This is the exact strategy I use to dropship products from Amazon directly onto TikTok Shop, including how I navigate the tracking issues that most dropshippers face when selling here.
First, it’s crucial to understand that if you want to dropship directly to customers using TikTok Shop, you need to adjust your shipping settings in the backend of your shop.
To do this, go to the "Orders" tab on the left side when you’re in the backend.
Once you click on "Orders," you'll see the shipping options. Click on that, and it will take you to the page where you can select the option to use "Seller Shipping" instead of the standard TikTok shipping labels.
Here's a 2 minute video explaining exactly how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqQYGN-lT4Y
If you don't switch to "Seller Shipping" and continue using TikTok's default shipping, your customers' addresses will be blurred out when you receive orders. This means you won’t know where to ship the products, making it impossible to dropship effectively.
Assuming you’ve switched to "Seller Shipping," you can now dropship directly to your customers through TikTok Shop. You don’t need to hold any inventory because you’ll have access to their addresses, allowing you to order directly to their location and input the tracking number from your supplier into the TikTok Shop order.
It’s also important to understand TikTok’s shipping rules to avoid any trouble. TikTok Shop requires you to ship products within two days, and they must be delivered in under 11 days. If your supplier can’t meet this deadline every single time, TikTok might let it slide occasionally, but it will hurt your metrics slightly. However, if you miss the deadline too often, your shop could get shut down, so don’t abuse it.
Once you’ve set your shipping template to "Economy Shipping," which grants you the maximum 11-day delivery window, go to the "Orders" tab again in the backend of your TikTok Shop.
Then, click on "Shipping Templates" below that and select your shipping template. Here, you can decide whether to charge for shipping or not and choose the shipping options your customers will have at checkout. Always choose the economy shipping option to maximize the delivery time you're allowed on TikTok Shop (again, that same tutorial about will show you this).
If your product is delivered much earlier than the 11-day window, that’s great. Your customer will be happy, and they’ll also be able to see the tracking number, knowing the estimated delivery time. Allowing yourself the 11-day window is smart in case your supplier is slow or there’s a delay in shipping, so always select that option.
Because the longest delivery time allowed on TikTok Shop is only 11 days, I do not recommend dropshipping from any overseas supplier like AliExpress. If you’re using AliExpress, CJ Dropshipping, or ZenDrop with U.S. warehouses and the shipping time meets those parameters, then that’s fine.
But if you use overseas suppliers, it will likely result in frustrated customers, canceled orders, and eventually, a suspended shop when your products aren’t delivered quickly enough or your tracking numbers aren’t verified properly.
None of these issues affect me because I dropship from Amazon onto TikTok Shop when I’m initially testing products to prove their viability. When launching a product before knowing if it will sell, I test with Amazon products. There are millions of high-quality products with great pictures and descriptions available, and many top-rated products have review videos, allowing me to test quickly without spending money or time creating user-generated content (UGC) myself.
One of my favorite reasons for using Amazon is that if I ever get a return, I know they’ll honor the refund, and I can easily ship it back. I don’t have to jump through hoops to get a supplier to accept a return, risking a loss of money. Remember, this is just the initial testing phase—we’re trying to find winning products with minimal effort, expense, and risk.
However, it’s crucial to note that you cannot use Amazon Prime for dropshipping directly to customers. You must use a regular Amazon account without Prime. If you use Prime and ship to multiple addresses, Amazon will suspend your Prime privileges.
Another issue many dropshippers face when using Amazon or Walmart as suppliers is dealing with tracking numbers. About half the time, you’ll receive a UPS, USPS, or FedEx tracking number, which is easy to input into TikTok Shop. But if you get an Amazon TBA tracking number, you’re stuck without a proper tracking number to input. You might worry that TikTok will cancel your order, you won’t get paid, and you’ll lose money.
For years, I’ve relied on Track Taco to solve this problem. It’s been a lifesaver, generating legitimate tracking numbers to the appropriate city and state. I’ve used it successfully across platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, Mercari, and now TikTok Shop.
Here's a track taco tutorial: https://youtu.be/gWEcw1gRAa0
A common concern for new dropshippers is that customers might notice the branded Amazon boxes or invoices. Trust me, this is a non-issue 99% of the time. Most customers don’t care about the packaging; they care about receiving their product on time. This concern is more of a psychological barrier for new dropshippers than an actual problem. Most people don’t even remember where they ordered each item from half the time.
For instance, I frequently order from Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Target, and dozens of other stores. I don’t check to see if they all came from the same supplier; I only care that I received what I ordered.
Here's an in depth explantion why this is a non issue if you're worried about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r-q0NjArrg&t=55s
Additionally, Amazon is no longer just a retail supplier; they have the best fulfillment network in the world. Many Walmart and eBay sellers, as well as numerous companies, use Amazon’s fulfillment services to store and ship their products.
There’s nothing specific to tell customers that your product was dropshipped, so don’t stress about it. Most people don’t care, and most won’t notice.
Ultimately, Amazon is the best site to test products when you’re starting to dropship on TikTok Shop. The product quality, the sheer variety of options, access to review videos, fast shipping times, and the ability to input tracking numbers make it a no-brainer, especially for beginners.
You don’t have to worry about competing on price because you’re selling directly to your customers with your videos, not against cheaper products. Again, this is just for the initial testing phase to prove the concept.
When you start getting a lot of sales, it’s time to find a more suitable supplier for your product and automate the process a bit more.
But as always, this is what works for me. Hope it helps!
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