⚠️ Before you launch a TikTok Shop campaign with Reimbursement delivery, turn off Refundable Samples in your TikTok Shop Seller Center. If it stays on, you can end up paying for the same product twice.
🛡️ What we tell creators: JoinBrands creators are instructed to buy your product as a regular purchase only, never as a Refundable Sample, and never to request a refund from TikTok and keep the product. If a creator orders a refundable sample by accident, they must return it, wait for TikTok's refund, buy the correct version as a regular purchase and update the order ID on the job. A creator who keeps a TikTok refund without returning the product breaks our Terms of Service and can face job cancellation, account restriction or suspension, and forfeiture of pending or prior jobs.
❓ What are Refundable Samples?
Refundable Samples is a TikTok Shop feature, not a JoinBrands one. When it's on, a creator buys your product as a "refundable sample", and TikTok refunds the full purchase from your seller balance once their content reaches the sales goal you set (by default, 1 sale).
TikTok can switch this on by default, for example when you add a product to an Open Collaboration plan in Affiliate Center.
💸 Why it matters for Reimbursement campaigns
In a Reimbursement campaign, the creator buys your product and JoinBrands reimburses them from your campaign budget once the job is completed. If the same order was placed as a refundable sample:
JoinBrands reimburses the creator for the product, and
TikTok also refunds the creator from your seller balance when they hit your sales goal.
That means you pay for the same product twice. JoinBrands can't see or reverse refunds that TikTok issues.
🔧 How to turn off Refundable Samples
Log in to your TikTok Shop Seller Center.
Go to Affiliate Center.
Open the Open Collaboration plan for your product.
Under Offer Samples, switch Refundable Samples to Off.
Repeat this for every product you use in a JoinBrands Reimbursement campaign.
💡 Check again whenever you add or edit a product in Open Collaboration. TikTok may turn Refundable Samples back on for new plans.
📓 Note: Turning the setting off only applies to new orders. According to TikTok, orders placed while it was on keep the refund criteria that applied at the time of purchase.
🛟 A creator ordered a refundable sample. What now?
Message the creator in the job chat and ask them to follow our creator steps: return the refundable-sample order, wait for TikTok's refund, then buy the product again as a regular purchase and update the order ID on the job.
If the order hasn't shipped yet, you can ask the creator to cancel it and reorder as a regular purchase instead.
Contact our Brand & Creator Assistance Team through the chat with the job number and order ID so we can follow up with the creator.
For the full campaign setup, see Brands: TikTok Shop Campaigns and Jobs. To see exactly what creators are told, see Creators: Never Buy a Refundable Sample for a JoinBrands Job.