provide your entity details and signatory information at this stage.

3. Trademark & Letter of Authorization

Provide your trademark registration documents for the relevant market(s); TikTok requires these to approve a new store. Once received, we prepare a Letter of Authorization permitting ExpandNow to open the shop on your behalf. You sign via DocuSign, and we submit to TikTok. Approval typically takes around 1 week.

4. Store handover

Once TikTok approves the store, we complete setup and add your team as administrators on TikTok Seller Center. From this point you manage your products, orders, pricing, promotions and content directly. ExpandNow operates in the background.

5. KYC, VAT & banking Required before going live

Complete our KYC and banking form to link your account to the ExpandNow platform, confirm your VAT details and configure your payout bank account. This can be completed alongside steps 3 and 4 but must be done before your store goes live and your first payout can be processed.

6. Link existing accounts Optional

If you have an existing TikTok Official Account or TikTok Ads account, we schedule a call to link these to your new shop. This step can also cover connecting to your existing commerce technology stack or fulfillment partners. It can happen any time alongside or after steps 3 and 4.

Pricing

ExpandNow charges a percentage of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), the total value of sales processed through your TikTok Shop. There are no setup fees and no fixed monthly charges.

Growth plan: revenue share

Annual GMV	ExpandNow fee
First 1M	2.50%
1M to 5M	2.30%
5M to 10M	2.10%
10M+	Custom pricing

Starter plan: for brands below threshold

Brands not yet generating 300K (EU/UK) or 1M (USA) in annual GMV start on the Starter Plan. A minimum monthly fee applies after the first 60 days.

Region	Threshold	Minimum monthly fee
EU / UK	Below 300K annual GMV	625 / month
USA	Below 1M annual GMV	2,000 / month

The minimum fee is not a fixed cost.

It is an advance on your usage-based fee. Once your GMV-based fee exceeds the minimum, only the difference is charged. The first 60 days have no minimum fee at all.

Payments & payouts

Once your shop is live, payouts are fully automatic. You do not need to request payments or submit invoices; ExpandNow handles this on your behalf through self-invoicing (see the VAT & invoicing section below).

Payout cadence

ExpandNow offers three payout frequencies. All brands start on monthly while we establish a baseline of normal trading activity. Once BAU patterns are clear, you can request an upgrade to weekly or daily, giving you faster access to your cash as your shop scales.

Monthly · default

15th of each month

Covers the previous month's settled activity. All new brands start here while BAU patterns are established.

Weekly

T+7

Paid 7 days after settlement. Available once normal trading patterns are established. Request an upgrade through your account manager.

Daily

T+7

Paid daily, 7 days in arrears. Available for established accounts with consistent performance. Maximizes cash flow for high-volume brands.

How the flow works

TikTok reserve (new shops)

All new shops start on TikTok's Level 1 reserve policy: 10% of settlements held for 30 days. This reduces automatically as your shop score improves with trading history.

Your payout is your net settlement after TikTok's platform fees, VAT and the ExpandNow fee are deducted. Your reporting dashboard breaks every one of these out in real time (ExpandNow fees, TikTok commissions, affiliate costs, FBT charges and taxes), so there are no surprises.

If you operate across multiple TikTok Shop markets, all markets consolidate into a single reporting view and a single payout flow. No separate reconciliations per market.

VAT, tax & invoicing

ExpandNow manages all VAT and sales tax obligations as Merchant of Record. The treatment depends on your situation as an Importer of Record (IoR) and, for EU brands using FBT, whether you hold a VAT number in the EU country where your FBT stock is stored.

Self-invoicing: how invoicing works

To keep operations simple, ExpandNow self-invoices on your behalf. This means that for stock purchased by ExpandNow from your brand, you do not need to send us a monthly invoice. We generate the invoice summary automatically. If you need to represent this in your own finance system, you can simply download the invoice summary from your reporting dashboard and upload it directly; no manual invoice creation is required on your side.

The three VAT scenarios

Your brand is IoR

Scenario 1: brand as Importer of Record

You hold a VAT registration in the relevant market (UK or EU). Your brand invoices ExpandNow including VAT, which is fully recoverable on our side. VAT is ultimately borne by the shopper.

Your invoice to us: £97.50 (incl. VAT)
Shopper pays: £100.00
Your net VAT cost: £16.25

ExpandNow is IoR

Scenario 2: ExpandNow as Importer of Record

You have no UK or EU VAT number. Your brand invoices from your foreign entity with no VAT charged. ExpandNow accounts for VAT on the shopper sale.

Your invoice to us: £81.25 (zero-rated)
Shopper pays: £100.00
Your net VAT cost: £0.00

EU call-off stock

Scenario 3: EU FBT with an existing EU VAT number

Your brand holds a VAT number in another EU country and ships stock to FBT Germany or Spain. ExpandNow purchases your stock under the Call-Off Stock mechanism. Invoices are zero-rated, similar to Scenario 2.

Your invoice to us: Zero-rated
Shopper pays: Market price incl. VAT
Your net VAT cost: £0.00

In all scenarios, VAT is ultimately paid by the shopper

It does not represent a net cost to your brand. If your finance team needs to discuss the right scenario for your structure, we can arrange a call with our VAT specialist.

Which scenario applies to you?

Your situation	Scenario
You have a UK or EU VAT number	Scenario 1: brand is IoR
No UK or EU VAT number, selling into the UK or EU	Scenario 2: ExpandNow is IoR
EU VAT number exists and stock ships to FBT Germany or Spain	Scenario 3: call-off stock

Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT)

FBT is TikTok's fulfillment network. It allows you to store inventory in TikTok's warehouses and have orders picked, packed and shipped domestically, improving delivery speed and conversion rates significantly.

ExpandNow holds the VAT registrations required to enable FBT in Europe (Germany and Spain). These are already linked to your store. In most cases you do not need to supply your own EU VAT number to use FBT, though if you do hold an EU VAT number, see Scenario 3 in the VAT section above.

Accessing FBT in Seller Center

Navigate to Seller Center → Orders → Fulfilled by TikTok, or use this direct link when logged in:

https://seller-de.tiktok.com/fbt/fbt_landing?from=menu&shop_region=DE

Important

FBT registration must be completed using the main account login, not a sub-account. If FBT is not visible in your sidebar, ensure you are logged in as the main administrator.

Beyond TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop is the starting point, but once your brand is live through ExpandNow, you are already domiciled in-market with a compliant local entity and supply chain. This is the foundation for broader expansion, without starting from scratch each time.

1
Phase 1
TikTok Shop launch
Go live in the UK, EU or US in weeks under ExpandNow's local entity.
2
Phase 2
Local supply chain
Inventory stored locally via FBT or partner warehousing. Faster delivery, lower return rates.
3
Phase 3
Multi-channel expansion
Expand onto Amazon, your D2C website and other marketplaces using the same ExpandNow infrastructure.

Speak to your account manager about mapping out your expansion roadmap.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a UK or EU company to use ExpandNow?

No, that is exactly what ExpandNow is for. You sell under our locally registered entities. You do not need to incorporate locally, open a bank account or register for VAT in any market we support.

How long does it take to go live?

From contract signature, we typically hand over stores within 2 weeks. The TikTok Letter of Authorization approval (around 1 week) runs in parallel with contract signing and trademark submission, so there is minimal sequential waiting.

What does the 2.5% fee cover?

It covers your Merchant of Record infrastructure: shop setup, compliance, VAT and tax handling, self-invoicing, automatic payouts and access to our real-time reporting dashboard. It does not cover TikTok's own platform fees (commissions, promotions, FBT costs), which are deducted by TikTok before we settle to you, but all of these are visible in your reporting dashboard.

Do I need to send ExpandNow an invoice each month?

No. ExpandNow self-invoices on your behalf. For stock we purchase from you, we generate the invoice automatically. If you need to record this in your own finance system, simply download the invoice summary from your reporting dashboard and upload it; no manual invoice creation is required on your side.

What are TikTok's platform fees?

TikTok charges sellers a commission (typically 5 to 8% depending on category), plus optional affiliate commissions, co-funded promotion fees and FBT fulfillment costs. These are separate from ExpandNow's fee and are deducted from TikTok's settlement before we pay you. All of these costs are broken out in real time in your ExpandNow P&L dashboard.

Do I keep ownership and control of my TikTok Shop?

Yes. You have full administrative access to TikTok Seller Center and manage everything related to your products, listings, pricing, promotions and content. ExpandNow operates as the legal seller of record in the background; your shop looks and feels like your brand's own shop to all customers.

We sell across multiple TikTok Shop markets. How does that work?

ExpandNow is built for multi-market operations. All your TikTok Shop markets consolidate into a single reporting view and a single payout flow. You do not manage separate reconciliations or invoicing per market; it all runs through one unified setup.

Can I add my team to the Seller Center?

Yes. As a main administrator you can add sub-users with defined roles and country access. Contact us if you need help and we can assist or complete this on your behalf.

Do I need a trademark?

Yes. TikTok requires a trademark registration document to approve a new store. You need a registered trademark in the relevant market (UK, EU or US), or an internationally recognized registration. Please provide this during onboarding, ideally at step 3, to avoid delays.

TikTok Shop guide and FAQs