TikTok Shop is making moves: In the wake of TikTok announcing its sale to a White House-approved group of buyers (which, btw, no big deal, includes Silver Lake, the private equity firm that just bought Electronic Arts in partnership with Donald Trump‘s son-in-law Jared Kushner), its commerce hub is announcing updates to tempt both sellers and buyers.
First and perhaps biggest is the debut of TikTok Shop gift cards.
Just in time for the holidays–although a little late for folks who actually have their lives together enough to buy gifts before the last minute–people can now send each other digital gift cards with values between $10 and $500.
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The cards appear to specifically be for TikTok Shop, not a specific brand or the user’s overall account balance, where they could spend it on things like livestream gifts. That puts them in the realm of cards to other ecommerce platforms like Amazon or eBay, and makes them an admittedly appealing gift for hard-to-please recipients, and a catch-all for digital-savvy kids who usually get Robux cards in their stockings.
Aside from the potential revenue bump from gifting is the potential bump from disuse; we obviously don’t have TikTok-specific stats, but in the gift card world overall, tens of billions of dollars are spent by gifters, and then not spend by recipients. Data from Bankrate shows that 47% of U.S. adults have at least one unspent gift card, with an average value of $187. Not exactly small pocket change.
It’s worth noting TikTok is also gamifying these cards. Right now, users can outfit them with a variety of animated designs. But in 2026, TikTok plans to release updates that will let users attach video messages to cards, and will turn receiving the cards into an “interactive unboxing that captures their reaction in real-time,” a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch.
On the seller side, TikTok is offering to fund up to $6,000 in Shop coupons for new merchants who join the platform and start selling in December. Digiday reports TikTok is similarly gamifying these offerings, giving sellers “missions” that, if fulfilled, will get them extra perks. (Sellers don’t find out what these missions entail until they sign up.)
Aside from coupons, sellers are also being offered no joining fees and “the ability to earn up to $22,800, based on the gross merchandise value (GMV) they generate,” Digiday reports.
Basically, TikTok is telling sellers that if they join its platform, it’ll subsidize a portion of their sales, giving them greater earnings in those early months. It’s an enticing offer, and we’ll see how it plays out if and when new Shop data emerges.
As all this is happening, TikTok Shop’s future is not entirely secured. Details are still murky, but per a September report from Reuters, TikTok Shop isn’t part of TikTok’s overall U.S. sale—likely because Shop operates in regions outside of the U.S. According to that report, TikTok Shop will continue to be owned by ByteDance. Will that nix its ability to exist in the States? Probably not—but we can’t say for sure yet.
One thing, however, is certain: Until that day comes, TikTok will continue pushing its ecommerce behemoth and raking in as much cash as it can.
