Open rate, target rate, and why two creators selling the same product get paid differently

If you have ever compared notes with another affiliate and found out they are earning 22% on a product you are selling at 15%, you were not imagining it. You are on different commission plans, and almost nobody explains the difference.

Here is how it actually works, and what to do about it.

The two plans

Open collaboration is the public rate. A seller sets one number, the product goes into the marketplace, and any creator can add it to their showcase and start selling at that rate. It is designed for reach. Sellers use it to get volume without doing outreach.

Target collaboration is a private, per-creator rate. The seller picks specific creators and offers them a rate that only applies to them. When both exist, the target rate overrides the open rate for that creator.

That is the whole mechanic. The person earning 22% while you earn 15% is not better at TikTok. They are on a target plan and you are on the open plan.

Two details worth knowing:

• Sellers can set open rates anywhere from 1% to 80%, though most real categories land between 10% and 25%.
• Changes to an open rate take about 30 days to take effect, while target rates activate in roughly 5 days. That timing difference is why sellers running a launch will use target rates: it is the only lever that moves quickly.

Why sellers hold target rates back

A target rate is more expensive per sale, so sellers do not hand them out. They spend them where the return is provable. In practice, sellers offer target rates to creators who fall into one of three buckets:

1. Already sold the product. You are the safest bet they have. This is why your first few sales at the open rate matter more than they feel like they do.
2. Sold something adjacent. Same category, similar audience, demonstrated conversion. A seller can look at your GMV by category before ever messaging you.
3. Came recommended. An agency, a community, or another creator vouched for you. This is the shortcut, and it is the one most creators never use.

Notice what is not on that list: follower count. Sellers running the numbers care about conversion and consistency. A 12k account that reliably sells is worth more to them than a 400k account that posts once and disappears.

How to actually get moved up

Sell first, then ask. Post the product at the open rate, make sales, then message the seller with your numbers. "I have done 40 units on this in three weeks, can we talk about a target rate" is a conversation. "Can I get a higher rate" from a creator with zero sales on that product is not.

Ask for the right thing. Do not just ask for a bigger percentage. Ask for a target rate on the two or three SKUs you actually sell, and offer something specific in return: a posting cadence, a LIVE, a video within a set window. Sellers are trading margin for certainty.

Do not burn the sample. Sample approval is one of the biggest yes-or-no gates on the seller side, and approvals get tracked. If you request samples and do not post, your approval rate follows you. Request what you will actually film.

Go where the target rates are already negotiated. This is the part most creators miss. Agencies that manage shops set target rates in bulk for the creators in their programs. Joining one means you start at the negotiated rate instead of grinding up to it. That is a large part of why our own community exists.

One more thing about stacking

You earn one commission per product. Target and open do not stack, and ads commission is a separate lever the seller controls rather than a bonus you can add on top. If a seller tells you their rate is "20% plus ads commission," ask what the ads commission actually pays and under what conditions, because that is a different program with different rules.

The short version

The open rate is the price of admission. The target rate is what the job pays once someone knows you can do it. Almost every affiliate earning well on TikTok Shop is on target rates for their core products, and they got there by proving out a few SKUs and then asking.

If you want to skip the grinding-up part, the Discord is where we post the brands we manage and the rates attached to them.