TikTok Shop U.S. Updates Seller Penalty Mechanism
TikTok Shop U.S. applies tiered penalties to sellers based on account health scores. Violations may restrict business permissions, impose order-volume limits, or, in serious cases, suspend the acceptance of new orders.
What are the key facts?
- 1U.S. sellers may first receive warnings or health-score deductions after violations
- 2A lower health score may restrict multiple business permissions
- 3Restrictions may last 90 to 365 days
- 4Serious violations may result in the suspension of new orders
What happened?
In its latest policy update, TikTok Shop continues to emphasize the account health score and tiered penalty mechanisms. If U.S. sellers violate rules on products, intellectual property, fulfillment, fake orders, livestreams, or prohibited goods, the platform may first issue a warning or deduct health points. When the health score falls to specified thresholds, the platform may also restrict product publishing, campaign participation, affiliate marketing, store exposure, and Seller Shipping permissions. Public rules state that these restrictions may last 90 to 365 days, and order-volume limits may also be imposed. In serious cases, the platform will suspend the acceptance of new orders. The mechanism has a significant impact on cross-border sellers because a single supply-chain problem may simultaneously worsen multiple metrics, including late shipment, product not as described, refunds, and customer-service disputes.
What does this mean for cross-border sellers?
A decline in the U.S. account health score may affect product publishing, campaign participation, affiliate marketing, store exposure, and Seller Shipping permissions, and restrictions may last 90 to 365 days. Sellers may also face order-volume limits, and serious cases may result in the suspension of new orders. Integrate compliance, fulfillment, customer service, and logistics-incident checks into one routine review.
What should sellers do now?
- 1Check the U.S. account health score, unresolved cases, violation-appeal deadlines, and logistics exceptions this week; classify issues by product, intellectual property, fulfillment, and other categories, create a trackable list, and confirm an owner for each item.Listing character checker
- 2Sample key U.S. listings this week for product-description, image, and prohibited-goods risks; prioritize products with recent refunds, product-not-as-described cases, or customer-service disputes, and complete a before-and-after revision record.Listing Optimizer
- 3Establish a unified response process for fulfillment exceptions and product-not-as-described cases for U.S. customer service this week; centrally record refund, late-shipment, and buyer-dispute cases, and complete a reusable Q&A and escalation list.AI Customer Service