The shop
Douyin shop (抖店) setup, listings, pricing, and customer service, or Douyin Global for cross-border stock.
Finding a DP
ScrollHow to find aDouyin Partner (DP) in China
A Douyin Partner, or DP, runs your Douyin shop: short video, brand livestreams, creator deals, and paid traffic. The good ones already know which hosts and creators sell in your category. You can check their work tonight by watching it live.
The short answer
Judge a DP by the live rooms it runs today
The 30-second version
To find a Douyin Partner, ask each candidate for the brand accounts it runs in your category, then watch their livestreams and short videos as a shopper would. Ask how they book creators and what they spend on ads. Then ask whose name the shop and the ad account are in, and only after that talk fees.
Douyin sells through content, so a DP works more like a production house with a trading desk attached than like a store manager. It’s also why a Tmall Partner that “also does Douyin” needs checking twice.
Douyin certifies these agencies too, and rates them by capability. That’s a fine place to build a long list. The watching you’ll have to do yourself.
Last reviewed , by TheChinaPath’s Compass team
The job on Douyin
What a Douyin Partner actually runs
Douyin calls these companies e-commerce service providers (抖音电商服务商). Brands call them DPs.
Brand livestreams
Your own live room, often on air several hours a day, plus the short product videos that feed it and the shop. That means hosts, scripts, and a studio somebody has to run.
Creators
Booking creators through Xingtu (巨量星图) for content, and through Douyin’s affiliate program (精选联盟) for sales on commission.
Paid traffic
Qianchuan (巨量千川), Douyin’s ad system for shops. You fund the account directly and the DP runs it.
Finding candidates
Where good DPs turn up
The good DPs rarely advertise. Most of the time you find them through the rooms they run.
Douyin’s service-provider marketplace
What you getCertified providers, filterable by capability and category.
What it missesA capability rating shows scale. It won’t show whether their hosts can sell your product.
Live rooms you already rate
What you getThe most honest pitch there is. Find a brand room in your category that sells, then ask who runs it.
What it missesSome brands run their rooms in-house, and the good DPs are often fully booked.
TPs that “also do Douyin”
What you getOne contract for two platforms.
What it missesRunning a store and running a live room are different trades. Check the Douyin rooms on their own.
MCNs and creator agencies
What you getDirect access to creators.
What it missesThey sell creator time. Few run a shop, a daily live room, and an ad account as one P&L.
- Our route
Compass
What you getDPs we have watched run rooms in our categories, with notes on hosts, creators, and ad spend.
What it missesCoverage runs deep in our eight categories and thin outside them.
Checking a DP
Seven checks before you hand over your Douyin account
Most of a DP’s work happens in public, on camera. We watch a couple of evenings of a DP’s rooms before it goes on a shortlist. You should too, before you read a single slide.
0 of 7 checkedCheck each one off as you go. Your progress stays in this browser.All done. On to the terms.
- A real answer
Brand accounts they run now, in your category or close to it. Watch two sessions of each.
Red flagCase-study videos only, and no live accounts named.
- A real answer
In-house hosts working shifts, with a trainer and a script per product.
Red flagFreelance hosts booked session by session.
- A real answer
Creators they booked in your category, with sales, returns, and cost per order.
Red flagFollower counts and “exposure” figures, nothing else.
- A real answer
Qianchuan return on spend by campaign, and what they would cut first.
Red flagA plan that only works if the ad budget grows every month.
- A real answer
GMV (gross sales) after refunds and returns, straight from the shop backend.
Red flagGross GMV only. On Douyin, returns can eat a big share of a good night.
- A real answer
Scripts checked against China’s Advertising Law and Douyin’s rules on claims for your category.
Red flagHosts who promise results on air. Douyin penalizes it, and so do regulators.
- A real answer
The shop and the brand account in your company’s name. The Qianchuan ad account too.
Red flagAn account opened on the DP’s entity, or a live room that belongs to the host personally.
The money
How Douyin Partners get paid
Most DPs charge a monthly retainer plus a commission on GMV. Our Douyin cost calculator puts retainers at about 30,000 RMB a month (roughly 4,200 USD) for a lean setup and up to 100,000 RMB (about 14,000 USD) at the international-brand tier, where commission runs 5% to 8%.
Term sheet
| Cost line | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Retainer | A flat monthly fee for the shop, the live calendar, ads, and customer service. | A retainer that doesn’t say how many live hours and videos it covers. |
| Commission on GMV | A share of the sales the DP generates, on top of the retainer. | Commission on gross GMV. Tie it to sales after returns. |
| Creator commission | Paid to creators on the sales they drive, billed apart from the DP. Head creators charge 30% to 50%, often with a slot fee (坑位费) on top. | A launch plan built on one big creator session. |
| Paid media | Qianchuan spend, funded by you directly into the ad account. | A DP offering to front the ad spend. Those deals tend to fall over. |
| Co-fund | A yearly budget on top of the retainer for big moments: Double 11, a launch, or a hero campaign. | A co-fund with no plan attached to it. |
What goes wrong
Three ways a Douyin budget burns
Douyin failures are expensive because they happen fast. Here’s where the money usually goes.
Launching on one big creator
A head creator can clear a batch in an evening, at 30% to 50% commission plus a slot fee. With no brand room behind it, sales fall back the next morning.
Traffic with nothing to show
A weak DP pours your budget into ads and calls the spike growth. Ask to see the content the ads are pushing before you approve the spend.
An account you don’t own
If the live room and its followers sit on the DP’s account, they stay with the DP when you leave.
How we do it
We shortlist DPs whose rooms we have watched
Compass files each Douyin Partner by the categories it sells. Next to that sit our notes on its hosts and creators, and on what its rooms really convert. We take no commission from partners. We cover eight consumer categories: beauty, food and beverage, fashion, home, wellness, mother and baby, pet, and supplements.
- Shortlists usually take two to three weeks from the brief.
- We’re paid by the brands we work for, and only by them. Nobody on your shortlist bought the spot.
The brief
A call of half an hour to an hour. Your category, your stage, the channels you want, and whatever has already been tried.
The match
We search Compass for DPs already selling your category on Douyin. You get the three to five worth meeting, each with a note on what they do well and where they fall short. Where to push on fees goes in there too.
The introductions
Most of these companies already know us, so you walk in with a relationship behind you. That usually puts the senior team in the room instead of the pitch team.
Questions brands ask
Finding a Douyin Partner: FAQ
Got a question we missed?
Ask it on the first call, and we’ll give you a straight answer.
Get a DP shortlistWhat is a DP on Douyin?
DP means Douyin Partner, the agency that runs a brand’s Douyin shop, livestreams, creator deals, and ads. Douyin’s own term is e-commerce service provider.
How much does a Douyin Partner cost?
Most charge a monthly retainer plus a commission. Our calculator puts retainers at about 30,000 to 100,000 RMB a month (roughly 4,200 to 14,000 USD), with commission of 5% to 8% at the international-brand tier. Ads and creator commission come on top.
Can my Tmall Partner run Douyin too?
Some can. Ask to watch the Douyin rooms they run today and judge those on their own merits. Running a store and running a live room are different jobs.
Should I start with creators or a brand live room?
Most brands need both. Creators bring reach. A brand room brings steady sales day after day. On their own, creator sessions tend to produce spikes rather than a steady business.
How fast should a new Douyin shop sell?
Slower than most pitches suggest. The first months go on building content, a live schedule, and a bench of creators. A DP promising big numbers in month one is usually planning to buy them with your ad budget.
Who pays for Compass?
Brands do. We take no commission from distributors or platform partners, ever, so nobody on your shortlist paid to be there. Our work is project-based and quoted after the first call.
Keep reading
More on finding a partner in China
GuideFinding a distributor in ChinaThe distributor worth signing sells your category to the retailers you want. Where brands find candidates, eight checks before signing, and which terms to settle.Read the guide 
GuideFinding a Tmall Partner (TP) in ChinaA Tmall Partner runs your store daily. What TPs do, how they’re paid, seven checks to run from a laptop, and where contracts go wrong.Read the guide 
Insight · Sep 2026Changing your cosmetics responsible person in ChinaRead the article 
Insight · Sep 2026China distributor margin and imported product priceRead the article 
Insight · Sep 2026China distributor price control: a clause that heldRead the article - InsightsAll articles on finding a partnerEverything we’ve published on finding a partner in China.See them all
Get in touch
Tell us about your Douyin plans
Launching a first shop, or replacing a DP that spends more than it sells? Tell us the category and where the account stands. One short call is normally enough to know whether we have a better fit on file.
- Shortlists usually take two to three weeks from the brief.
- Three to five names, each with a note on what it does well and where it falls short.
- Introductions to companies that already know us.