Product Safety Best Practices and FAQ

In this guide, you will learn how to

• Check product safety, category requirements, labels, warnings, and documents before listing.
• Write clear listing information so customers understand safe use, age suitability, storage, charging, cleaning, disposal, and other precautions.
• Package products to reduce risks from plastic bags, leaks, breakage, sharp edges, batteries, fire hazards, aerosols, and fragile materials.
• Apply category-specific safety checks for ingestible products, electronics, baby and maternity products, toys, beauty and personal care items, and pet products.
• Monitor customer feedback, returns, complaints, and Seller Center notifications after sale so potential safety issues are handled quickly.

Start Here: Seller Safety Responsibilities

What sellers should do

• Follow TikTok Shop policies. This includes category-specific safety and compliance requirements.
• Meet applicable legal and safety standards. Some product categories may require approval before sale. Review Your Guide to Category Qualification if your product is in a category that may need approval.
• Provide clear product use and safety information. Include instructions, warnings, precautions, age restrictions, and use limits where they apply.
• Include practical care and handling information. Add storage, charging, cleaning, assembly, disposal, maintenance, or adult supervision instructions when relevant.
• Keep safety records. Maintain records that help trace products to a supplier, manufacturer, importer, batch, lot, model, SKU, or purchase record where applicable.
• Review customer feedback regularly. Complaints, reviews, returns, and questions can reveal product safety issues.
• Monitor Seller Center notifications. Check for account health updates, policy updates, product safety notices, and requests for product safety or compliance documents.

What sellers should avoid

• Listing products before confirming they are allowed under TikTok Shop policies.
• Assuming a product is safe or compliant without checking documents, labels, warnings, or safety information.
• Copying another seller’s listing without verifying the safety information for your own product.
• Ignoring customer complaints, reviews, returns, or Seller Center notifications that may indicate a safety issue.
• Selling products that are recalled, expired, damaged, contaminated, defective, leaking, tampered with, or unsafe for their intended use.
• Using documents, test reports, certificates, labels, or product photos that do not match the actual product being sold.

Before You List

Pre-listing checklist

Before listing children’s products

Safety Disclosure in Listings

Information to include when applicable

• Product identity: what the product is, what is included, and how it should be used.
• Warnings and precautions: safety warnings, age restrictions, use limits, supervision needs, and misuse risks.
• Instructions: safe-use steps, assembly, charging, storage, cleaning, maintenance, disposal, replacement, or adult supervision instructions.
• Ingredients and materials: ingredients, materials, allergens, supplement facts, nutrition facts, and other product composition information where applicable.
• Dates and shelf life: expiration date, best-by date, period-after-opening information, shelf life, lot number, or batch information where applicable.
• Supported claims: safety, health, performance, certification, and compliance claims must be accurate and supported. For more guidance, review Regulated Claims: What You Need to Know.

Disclosure examples

Content practices to avoid

• Hiding or omitting important safety information from the listing or packaging.
• Showing unsafe product use in images, videos, livestreams, or other product content.
• Making unsupported safety, health, performance, certification, or compliance claims.
• Copying supplier claims without confirming they apply to the exact product being sold.
• Using broad statements like “safe for everyone” when the product has age, health, storage, supervision, or use limits.

Packaging Safety

Plastic bags and wrapping

Best practices

• Include clear, visible suffocation warnings on packaging and, when appropriate, in product listings.
• Use safer packaging alternatives when possible, such as cardboard, paper, or other appropriate packaging materials.
• Review packaging carefully for products intended for babies, children, or pets.
• Make sure packaging does not expose small parts, sharp parts, or hazardous components during normal handling.

Avoid

• Low-quality or damaged wrapping that can tear easily.
• Loose plastic packaging that may create suffocation risk.
• Improperly sealed packaging that may expose dangerous parts to children or pets.
• Packaging that lacks required warnings where they apply.

Liquids, pastes, and powders

Best practices

• Conduct leak and drop tests to confirm packaging prevents spills during normal handling.
• Check that caps, seals, pumps, lids, closures, and adhesive seals are secure before packing.
• Add handling instructions when relevant, such as “Open with care,” “Keep upright,” “Do not puncture,” or “Keep sealed.”
• Use packaging that protects containers from pressure, crushing, cracking, temperature changes, and accidental opening.
• Do not ship products with broken seals, loose caps, cracked containers, or visible leakage.

Avoid

• Skipping seal and closure checks before packing.
• Assuming adhesive seals are secure without inspection.
• Repackaging liquid, paste, powder, or ingestible products into unverified containers.
• Shipping products without enough cushioning to prevent container damage.

Sharp and breakable items

Best practices

• Label packages clearly with phrases such as “Fragile” or “Handle with Care.”
• Use protective padding, such as bubble wrap, foam, cardboard inserts, or molded inserts.
• Consider double-wrapping or overboxing for added protection.
• Cover sharp points, blades, corners, or breakable edges so they do not puncture packaging.
• Inspect the product and packaging before shipping to confirm no sharp or broken parts are exposed.

Products with burn, fire, or heat risks

Best practices

• Clearly label hazardous materials with required fire-safety warnings where applicable.
• Store and ship flammable liquids in sealed, leak-proof containers.
• Use packaging that protects heat-sensitive products from impact and temperature changes.
• Inspect cords, cables, chargers, plugs, and electronic components before shipping.
• Confirm products are free from frayed wires, exposed metal, overheating, charging defects, swelling, corrosion, leakage, cracked casing, loose battery compartments, or bent plugs.
• Follow applicable lithium battery requirements, including insulation, labeling, protective casing, protection from short-circuiting, and prevention of accidental activation during shipping.
• Secure aerosol products to prevent accidental spraying during transit.

After You Sell: Monitor and Respond

Signals to monitor

• Customer complaints about injury, illness, burns, overheating, choking, leakage, contamination, allergic reaction, sharp parts, or broken parts.
• Reviews that mention unsafe use, unclear instructions, missing warnings, product damage, or packaging issues.
• Returns connected to defects, expiration, leakage, battery problems, charging issues, or quality concerns.
• Seller Center notifications about product safety, account health, policy updates, or document requests.
• Supplier, manufacturer, regulator, or public recall notices that may affect the product.

What to do when you identify a potential safety issue

1. Pause and review the product. Check the listing, product condition, documents, packaging, supplier information, and customer feedback.
2. Remove or correct unsafe content. Update missing or unclear warnings, instructions, claims, images, videos, or livestream content.
3. Stop selling unsafe inventory. Do not continue selling products that are recalled, expired, contaminated, damaged, leaking, defective, or unsafe for intended use.
4. Keep records. Save supplier, batch, lot, SKU, complaint, return, and corrective-action information where applicable.
5. Respond to document requests. If TikTok Shop asks for product safety or compliance materials, provide accurate documents that match the exact product being sold.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Quick Product Safety Checklist

Product and policy checks

• The product is allowed under TikTok Shop policies.
• The product is in the correct category.
• Category qualification requirements have been reviewed where applicable.
• The product is not recalled, expired, damaged, contaminated, defective, leaking, tampered with, or unsafe for intended use.
• Supplier, manufacturer, importer, batch, lot, model, SKU, or purchase records are available where applicable.

Listing checks

• The title, description, images, attributes, and videos accurately describe the product.
• Required warnings, precautions, instructions, age limits, and use limits are visible where relevant.
• Ingredients, materials, allergens, nutrition facts, supplement facts, expiration, best-by, shelf-life, or period-after-opening information is included where applicable.
• Safety, health, performance, certification, and compliance claims are accurate and supported.
• Listing content does not show unsafe use.

Packaging and shipping checks

• Plastic bags and wrapping have visible suffocation warnings where needed.
• Liquids, pastes, and powders are sealed and protected from leakage.
• Sharp and breakable items are padded, covered, labeled, and protected.
• Battery-powered, heat-producing, flammable, or aerosol products are packaged to reduce fire, burn, leakage, short-circuit, and accidental activation risks.
• Packaging protects the product during normal shipping and handling.

Post-sale checks

• Customer reviews, complaints, returns, and questions are monitored for safety signals.
• Seller Center notifications are checked for product safety, account health, policy updates, and document requests.
• Potential safety issues are reviewed quickly and unsafe inventory is removed from sale where needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my product needs extra safety checks before listing?

Can I copy safety information from another seller’s listing?

What should I do if my supplier gives me a certificate or test report?

What if my product has no safety warnings from the manufacturer?

Do I need to include safety information in both the listing and packaging?

What should I do if customers report overheating, leakage, irritation, choking risks, or broken parts?

Can I sell products that are expired, opened, damaged, leaking, or recalled?

What information should I include for products used by babies or children?

How should I handle products with batteries or chargers?

What happens if I do not follow product safety standards?

Additional Resources

TikTok Shop policy resources

• Product Safety and Compliance Policy: requirements for product safety, handling safety complaints, and submitting materials related to product safety enforcement actions and appeals.
• Prohibited Products Policy: products that are banned from sale on TikTok Shop.
• Restricted Products Policy: requirements sellers must meet to sell restricted products.
• Dangerous Goods Requirements: guidance on identifying, listing, packaging, labeling, and shipping products classified as dangerous goods.
• Expiration Date Labeling and Shelf Life Requirements: expiration date labeling, shelf life, and related requirements for products with limited use periods.
• Regulated Claims: What You Need to Know: guidance for claims that may require support.
• Your Guide to Category Qualification: the process for getting approval to sell in certain product categories.

Regulatory resources

• CPSC Safety Education and Business Guidance: consumer product safety guidance for businesses.
• CPSC Regulatory Robot: an interactive tool to help identify safety requirements for consumer products.
• FDA Cosmetics Guidance and Regulation: laws, regulations, labeling, facility registration, product listing, and resources for cosmetics.
• FDA Guidance and Regulation for Food and Dietary Supplements: food and dietary supplement safety, labeling, manufacturing, facility registration, and regulatory information.
• USDA FSIS Compliance Guidance: guidance for meat, poultry, and egg product compliance, including labeling, HACCP, sanitation, and inspection-related requirements.