TikTok Shop tightens policies, online food sellers "cry"

Specifically, the TikTok Shop platform prohibits "all homemade food products, including freeze-dried candy, chamois gum, crystal candy, or home-baked foods." Products that violate the policy will be removed.

A TikTok spokesperson said the company is not changing its policy, but instead adding more specific language prohibiting the sale of homemade food products.

The policy had an immediate impact on small business owners who have relied on TikTok Shop as a tool to promote sales of homemade food.

“A lot of small sellers who used to have hundreds of sales a day are now down to zero overnight,” said Chrystian Linares, an online seller on TikTok Shop.

Linares, a former truck driver, saw a business opportunity on TikTok and had more than 1,400 orders last month. In the past few days, Linares' account has been flagged for policy violations. Linares's career as a candy seller, Alinby, is over.

"For me, this means bankruptcy. I'm wondering whether to cut my losses and get the money back to do something else," he said.

Freezed candies have become a big business on TikTok Shop worldwide . Hashtags starting with characters like "#freezedried" and "#freezedriedtreats" have billions of video views.

Nathan Wilkerson, a crisp candy seller under the brand Tip Top Treats, has had all items on his TikTok Shop suspended over the past few days. He plans to appeal the new policy.

“TikTok Shop can really give and can take,” Wilkerson said.

This isn’t the first time Wilkerson’s store has been targeted by TikTok Shop. Previously, many buyers posted negative reviews about Wilkerson’s Jolly Ranchers and Nerds products that were crushed due to shipping issues.

Wilkerson has removed these products from the shelves, but the negative reviews remain.

TikTok Shop first launched in the US to a select group of users in November and has been slowly expanding to a wider audience to drive e-commerce activity. TikTok’s approach involves offering shipping deals and other subsidies to sellers, and paying bonuses to key influencers (KOLs) who join its affiliate program. E-commerce has become a huge revenue source for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

In addition to hand-made products, there are other prohibited foods such as perishable items and baby formula.

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