In recent years, TikTok has emerged as a powerful platform for eCommerce, particularly for dropshipping businesses. The app’s algorithm-driven feed and viral potential allow sellers to reach millions of users with minimal effort. This makes TikTok dropshipping an attractive option for dropshippers looking to scale quickly.
In this article, we’ll explore how dropshippers can leverage TikTok as a selling channel and the step-by-step process of starting a TikTok dropshipping business. On top of that, we’ll dive into some insights into best-selling products for 2024 and actionable strategies to see real success.
Key Takeaways
TikTok has become a powerful social media platform with a huge user base that enables TikTok dropshipping with TikTok Shops.
Utilize TikTok Shops as a selling channel for your dropshipping business while utilizing the TikTok social media platform to market your business.
Advantages of TikTok dropshipping: test market, wide audience reach, brand awareness. Disadvantages: high competition, marketing costs.
To start TikTok dropshipping, you need to create an account, create your TikTok Shop, find reliable suppliers & source best-sellers, market your products, and fulfill customer orders.
TikTok dropshipping best-sellers: ink kit for GIY photo frame, makeup brush set, claw clips, Y2K digital cameras, stainless steel tumbler, and more.
TikTok has distinguished itself as one of the most popular and highly used social media platforms. Because of this, TikTok already gained about78.7 million users in the United States alone. Due to this wide market reach, TikTok is a promising venue for dropshipping. Notably, because of its great selling potential, the platform developed a selling avenue – TikTok Shops.
TikTok
TikTok Shops
Purpose
Sharing brief video clips, engaging users with likes, comments, and shares to build a community centered around fun and creative expression.
eCommerce feature, allowing sellers and creators to market products directly to viewers via their videos.
User Interaction
The app presents a stream of amusing videos tailored to user preferences, emphasizing content consumption over e-commerce activities.
Provides a smooth shopping experience embedded within the entertainment context, linking products in video content for easy discovery.
Audience Engagement
Captivates its audience through entertainment, innovation, and community interaction, with content that often goes viral.
Combines the allure of entertainment with the convenience of shopping.
Commerce Features
Lacks inherent sales functionality, serving more as a platform for raising brand awareness and guiding potential customers to external sales channels.
Offers comprehensive in-app sales capabilities, including inventory management, order fulfillment, and extensive product details.
Audience
Younger audience
Younger audience
Marketing
Employs a marketing strategy focused on generating engaging, relatable content that captures the audience's attention for fun, mainly.
Direct sales approach, featuring ads embedded in content, live shopping broadcasts, and product highlights to stimulate on-the-spot buying.
With its massive user base and tons of organic traffic, TikTok has become a power player in the dropshipping industry. In fact, both the social media platform and the shop can be utilized to start a successful dropshipping business. We can utilize the social media platform as a marketing outlet where we can easily market our products with short videos. This way, we can leverage the massive user base to grow our recognition and reach. Plus, TikTok’s ability to help us go viral makes it a fantastic platform to reach many potential customers quickly.
Then, we can utilize the TikTok Shop to house our TikTok dropshipping business and all the products we are selling. So, as users scroll through TikTok and come across our products, they can easily make a purchase with just a click. Plus, we can save time and automate our entire TikTok Shop dropshipping process with the most advanced all-in-one dropshipping app – AutoDS.
The Advantages & Disadvantages Of TikTok Dropshipping
Before we move on, let’s first weigh the pros and cons of TikTok dropshipping. Notably, we can utilize TikTok as a marketing avenue for our dropshipping business or use TikTok Shops to take advantage of the platform’s popularity as a selling channel. Let’s begin with the advantages of this eCommerce venture.
Advantages
Quickly test the market
Increase brand awareness
Widen audience reach
Easily connect with customers
Importantely, dropshipping on TikTok helps us quickly test the market because we have easy access to current trends and customer preferences. With millions of active TikTok users, we can increase our brand awareness and widen our audience reach. Plus, TikTok enables easy customer connection through messages and comments.
Disadvantages
High competition
Marketing costs
No control over stocks/prices
On the other hand, TikTok dropshipping has some drawbacks too. For one, there is high competition on the platform because numerous sellers utilize TikTok. Moreover, there are marketing costs that come with TikTok dropshipping, and we have no control over stocks/prices, which can be challenging when setting our product prices.
Nonetheless, we can utilize dropshipping tools and marketing techniques to address these issues. Remember that marketing is crucial to beat the competition. In return, we will reap the harvest of our investment in the long run.
What Do I Need To Start TikTok Dropshipping?
TikTok Requirements
Before anything else, we need to create a TikTok account. To do this, open the TikTok app and create an account.
When doing so, we need to set up our TikTok account in such a way that it reflects the brand identity of our dropshipping store. For instance, when using the social media platform for marketing, we can add our business logo as a profile picture, and our bio must contain a link to our dropshipping store.
Once we’re done setting up our account, we should merge it with the TikTok ads manager. In this way, we can gain insights into in-depth analytics, such as audience traffic.
Afterward, we can switch to a business account that will let us access more benefits on TikTok dropshipping. In particular, we can enjoy royalty-free music, use the Business Suite tools, and more. When our accounts are ready to go, we can start advertising our products on TikTok.
TikTok Shops Requirements
As for actually selling on TikTok, there are some requirements we should keep an eye out regarding the TikTok Shop. We can utilize the TikTok Shop as a selling channel for our dropshipping business, but we need to be at least 18 years old and provide valid U.S. identification, such as a passport or driver’s license. This ensures that sellers are legally recognized entities and can enter into contracts.
Then, our business needs to be legally registered in the US to ensure sellers are legitimate businesses operating within the legal framework. In addition to business registration, we’ll need to obtain an Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service.
After that, we need to verify our TikTok dropshipping business through theirverification process. In this process, we need to provide our personal and business information, submit tax documents, and provide bank account details.
Lastly, we need to adhere to business TikTok Shop name guidelines. Our shop name should accurately represent our business and the products we sell. This helps our audience identify our brand and builds trust and credibility. TikTok prohibits shop names that contain offensive, misleading, or prohibited content. This includes content that promotes violence, discrimination, or illegal activities.
Before utilizing TikTok dropshipping, we need to create a dropshipping TikTok Shop. TikTok has recently opened a new avenue on its platform to enable sellers to create a TikTok Shop and utilize the platform’s virality to maximize sales.
So, the first step is to set up a TikTok seller account. In the setup, it’s important to ensure we’re selling in a supported region. TikTok Shop is available in the United States, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Then, we need to register for an account and provide valid ID documents. After creating our account, we’ll fill in details about our shop, like the name and product types.
Once our account is approved, we’ll add our tax information and set up shipping options. There’s even a Shipping Template we can use for all our orders.
2. Choose Winning Products For Your Store
While we have a list of best-sellers for TikTok dropshipping, we still need to continuously explore other product ideas. To do this, we can utilize the following product research methods:
Spy On Your Competition
Analyze TikTok ads & hashtags
Google Trends
Search Supplier Best-Seller Sections
AutoDS Product Research Tool
To discover the latest trends on the platform, we can analyze TikTok Ads and hashtags. So, by checking what people post and promote, we can land our next winning product on TikTok.
For example, the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag contains a pool of products on TikTok that many people try themselves. Subsequently, when a product receives a high engagement rate, it means that it is trending in the platform.
Another excellent way to find top-caliber items is through the AutoDS Product Research Tool. Using this dropshipping tool, we can apply filters to narrow down our search to the best product choices from supported suppliers.
In particular, we can find products according to their price ranges, suppliers, customer ratings, and more. All in all, it’s an automated product research tool enabling us to scale our business to new heights!
3. Select The Best Dropshipping Supplier
After finding top products to sell, we must find sourcing platforms for these items so we can start adding them to our stores. In this case, selecting a reliable dropshipping supplier is crucial. But don’t worry, as we’ve narrowed down the factors we should look for in a top-notch supplier:
International warehouses
Fast shipping times
Practical return, shipping & payment policies
Excellent customer support
Wide & affordable product range
Positive reviews
Multiple payment options
Supported by automation software
Among these factors, suppliers who integrate with an automation software are perfect for our dropshipping business. And as a leading all-in-one dropshipping software, AutoDS supports a variety of dropshipping suppliers worldwide. Some of these key platforms include AliExpress, Walmart, CJDropshipping, and more.
Furthermore, sellers can opt-in for the AutoDS Product Sourcing service if working with Chinese suppliers. It addresses common challenges like extended delivery times, product quality concerns, and communication difficulties. With a dedicated warehouse for pre-shipment inspections and a streamlined quote request system, AutoDS ensures dropshippers receive top-quality products with faster delivery, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.
One of the AutoDS exclusive features that set it apart from competitors is the ability to source from Shopify. You’ve read it right! AutoDS allows its users to use Shopify for product sourcing. This game-changing feature allows sellers to tap into the huge product selection from the most popular Shopify stores.
As a final note, automating our business means that AutoDS takes care of the everyday processes in our business. As a result, we’ll save time and money while efficiently running our dropshipping venture.
4. Import Best-Sellers To Your Store
Now we are ready to import best-sellers to our dropshipping stores. In general, there are two ways to add dropshipping products: manually or automatically.
With manual product imports, we need to individually copy and paste every piece of product information from our supplier’s site to our store. However, with automatic importing, we can reduce the time we spend building our product catalog. In fact, we can do single, bulk, or scheduled product imports with just a click of a button by utilizing the AutoDS Product Importer.
Since TikTok integrates with Shopify, let’s demonstrate the one-click importer with a Shopify store.
One-Click Importer
The one-click importer allows us to add an item to our TikTok Shop in just a few seconds. Before we can do that, we have to install the AutoDS Helper Chrome Extension first.
We’ll begin by going to the product page and clicking the ‘Import to AutoDS’ button above the product title. At this point, AutoDS will transfer the product details from the supplier to the AutoDS platform as a draft. From here we can optimize its title, description, image, tags, and other necessary information. We can utilize the AI Rewrite tool to simplify the optimization process.
Remember that search engine optimized (SEO) products become more relevant in customer web searches and are more visible on the market to our customers. Lastly, we just need to click the ‘Import’ button to publish the item to our dropshipping store.
5. Promote Your Dropshipping Products On TikTok
Yay! Now that our stores are ready, we can begin promoting our products on TikTok. Essentially, marketing is crucial for us to maximize our audience reach. Remember that the more traffic our stores have, the greater our chances of sales conversions.
When promoting our products on TikTok, we can do organic marketing or run ads on the platform. For organic marketing, we need to record a series of videos while trying out the product. In this way, we can clearly showcase the features and benefits of using the products we’re offering. Importantely, we need to create quality content to add to the legitimacy of the listing.
Once our videos are live, we can use relevant hashtags to easily appear on users’ “For You” page when searching for similar stuff. With tons of active users, our product videos optimized with relevant hashtags, and a store link will appear in front of thousands of people. As such, we can increase our reach and impressions globally and maximize our sales.
We can also opt in for paid TikTok ads. Running ads on TikTok helps our products become more visible on the platform. We can adjust the targeting demographics to fit our ideal customer profile. By doing so, our ads will appear in front of people who are most likely to buy or be interested in the product. This way, viewers can easily access our dropshipping stores and purchase our products.
6. Fulfill Customer Orders
Notably, we need to fulfill our customers’ orders as fast as we can to guarantee satisfaction. However, when we start receiving more orders daily, fulfilling them manually is a hassle. Plus, it opens the door for mistakes.
As a matter of fact, with manual fulfillment, we have to manually fill in every detail of our customer’s shipping information. Basically, we go on our supplier’s website and fill in our customer’s addresses, shipping information, and product specification one by one.
On the other hand, with AutoDS Automatic Orders, we can automate this process entirely. The whole process from ‘order made’ to ‘order shipped,’ and everything in between is fully automated, saving us time and reducing errors.
Additionally, if we work with US suppliers, we can use Fulfilled by AutoDS. This tool protects our personal buyer accounts by using AutoDS accounts when sourcing our items. Plus, Fulfilled By AutoDS automates the entire fulfillment process. And we can also use the one-click returns to make things easier.
Moreover, both AutoDS Automatic Orders and Fulfilled By AutoDS have automatic tracking updates. Thus, we can easily keep our customers up to date on the entire delivery process.
Product Sourcing Quotes
TikTok is heaven for fans of “lifehack” things like mini eyeglasses cleaners, clip-on book lights, and trendy items like night projectors. Such products are called “TikTok finds” and are immensely popular. Most of these items come from Chinese suppliers like AliExpress, Banggood, etc.
Every dropshipper knows that working with Chinese providers means long delivery times, quality concerns, and communication hurdles with suppliers. However, this is no longer true when using AutoDS’s Product Sourcing Quotes service.
This innovative feature transforms the order fulfillment process and addresses common pain points dropshippers face. It simplifies and optimizes the order fulfillment process, particularly when dealing with Chinese suppliers. Here is how it works:
1. When you receive an order from a Chinese supplier or an unmonitored source, you can request a quote from AutoDS.
2. Our team swiftly processes your request, typically within 48 hours.
3. After processing, you’ll receive a range of options to choose from, including product variations, shipping methods, and associated costs.
4. Once you decide to source a product, its status changes to “linked.” You can connect only your product to the chosen AutoDS-sourced item (for future orders) or link existing pending orders.
The Product Sourcing Quotes service makes shorter shipping times and cheaper products possible and ensures product quality. Here is why you should consider using this feature for TikTok dropshipping:
Quality Assurance: We established a warehouse where products undergo thorough inspections before shipping to your end customers.
Faster Delivery: We’ve streamlined the sourcing process, allowing you to choose from various shipping options and prices and enjoy faster delivery times for your customers.
Effortless Process: The process is quick and efficient. Within 48 hours, you’ll have multiple options at your fingertips.
Customization: Tailor your sourcing with various options for product variations, shipping methods, and costs, meeting your specific needs.
Cost Savings: Find competitive and often lower-priced products, maximizing your profitability.
With the Product Sourcing Quotes, TikTok dropshippers gain an edge over competitors and empower their business for success.
7. Communicate With Your Customers
Undoubtedly, communicating with our customers is crucial for our success. And, we can achieve that with exceptional customer service. This helps us differentiate ourselves from the competition and attain customer loyalty. So, customers will be encouraged to return if they have a pleasant experience when purchasing from our store.
A more direct and personal approach to customer service on TikTok is using the platform to communicate or respond to your customers. However, a more organized approach might be through email. To explain, once a customer sends us their query, we can resolve it by sending them an email with the answer or solution.
The 10 Best Products To Sell For TikTok Dropshipping
Onto the most exciting part, we’ll explore the best products to sell for TikTok dropshipping. Without further ado, here are the top trends that we can sell on TikTok:
Next, we’ll learn about what makes these items the top choices on TikTok.
1. Ink Kit For DIY Photo Frame
The ink kit for DIY photo frames is a proven best-seller due to its strong connection to creativity and personalization, which are popular trends on the platform. TikTok thrives on user-interactive content, making this product perfect for creators who want to showcase unique DIY potential.
With video demonstrations, users can easily see how the ink kit works and how it adds a personal touch to any space, making it a highly “shoppable” product. Because the ink kit offers an opportunity for DIY enthusiasts to create something unique, it fits perfectly within the aesthetic-driven, do-it-yourself culture that thrives on TikTok. The product’s adaptability for various occasions, such as weddings, birthdays, and home decor, means it has a broad and market appeal.
Ink Kit For DIY Photo Frame
Retail Price
$24
Item Cost
$2
Potential profit:
$22
Shipping time: 14 Days
2. Makeup Brushes Set
Makeup brush sets are an excellent product to dropship on TikTok due to their high demand and viral potential. Beauty enthusiasts are always on the lookout for quality makeup tools that enhance their makeup routine. So, brush sets provide a convenient, all-in-one solution for their entire makeup application.
Since TikTok thrives on aesthetically pleasing, shareable content, showcasing a makeup brush set in action can capture the attention of the platform’s beauty-loving audience. The diversity of designs, from luxurious-looking brushes to affordable yet chic options, makes it easy to tailor marketing to different demographics.
3. Stylish Claw Clips
Stylish claw clips are practical and trendy, which makes them a fantastic product to dropship on TikTok. Hair accessories have seen a resurgence in popularity driven by social media platforms like TikTok, showcasing effortless hairstyles.
Their universal appeal makes them a versatile product with a wide potential audience. Plus, the various designs and colors allows sellers to offer a diverse range of options matching different fashion styles.
4. Cute Cozy Fluffy Warm Baby Blanket
With its soft, cuddly texture and adorable design, the cute cozy fluffy warm baby blanket taps into the emotional side of parenting. Plus, cozy blankets are essential for parents, and this one really takes the cake. Because of its necessity, there is always a high demand for baby blankets, especially fluffy and warm ones like this one.
Baby products are known for their viral potential, especially when they focus on comfort and cuteness. Plus, the cute cozy fluffy warm baby blanket can cater to a wide range of audience as it’s suitable for parents and gift buyers.
5. Electric Automatic Plush Toy
The electric automatic plush toy taps into the platform’s viral nature with its cute, interactive appeal. Plush toys are naturally popular, especially with children and pet owners. Plus, because they are made from plush and not plastic, they are much safer and don’t make any noise. Furthermore, the electric automatic plush toy adds a fun and dynamic twist with its automatic movements and sound options.
These features make it eye-catching and highly shareable in short-form content, making it easy for TikTok influencers to create engaging videos around it. The toy can respond to touch or motion, creating a sense of interaction that can captivate audiences and encourage impulse purchases.
6. YK2 Digital Camera
The YK2 digital camera is perfect for the current retro and aesthetic trends that are popular among younger audiences. With its compact design and nostalgic feel reminiscent of early 2000s digital cameras, it appeals to younger generations who enjoy capturing moments in a vintage, low-fi style.
The camera’s simplicity makes it perfect for sharing spontaneous moments, creating content, or even giving as a unique gift. Since TikTok thrives on visually-driven content, showcasing the YK2 camera in creative, lifestyle-oriented videos can easily attract attention and drive sales.
7. Yoga Pants With Pockets
Yoga pants with pockets are a better version of simple yoga pants because they have pockets. Plus, they are super comfortable and soft, making them a great piece of apparel for any woman. With the rise of athleisure, yoga pants have become a staple not just for workouts but also for casual, everyday wear.
The addition of pockets adds a functional element that resonates with today’s active and convenience-driven consumers. This offers a hands-free solution for carrying essential items. Since TikTok’s user base skews toward younger, trend-conscious individuals, showcasing these pants in dynamic videos can highlight their versatility and comfort.
8. Checkerboard Plaid Cushion Cover
The checkerboard plaid cushion cover is a trendy, visually appealing product that aligns perfectly with TikTok’s aesthetic trends. Its bold, eye-catching checkerboard pattern is ideal for users who love home decor that makes a statement.
Furthermore, this offers instant room upgrades at a low cost. The vibrant plaid design adds a sense of uniqueness and creativity, making it attractive for users who are drawn to items that reflect popular design trends.
9. Stainless Steel Tumbler
Stainless steel tumblers have broad appeal and practical functionality. They are versatile, as they can be used for both hot and cold beverages, making them a year-round essential for consumers. Their durability and reusable nature align with the growing consumer preference for sustainable products.
TikTok’s audience is highly engaged with eco-conscious brands, and tumblers offer a perfect balance of style and sustainability. Plus, they are very customizable and can cater to a wide range of personal tastes, making them an attractive product.
10. Starry Projector Light
The star projector light has captivating visuals and flexibility. This innovative gadget produces a beautiful show of stars and nebulae on walls and ceilings, turning any space into a captivating cosmic setting. As aesthetic home decor trends are on the rise, the projector is a perfect fit for TikTok users looking to elevate their living spaces.
Its charm is enhanced by the option to adjust colors and brightness levels, enabling users to craft distinct vibes for relaxation, social gatherings, or intimate moments. This high level of customization makes it a popular choice for sharing on social media, as users will want to display their revamped environments.
And there we have it – some of TikTok’s most profitable and in-demand products! We can utilize these products to see great success quickly on this platform.
Do Not Offer These Products
TikTok Shop has strict rules prohibiting certain products from being sold on the platform because of safety, legal, or ethical reasons. Here’s a breakdown of critical items to avoid selling at all costs:
Adult Products
Alcohol, Tobacco, And E-cigarettes
Animal-Related Products
Baby And Maternity Products
Certain Beauty and Personal Care Products
Hazardous Or Dangerous Item
Electronic And Automotive
The complete list of prohibited items at TikTok Shop also includes discriminatory products, gambling paraphernalia, and drug-related items. It’s essential to regularly check the detailed prohibited list to ensure compliance and avoid penalties. Additionally, you can read more about TikTok’s selling restrictions in our TikTok Shops guideto better understand it.
By avoiding these items and filling up our product catalog with proven best-sellers, we can ensure we maximize our sales.
Scale Your TikTok Dropshipping Business With Automation
While TikTok can help our business gain visibility and increase sales; we should not stop there. As such, there are even more ways to scale our dropshipping business. Among the methods available, dropshipping automation is one of the best ways to scale our business.
Once again, AutoDS is an all-in-one dropshipping solution for our automation needs. With that said, here are other automated features that we can adopt in our online business:
Price/Stock Monitoring
Price Optimization
One-screen Inventory Management
Automatic Tracking Updates
Advanced Image Editor
…and much more!
With these exciting tools, we can expand our dropshipping venture to greater heights. Even while we relax or sleep, enormous profits will continuously come our way!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is TikTok Good For Dropshipping?
Yes, TikTok is a promising platform for dropshipping. Due to its broad user base and easy-to-use interface, promoting our business on TikTok will surely attract substantial audiences. As a result, we can maximize our sales conversions.
What Is The Difference Between TikTok And TikTok Shops?
TikTok Shops provides a separate space optimized for selling on TikTok. With the incredible amount of traffic and huge user base, it provides the perfect avenue to start and grow your dropshipping business. TikTok is the social media side of the platform where you can maximize your reach and market your dropshipping products.
How Can I Start TikTok Dropshiping?
To start dropshipping on TikTok, you need to find trending products, select a selling channel, and work with a supplier. Afterward, you must import items, market your business, fulfill orders, and communicate with customers.
What Are The Best Products For TikTok Dropshipping?
TikTok is a vast platform with endless product trends. But don’t worry; we’ve listed the best products to dropship on TikTok for you. Some of the most in-demand items include the handheld butter churn, door draft stopper, and budget binder.
Conclusion
We’ve gone through all the steps to prepare us to start a dropshipping business with TikTok Shops. On top of that, we know how to utilize the social media aspect of the platform to market our products, maximize our reach, and grow our business. To help us see real success with TikTok dropshipping, we have a selection of proven best-sellers we can sell in our TikTok Shop.
However, to help us out further with our TikTok dropshipping, check out these helpful articles:
