Guide · checked against TikTok's published pages on November 9, 2026
Counterfeit or IP violation when you resell real products (TikTok Shop)
Resellers of genuine branded goods keep getting counterfeit and IP flags. Why receipts alone often fail, and the brand-statement route that got one Pokemon reseller's violation removed by hand.
Short answer
A receipt proves you bought the item, not that you may resell the brand, so receipts alone often fail. Ask the brand in writing whether resellers need authorization, then put its answer into a support ticket with your receipts and payment records. Sellers get two appeals on IP cases, the second within 15 days of the first rejection.
What the notice says
Intellectual property infringement or counterfeit goods. Often with "Invalid Supporting Material: Proof of Purchase" on the rejected appeal.
On this page
You bought real Pokemon cards at retail and listed them. Then a counterfeit violation landed, worth 40 points. That happened to a seller on October 15, 2026, and their case is a good map of how these go.
Both of that seller's appeals failed. Another seller with the same problem had theirs rejected as "Invalid Supporting Material: Proof of Purchase." Then the first seller tried something different. It came off.
Why receipts alone fail
From TikTok's side, a receipt shows you bought something from a store. It doesn't show you may sell the brand's product on TikTok Shop. For many brands the system wants a letter of authorization (LOA), and most resellers don't have one.
TikTok's Brand Authorization page says what an LOA has to name. It covers a brand and a category in one country, and it needs an expiry date. Uploads can be a PDF or an image file up to 5 MB. It's the only file spec we've found in TikTok's seller docs, so match it for any document you upload.
The route that worked
The seller opened a support ticket instead of a third appeal. Then they emailed The Pokemon Company and got a written reply saying resellers don't need authorization. That reply and the receipts went into the ticket. Support answered in about a day, and the violation was removed by hand.
This won't work for every brand. Some do require an LOA from everyone. It's still the best move we know of, and it costs one email. Write to the brand's customer service or legal contact and ask a narrow question: do you require authorization for resale of genuine products bought at retail in the US? A short answer is all you need, but it has to come from the brand.
Then build the ticket with:
- the brand's written answer;
- receipts listing those exact items, with the date visible;
- the payment record behind each receipt;
- photos of the actual items next to the receipt.
Attach those and stop. Nothing else. Commenters on these threads like to argue trademark law. We aren't lawyers and won't give legal advice, and TikTok reviews against its own policy, not against an argument about statutes.
What sellers get, and when
Sellers get two appeals per IP case under TikTok's IP appeal requirements. The second is due within 15 days of the first rejection. That's where the "second appeal within 15 days" idea people repeat for creators comes from. On the creator side, the official pages still say one appeal.
If a rights owner filed a takedown, a DMCA counter-notice goes through a Seller Center ticket. One more rule to know: TikTok's Originality Protection runs automated image checks on listings, and its page says those image verification decisions "are not appealable." Use your own photos of the item, never the brand's stock images.
For creators who promote branded products
Creators get IP flags too, usually for showing a logo-heavy product the system can't match, or for typing a trademarked word into a caption. TikTok's guidance for a wrong flag is the "Misjudgment by platform" argument with a brand authorization or a side-by-side of your product and the brand's listing. Don't blur or hide a logo to avoid a flag. TikTok treats hiding a logo as a violation of its own.
In our data, IP and counterfeit appeals for resale won 2 times in 7, and both wins went beyond the standard appeal.
Reseller questions
I have receipts from Target. Why isn't that proof?
It proves purchase. Not permission. Add the brand's statement, or an LOA if the brand requires one.
Can I relist the product as a new SKU?
We wouldn't. A fresh listing for the same flagged item can look like getting around enforcement, and an agency suggesting that on Reddit was giving risky advice.
My spouse's shop was also deactivated. Why?
Shops tied together by a shared address or payment method can be acted on together, which is one reason we tell couples who both sell to keep everything about the two shops separate, from bank accounts to the devices they log in on. See our guide on suspicious activity between shops for the connected-account side.
Know someone stuck on the same thing? Send them this page. Members can also get a personal invite link with /refer in our Discord, and every friend who joins and stays earns you a free product report.