What it costs to sell toys and games in China

Start on Tmall Global. A toy store there needs a 50,000 RMB deposit, and a new store pays no annual fee until March 31, 2027, then 60,000 RMB a year. Commission runs 5% on Tmall Global and JD Worldwide and 6% on Douyin. The order value decides the rest: a 99 RMB toy hands almost a quarter of the sale to fees and delivery.

Here’s the fee sheet. Toys pay one of the higher commissions in our calculators, on all three platforms.

Deposit, annual fee and commission for toys on Tmall Global, JD Worldwide and Douyin cross-border. Source: TheChinaPath calculator data, October 2026.

The same rates cover plush, building sets, models and tabletop games on Tmall Global. JD quotes its deposit in dollars: US$1,000 for a brand flagship, US$1,500 for other store types once sales pass 50,000 RMB. Douyin’s deposit follows last month’s sales and tops out at 5,000 RMB. Rates checked against each platform’s rule pages on October 22, 2026.

Where the toy fees bite

The waiver is real, and it’s shorter than it looks.

New stores launched between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 whose main category is toys pay no annual fee for the months that fall inside that period. Source: Tmall Global (天猫国际), July 2026. https://rule.tmall.hk/?type=detail&ruleId=20010440&cId=625

A store that opens in December gets four free months. From April 2027 it pays the 60,000 RMB tier like everyone else.

Douyin’s 6% is a base rate, too. Orders that come through the Douyin Mall app or ByteDance’s Doubao app add a 4% supplement, so an order from either named app costs the brand 10% in platform fees. Two lines get a lower rate: early-learning machines and children’s bikes and tricycles.

Toys outside the named lines pay a 6% base technical service fee and a 4% supplement on orders from specified channels; early-learning machines and children’s bikes and tricycles pay 3% and 3.9%. Source: Douyin E-commerce (抖音电商), July 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/articlev0/aHMYyFoqESKn

The route into China for toys

The cross-border door is open. Toys under customs heading 9503 sit on the cross-border retail import list at lines 1347 to 1353, from ride-on toys and dolls to puzzles, powered models and spare parts, with no remark that limits how they ship.

Lines 1347 to 1353 cover tariff codes 95030010 to 95030090, ride-on wheeled toys through toy parts. Source: Ministry of Finance and 12 other bodies, cross-border retail import list (2019 edition), December 2019, as published by MOFCOM. https://images.mofcom.gov.cn/cws/202001/20200110143527533.pdf

Board and card games carry a different code. Check yours with a broker before you assume the same treatment.

On that route the goods count as imports for personal use.

对跨境电商零售进口商品按个人自用进境物品监管，不执行有关商品首次进口许可 批件、注册或备案要求。 Cross-border retail imports are supervised as goods for personal use, so first-import permit, registration and filing requirements do not apply. Source: MOFCOM and five other bodies (商财发〔2018〕486号), November 2018. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2018-12/31/content_5437823.htm

Now the part that makes toys different from shoes. China runs a compulsory certification scheme, CCC, and toys are on it.

Toys covered: electric, plastic, metal and ride-on toys designed or intended for children under 14. Excluded: non-electric paper, bamboo, wooden, plush or cloth, ceramic, glass and plaster toys, as well as teethers, water toys, inflatables and play dough. A plastic or metal piece with its own play function inside such a set stays in scope. Source: State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局), 强制性产品认证目录描述与界定表（2023年修订）, September 2023. https://www.cnca.gov.cn/zwxx/gg/zjgg/art/2023/art_31ce43f5837d408cb2023ec693615ada.html

So a wooden train set is out and a plastic one is in. A plush bear is out until it gets a voice box.

Does a bonded parcel need the certificate? The rule says covered products need it before they’re sold or imported. Its automatic exemptions name goods a traveler carries in for personal use, not parcels. The 2018 cross-border notice waives permits, registrations and filings and never mentions certification.

Products on the catalogue must be certified and marked before they leave the factory, are sold, imported or used in other business activities. Source: State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局), 强制性产品认证管理规定, Decree 61, October 2022. https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/fgs/art/2023/art_1fb2082e0cca45cbb8e70b4a33e15e99.html

We found no regulator text that settles it either way. Our advice is simple: certify anything electric, plastic, metal or ride-on. General trade needs it on day one, and a store selling to children doesn’t want to argue the point after a complaint.

And the safety code itself is about to change.

GB 6675.1-2025, the basic toy safety standard, is mandatory and takes effect on November 1, 2026. Source: SAMR national standards platform (全国标准信息公共服务平台), October 2025. https://openstd.samr.gov.cn/bzgk/std/newGbInfo?hcno=C9E23F1F4C5C26B9AB4EF697C8F38E63

Stock already on hand gets a grace period.

The revised GB 6675 series runs a “12+12” transition: goods made after the standard takes effect must meet it, and stock made to the old standard gets another 12 months to sell. Inspectors are targeting toys with no label, no age marking or irregular warnings. Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部), November 2025. https://www.miit.gov.cn/xwfb/xwfbh/bxwfbh/art/2025/art_ceef45b5aab04aeaa03d7d91888d9807.html

Under general trade the age grade and warnings go on a Chinese label.

Product labels must carry the product name and the maker’s name and address in Chinese (Product Quality Law, article 27). Source: China National Intellectual Property Administration (国家知识产权局), July 2019. https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2019/7/31/art_104_67810.html

Two more traps. The first is batteries. Lithium cells fly as dangerous goods, and the rules tightened in 2026.

From 2026, lithium-ion batteries packed with equipment and rated above 2.7 Wh must ship by air at no more than 30% charge; for batteries inside the equipment, 30% is recommended. Source: Civil Aviation Science and Technology Research Institute (中国民航科学技术研究院), October 2024. https://www.caacsri.com/support/detail/1175.html

For a lithium-powered toy sent by air, check the battery configuration with the carrier. Compare compliant air delivery with bulk sea freight into bonded stock before choosing the route and pricing the landed cost.

The second is licensed characters. Platform takedowns run on a short fuse.

A rights holder’s notice with preliminary evidence obliges the platform to take the listing down and forward the notice. The seller can submit a non-infringement statement with preliminary evidence. If the platform receives no notice of a complaint or lawsuit within 15 days after that statement reaches the rights holder, it must promptly end the measures. Source: E-Commerce Law of the People’s Republic of China, articles 42 and 43, August 2018, via the State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局). https://fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100009/c5212256/content.html

A dispute can keep a listing offline during the November sale. Get the license to name mainland China and online cross-border sales in writing before the listing goes live. Douyin checks the paper trail behind an authorized brand too, as our note on Douyin cross-border brand verification explains.

None of this is legal advice. Take the SKU list to a testing lab before you price either route.

What toys cost per order

Start with tax. For eligible cross-border retail imports within the applicable purchase limits, the shopper owes no duty and 70% of the VAT.

Eligible cross-border retail imports within the applicable purchase limits pay 0% duty, with import VAT and consumption tax charged at 70% of the statutory amount. Source: Ministry of Finance (财政部), 财关税〔2016〕18号, March 2016. http://www.mof.gov.cn/gp/xxgkml/gss/201603/t20160324_2510682.htm

The standard VAT rate on imported goods fell from 16% to 13% on April 1, 2019. Source: State Council Gazette (国务院公报), 财政部 税务总局 海关总署公告2019年 第39号, March 2019. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2019/content_5416183.htm

On a toy that comes to 9.1%: 70% of the 13% import VAT.

Now the store side. The three baskets are our assumptions: a single toy at 99 RMB, a mid-size set at 199 and a gift bundle at 399.

Cost per kept order for three toy baskets on the per-order defaults in the Tmall Global model, at the calculator’s 5% return rate. Source: TheChinaPath calculator data, October 2026.

Look at the delivery line. It’s 15 RMB a parcel whether the box holds a 99 RMB toy or a 399 RMB bundle. That’s 15% of the small order and under 4% of the big one.

At a 50% gross margin (our assumption), the single toy leaves 26 RMB per kept order after store costs. The gift bundle leaves 158.

Our arithmetic on the cost per kept order above, at an assumed 50% gross margin. Source: TheChinaPath calculator data, October 2026.

The waiver hides this in year one. It shows up in April 2027.

Which platform first

Tmall Global, for a brand that can open by March 2027 and sell sets. It gets free months on the annual fee and pays 6% a sale, commission and payment together.

Build the range around baskets, not single pieces. A 99 RMB toy rarely pays its own way. A 299 or 399 RMB gift set for Double 11, or for Children’s Day on June 1, does.

Douyin goes first when the toy sells itself on video, the kind that moves or lights up. It’s the cheapest way in at 500 RMB, and the dearest per sale at 10% on mall orders.

JD Worldwide flips it when the open question is whether China wants the toy at all. Same 5% commission, 7,100 RMB to get live, no annual fee to clear.

What our case files leave out

Our published case studies contain no toy or game store result to cite. Every number above comes from public rules or our own calculator.

Run your own numbers

The Tmall Global setup and run calculator now carries a toys row. Set the category picker to “Toys, models and tabletop games” and the 50,000 RMB deposit, 5% commission and 60,000 RMB annual fee fill in. Then put your own basket in the order value field and your own margin in the economics field. Our 50% margin is an illustrative assumption, so use yours.

Questions we get asked

Do toys need CCC certification to sell in China?

Electric, plastic, metal and ride-on toys for children under 14 are on the CCC catalogue and need a certificate under general trade. Wooden, plush, paper and other non-electric toys in the excluded materials are not. No regulator text settles the cross-border case, so certify anything in scope before you list it.

What changes on November 1, 2026 for toys sold in China?

GB 6675.1-2025, the revised basic toy safety standard, takes effect. Toys made from that date must meet it. Stock made to the 2014 version gets 12 more months to sell, under the “12+12” transition MIIT announced in November 2025.

How much does it cost to open a toy store on Tmall Global?

A 50,000 RMB refundable deposit for a brand flagship, 5% commission on each sale and a 1% payment fee. The 60,000 RMB annual fee is waived for new toy stores until March 31, 2027 (TheChinaPath calculator data, October 2026).

Send us your SKU list with the materials, batteries and licenses on each item and we’ll tell you which ones need CCC, then price the store both ways: talk to the cross-border ecommerce team.