Most TikTok Shop agencies charge a flat monthly retainer plus a percentage of GMV (everything your shop sells). Be prepared to pay $3,000 to $8,000 /mo plus 2% to 6% of GMV. The lower the retainer, the higher the percentage.
TikTok's fees in the math below come from our TikTok Shop profit calculator and are current as of August 2026.
Three example deals from inside the range. The share of GMV in each cell is what the agency costs you as a percentage of sales.
| Structure | $50,000 /mo GMV | $100,000 /mo GMV | $250,000 /mo GMV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low retainer$3,000 /mo + 6% | $6,00012.0% of GMV | $9,0009.0% of GMV | $18,0007.2% of GMV |
| Middle$5,000 /mo + 4% | $7,00014.0% of GMV | $9,0009.0% of GMV | $15,0006.0% of GMV |
| High retainer$8,000 /mo + 2% | $9,00018.0% of GMV | $10,00010.0% of GMV | $13,0005.2% of GMV |
Under $100,000 a month in GMV, the low retainer is the cheapest of the three. Above $150,000, the high retainer is. In between, the middle deal costs the least.
If you expect the shop to grow fast, price each offer at the GMV you expect in month six as well as the GMV you have today. Against the high retainer, the low retainer saves you $3,000 a month at $50,000 in GMV and costs you $5,000 more a month at $250,000.
A $34 beauty product with the calculator's defaults for the category: a 15% storefront discount, 20% affiliate commission, 150 units a month sent to creators, and 3,000 orders a month.
| List price | $34.00 |
|---|---|
| Storefront discount (15%) | −$5.10 |
| Platform referral fee (8%) | −$2.31 |
| Transaction fee | −$0.30 |
| Affiliate commission (20%) | −$5.78 |
| Product cost | −$8.00 |
| Shipping you absorb | −$4.50 |
| Pick and pack | −$1.50 |
| Returns reserve (4.0%) | −$0.56 |
| Shop ads (5% of revenue) | −$1.45 |
| Creator seeding | −$0.63 |
| Profit per order | $3.88 |
TikTok, the creator, and the discount take 40% of the list price before you pay for the product. The referral fee and the commission are both taken on the $28.90 the buyer pays after the discount.
An agency on the middle deal adds 4% of that $28.90, which is $1.16 an order, and then its $5,000 retainer on top.
3,000 orders a month is $86,700 in GMV. The shop makes $11,634 before the agency.
| Structure | Agency fee | Profit left | Break-even orders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low retainer$3,000 /mo + 6% | $8,202 | $3,432 | 1,761 |
| Middle$5,000 /mo + 4% | $8,468 | $3,166 | 2,055 |
| High retainer$8,000 /mo + 2% | $9,734 | $1,900 | 2,516 |
The formula
Monthly profit = orders × $4.50 − $1,875 seeding − retainer − (GMV × agency %)
$4.50 is the profit per order with seeding pulled out, because seeding is a set monthly cost (150 units at $8 each plus shipping) that doesn't grow with orders.
Break-even orders is the monthly order count where the shop covers its seeding and the agency fee and makes $0. On the middle deal that's 2,055 orders, or about $59,000 a month in GMV.
The agency's job is to get you past that number. Ask every agency you talk to what order volume they expect by month three, then put it into the formula.
Two offers with the same headline numbers can cost different amounts depending on these answers.
Most charge a flat retainer plus a percentage of GMV. Be prepared to pay $3,000 to $8,000 /mo plus 2% to 6% of GMV. The lower the retainer, the higher the percentage. At $100,000 a month in GMV, the three structures on this page cost $9,000 to $10,000 a month.
Only while GMV is small. A $3,000 retainer at 6% and an $8,000 retainer at 2% cost the same at $125,000 a month in GMV ($10,500 each). Above that, the low retainer costs more every month.
The percentage ties part of the fee to what the shop sells, so the agency earns more as GMV grows. The retainer pays for the work that happens every month whatever the shop sells, like recruiting creators, shipping samples, and running Shop ads.
No. TikTok takes its 8% referral fee and $0.30 per order, and creators get their commission, on every order whether you have an agency or not. The agency fee comes out of what's left after those, which is why we run the per-order math first.
Put your price and product cost into the calculator, then send me what it shows. I'll tell you whether your shop can carry an agency fee at the volume you're doing today.