TikTok powered early growth in its U.S. shopping service by offering low sellers’ fees and footing the bill for deep discounts. But that free ride is quickly coming to an end.
The company on Wednesday told sellers it will start taking a bigger cut of the sales they make on its app, by raising the commission it charges on most items to 8% over the next few months from 2% plus 30 cents per transaction currently. At the same time, TikTok Shop has started reducing some subsidies for merchants that sell on the app, according to a person familiar with the changes, limiting the offers to top-selling items as the company slashes its spending on the service.
