Shop Performance Score — what the thresholds mean
TikTok's Shop Performance Score (SPS) controls ad eligibility, search visibility, settlement speed, and Star Seller status. Here's how the tiers work, what drops you, and how Foregrade forecasts where you're heading.
Last updated: 2026-02-02
What SPS actually controls
Your Shop Performance Score is not cosmetic. TikTok uses it as the gating metric for:
- Ad eligibility — sub-threshold shops are frozen out of paid placements and affiliate targeting.
- Organic visibility — lower scores are down-ranked in search and For You surfaces.
- Settlement speed — high-score shops get faster payouts; sub-threshold shops sit on longer holds.
- Star Seller status — lost when you drop below the Star threshold, with knock-on effects on badge visibility and creator collabs.
There is no "just lose some reach" version of a low SPS. The drops tend to cluster and compound.
The tiers (US, 2026)
TikTok reports SPS on a 0–5 scale with these effective bands:
- 4.7–5.0 — Star Seller band. Full ads, fastest settlement, priority CS escalation.
- 4.3–4.69 — Standard band. Ads and organic OK; some promotional programs locked.
- 4.0–4.29 — Warning band. Ads throttled, some campaigns locked, support-ticket priority drops.
- < 4.0 — Restricted. Ads suspended, search down-ranked, settlement holds extended, Star Seller revoked.
The bands and their thresholds are TikTok's to change. We track what TikTok publishes; always check Seller Center for the current numbers before making a decision tied to them.
What drops your SPS
The score is a weighted blend of:
- Order fulfillment rate (ship-on-time, cancellations)
- Buyer satisfaction (reviews, return rate, dispute rate)
- Policy compliance (listing quality, counterfeit / prohibited-item strikes)
- Response time (CS reply rate within 24h)
Return rate and dispute rate carry the heaviest weight in the current weighting — which is why a bad week of auto-approved returns can sink you out of Star Seller before you notice.
How Foregrade forecasts SPS
- Trailing 30-day reconstruction from your synced order and return data so you can see today's score regardless of what Seller Center shows.
- Forward projection — our Shop Health forecast extrapolates the trailing line and flags when you're on track to cross a threshold.
- Per-buyer risk — buyer intelligence lets you reject returns from serial returnersbefore the dispute rate moves.
What you should do
- Check Shop Health on your Foregrade dashboard at least weekly.
- React to "warning band" alerts immediately — by the time you're at 4.0 the next drop moves fast.
- Train your CS response flow to hit 24h reply on every conversation; response time is the cheapest lever.
Related
- Understanding return windows — the #1 driver of SPS drops
- OTC mandatory attributes — listing compliance affects SPS
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