Do You Need 5,000 Followers For TikTok Shop?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last six months, you’ll have seen TikTok shop explode onto the social scene. More than 55 million TikTok users in the US have shopped via the platform, leaving brands cleaning up. 

Tarte recently surpassed the 1 million products sold through TikTok shop alone, in big part thanks to a creator’s viral video. Abbey’s 32 second video generated over $733.11k in sales for the brand. With a 15% commission rate, I’ll let you do the math on how much she made…

Abbey’s not alone.

Creators are cleaning up on TikTok shop and even more are starting their journey every day. The only barrier in their way? A 5000 follower requirement. 

Today, we’re covering everything you need to know about starting TikTok shop (even if you don’t have 5000 followers yet).

What is TikTok Shop?

It depends on who you ask. For some, it’s a glorified money printer.

In a nutshell, TikTok Shop is an all-in-one shopping experience for folks who don’t want to leave the platform while browsing. It lets you buy products while watching TikTok LIVE videos, browsing your FYP or through a new ‘Shop’ tab.

Rolling out across the US in September 2023, it initially started small, but now, not so much. There are now over 200,000 sellers (big and small) on the platform and it’s growing every day.

But what’s this got to do with creators?

TikTok Shop earnings are unmatched for creators

TikTok shop provides an unrivaled opportunity to make $$$ as a creator.

It’s similar to the Amazon affiliate program. Choose a product, post promotional content on your own account and in return, you receive a commission payout for every sale that content drives.

The kicker?

The % commission you get from TikTok leaves Amazon in the dust. While Amazon rates are set at around 3-4%, TikTok commission ranges anywhere from 5-65%, so it’s easy to make bank.

…where do I sign up?

How to start TikTok Shop

Starting a TikTok shop as a creator couldn’t be easier, as long as you meet three simple requirements. You’ll need to:

• Have 5000 followers in the US (1000 in the UK)

• Have posted a video in the last 28 days

• Be over 18

If you meet the requirements, simply head for Creator Tools in your profile and apply for TikTok Shop.

How to do TikTok Shop with less than 5000 followers

If you’re reading this article, you probably don’t have the followers needed to start.

So, what can you do?

If you don’t have enough followers, there are workarounds. 

Once upon a time you could join a Creative Agency Partner (CAP). These are TikTok shop agencies you could join that ultimately gave you backdoor access. 

Or at least, they used to. Unfortunately, that method is now defunct.

Luckily, there are still ways. In fact, there are three different ways to gain access to TikTok Shop as a creator, depending on your follower count. 

Remember, if you’re in the US you need 5000 followers, if you’re in the UK it’s only 1000.

1. Join as a business

This first method was everywhere online a few months ago, so we’ve included it, but we do not recommend doing this right now. Essentially, you use the TikTok shop business loophole. At the moment, you can create a business TikTok shop account with no follower requirements. You’ll then link your personal account and voila, access.

1. Open a TikTok For Business Account 

2. Open a TikTok Shop Account as a merchant

3. Upload a product to your TikTok Shop as a merchant

4. Link the account you want to use to the TikTok Shop

5. Have a friend or family member purchase it and go through the shipping process

Before you set yourself up as a business, consider it really really carefully.

It’s a workaround, but one that comes with risk. TikTok is aware of it already and is already hitting accounts with requests for warehouse information. Tread carefully.

2. Acquire an account with 5000 followers

While this isn’t one we’ve tried ourselves, we’ve seen a number of creators have success with purchasing an existing TikTok account that meets the requirement. Online marketplaces such as Fame Swap allow creators to sell their accounts — at first glance, US based accounts with +5k followers are going for around $150. 

It goes without saying this isn’t risk free, but is a workaround some creators are using to expedite the process. If you choose to go down this route, do the following:

• Pay for the full version — this gives you access to the full username before you commit to the purchase.

• When searching for a winner, sort not only by United States accounts but also ones that have an audience report. This is verified and will give you a chance to see the current demographics.

• Use escrow. This is a layer of protection you really want to have when doing a transaction like this.

  
  

Ultimately though, TikTok is the easiest social media platform to grow a following on quickly. 5000 followers is really do-able. Ask yourself, if you can’t gain 5000 followers on the app, will you be able to sell products on it.

If there’s one thing we’d recommend, it’s spending a month focusing on expediting your growth. Here’s how…

3. Expedite your growth

If you want to grow on TikTok, you’re going to need to commit to putting in the work. Here’s how I would do it….

• Choose a niche

You don’t need to overthink this, but if you want to expedite your growth it’s going to be much easier if you focus on one area. Keep it broad, but be sure to think about what products you could sell via TikTok shop later down the line. 

Let’s say I choose fitness, health, wellness — that sort of area…

• Give the people what they want

  
  

  

To grow your followers, you need to grow your engagement. To do that, you need to give the people what they want. Luckily, it’s never been easier to find out exactly what that is.

TikTok lays it out for you. You can tap into insights by typing "Creator Search Insights" in the search bar. This will surface topics that are searched for often. You can sort by topic, and most importantly, you can filter for content gap topics. These topics are searched for often, but aren't featured in a lot of videos. Easy wins. 

If I continue on with my example, I’ve now got a great starting point with topics that I know are being searched for and a few that aren’t being answered.

• Frequency and consistency

TikTok rewards creators posting frequently, but also consistently. Whilst being able to post three times a day would be great if you’re looking to optimize growth, that only works if you can keep it up. Commit to posting regularly and stick with it. 

The best part about TikTok is that you don’t need a lot of time to create content that pops off. Nine times out of ten it’s the video you filmed on a whim in the car.

• Start a series

This is one of the easiest ways to grow a community: this gives people a reason to watch more of your videos, and to also come back to your account tomorrow. From a psychology point of view, it can also feel easier knowing what you have to film next. 

On my fitness account, it might be as simple as a 60 days summer shred or 12 week fitness transformation. From our creator insights research, we already know these are widely searched for.

By knowing what's trending in real-time, you can tailor your content strategy to resonate with an audience from the get-go. And then, you film. You post. You learn. Then rinse and repeat.

With the numbers we are seeing from TikTok Shop, it’ll be worth it. If you’re ready to step up your TikTok Shop game we’ve just posted a brand new 13-module TikTok Shop training in The Academy. It’s waiting for you when you’re ready.

FAQ

Do you need 5000 followers to join TikTok shop?

Yes, in the US there is a 5000 follower requirement to sign up as a TikTok Shop affiliate. In the UK the requirement is just 1000 followers. Many creators have experimented with workarounds to get onto the social commerce platform.