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Quick answer: MADA's agreement runs three months, renewing, and ends on 30 business days' written notice. Fees are $2,500 a month below $25,000 in monthly GMV, then commission falling from 10% to 5% as the shop grows. The brand keeps the shop, the data and the creators. The sample agreement is on this page.
Why publish the contract at all?
Because the questions it answers are the ones that decide whether to sign, and making somebody book a call to learn the notice period is a waste of their afternoon.
Every clause described below is in the sample agreement, which you can read in full: MADA TikTok Shop agency contract (sample, PDF). The version you would sign is this document with your company name, brand and shop code filled in.
Some of what follows favors us. The late payment penalty, the notice period and the minimum retainer that resumes when the blocker is on your side are all clauses a buyer would rather not see. They are here with the rest, because a page that publishes only the comfortable half of an agreement is less trustworthy than one that publishes none of it.
What does MADA agree to do?
Section 1 sets the scope, and it is narrower and more specific than most agency agreements, which is deliberate.
- Product cards. Creating, optimizing and continuously monitoring your product listings for visibility and engagement.
- Creators. Identifying, selecting and working with creators to promote your products.
- Reporting. Monthly reports covering the creators involved, the number of product cards created and optimized, sales, profit from creator-driven sales, and engagement statistics including card views and video performance.
Section 1.1 puts one obligation on the brand: supply the materials, access and approvals the work needs. It also says delays on your side are not our responsibility, which sounds like boilerplate and is not. Creator programs decay when sample approvals sit unanswered, and the clause exists because that is the most common way an engagement stalls.
What does it cost, at every stage?
The rate falls as the shop grows. That is the part worth reading twice, because it is the opposite of how a percentage fee usually behaves.
| Monthly GMV | Fee | When it is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Below $25,000 | $2,500 a month, flat | In advance, within 3 calendar days of invoice |
| $25,000 to $99,999 | 10% of monthly GMV | twice a month — mid-month and at month end |
| $100,000 to $199,999 | 7% of monthly GMV | twice a month — mid-month and at month end |
| $200,000 and above | 5% of monthly GMV | twice a month — mid-month and at month end |
At $25,000 a month the fee is 10% of GMV. At $200,000 a month it is 5% — half the rate, on eight times the volume. The retainer stops when the commission starts; you are on one model or the other, with the exception in the next section.
The fee is not the whole cost of the channel. TikTok charges a platform referral fee, creators take commission on every attributed sale, ad spend is yours, and so are samples, seeding shipping, returns and COGS. The full cost stack is set out here, and it is the number that decides whether TikTok Shop works for your margin — not our line in it.
When does the retainer come back?
Section 2.1.5, and it is the clause most worth understanding before you sign.
Once you have moved from the retainer to commission, if something on your side stops the work producing sales, the $2,500 monthly minimum resumes until it is resolved. The contract names the situations:
- stock shortages or out-of-stock products
- shipping or fulfillment problems
- a significant reduction in advertising budget
Why it is there. Commission only works as a fee model while sales are possible. A shop that has been out of stock for six weeks generates no GMV and therefore no fee, while the creator program, the briefing, the listings and the account health work all continue — and have to, or the shop loses the position it took months to build. The clause funds that work through a period the agency cannot influence.
What it means for you. It is a real risk to price in. If your supply chain is unreliable or your ad budget is likely to be cut, you could be paying $2,500 a month during a stretch with little revenue to show for it. Raise it on the call. It is a clause we would rather explain in advance than have discovered on an invoice.
What happens if a payment is late?
Section 2.1.4. A penalty of 2% per day applies until the balance is settled, and after 5 calendar days we may pause services until payment is made.
Stating it plainly: 2% per day is a steep rate, and it is the harshest number in the document. It exists because the retainer is billed in advance and the commission twice a month, so a late payment lands directly on creator sampling and ad budget that were already committed. In practice the pause matters more than the percentage — a creator program stopped mid-cycle costs more than any penalty.
If cash timing is a genuine constraint for your business, say so before signing rather than after. It is a negotiable term and an unpaid invoice helps nobody.
How long is the term, and how do you leave?
Sections 3.1 and 6.
| What the contract says | |
|---|---|
| Initial term | 3 months |
| Renewal | Automatic, in successive 3-month periods |
| Notice to end it | 30 business days, in writing, acknowledged and confirmed in writing by MADA |
| Governing law | State of Wyoming |
| Jury trial | Waived by both parties |
Why three months. Sourcing, seeding, shipping, filming and posting takes weeks before the first real data arrives. A one-month engagement measures logistics rather than performance, and neither side learns anything from it.
On the acknowledgement requirement. Section 3.1 says a termination request must be acknowledged and confirmed by us in writing. Read literally that is a strong clause, and it is fair to ask what stops an agency simply not replying. The answer we would give on a call is that it is an administrative step, not a veto, and we will say so in writing if you ask. If that matters to you, ask for it in the contract — a term you are relying on should be in the document rather than in a conversation.
What leaving does not affect. The shop is registered to your business, the revenue settles to your bank details, the creator relationships sit in your Affiliate Center and the history stays in your Seller Center. Ending the agreement ends our access, not your asset. Ownership and exit, in full.
Who carries the risk if the shop is suspended?
You do, and the contract is explicit about it. Section 4 is a normal force majeure clause covering strikes, war, natural disasters and similar. Section 4.1 then names what is not force majeure:
- TikTok Shop account bans
- insufficient inventory
- supply chain disruptions
- legal restrictions
- business restructuring
None of those release the client from payment obligations.
This is the clause to argue with if you are going to argue with one. A TikTok Shop suspension can follow from a listing or a creator claim, and an agency running the shop is closer to those than the brand is. The contract's position is that the shop, the products and the compliance responsibility belong to the seller — which is also TikTok's position, and the same division that applies under TikTok's own managed service. It is defensible, and it is still risk sitting with you.
The practical answer is not the clause, it is not getting suspended: category compliance before launch, a do-not-say list in every creator brief, and content reviewed after it goes live. How compliance work is actually run, and what to do in the first 48 hours if it happens.
What about confidentiality?
Section 5 runs both ways. Both parties keep business information confidential, and the client's obligation not to disclose MADA's confidential material runs for 1 year after the agreement ends.
Worth knowing what that does and does not cover for you as a reference. Your results are your results, and we anonymize clients by category on this site as standard — "a $60 AOV women's supplement brand", not the brand name — unless a brand has given written permission to be named. Every case study on the site is published that way.
What should you change before signing?
Genuine advice, including where it costs us.
- Price the minimum retainer clause against your supply chain. If stock-outs are a recurring feature of your business rather than an exception, that clause will fire, and you should know roughly how often before agreeing to it.
- Ask for the termination acknowledgement in writing. If you want the notice period to be purely administrative, say so and have it written that way.
- Check the fee against contribution margin, not revenue. Platform referral fee, creator commission, ad spend, samples, returns, COGS and then our fee. If what is left is negative at 10%, the answer is a different price or a different product, not a different agency.
- Do not sign if the shop has no reviews and no sales history. Creators will not take the product and the first three months will be spent building trust signals you could build yourself for less than the retainer.
We would rather lose an engagement at this stage than three months in. Which situation you are in, and what it costs.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The sample agreement is available as a PDF on this page, and the terms are described in full above: fees and the commission step-down, payment timing, the 3-month term, the 30 business days notice period, the late payment penalty and the force majeure carve-out.
3 months initially, renewing automatically in 3-month periods unless either party gives 30 business days' written notice. Three months exists because a creator cycle takes weeks to produce data, so a shorter engagement measures logistics rather than performance.
Yes. It is 10%, falling to 7% above $100,000 and 5% above $200,000. The rate at $200,000 in monthly GMV is half the rate at $25,000.
Normally no: the retainer applies below $25,000 in monthly GMV and commission replaces it above. There is one exception, in section 2.1.5. If client-side problems such as stock-outs, fulfillment failures or a significant ad-budget cut stop the work producing sales, a $2,500 monthly minimum resumes until the problem is resolved.
The contract states that account bans, inventory shortages, supply chain disruptions, legal restrictions and business restructuring are not force majeure events and do not release the client from payment obligations. The compliance responsibility for the shop sits with the seller, which is also TikTok's own position.
Termination requires written notice at least 30 business days before the end date, acknowledged and confirmed in writing. Ending the agreement does not affect your shop: the account is registered to your business, and the revenue, listings, history and creator relationships stay with you.
State of Wyoming, and both parties waive the right to a jury trial. Any agreement you sign should be reviewed by your own lawyer; nothing on this page is legal advice.
No. There is no enrollment or setup fee in the agreement. Below $25,000 in monthly GMV the cost is the $2,500 monthly retainer, billed in advance within 3 calendar days of invoice.
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Tell us your category and where you are today. We will tell you straight what TikTok Shop can do for you — including when the answer is that it is not worth it yet.
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