This guide covers custom order requirement setup for TikTok Shop sellers in the US market using the desktop Seller Center. It does NOT address in-app seller tools, TikTok Shop mobile app listing flows, or third-party listing software.
If you sell personalized products engraved jewelry, custom prints, monogrammed gifts you already know the nightmare. A buyer checks out. You open the order. There’s no name, no color choice, no size preference. Nothing. And now you’re chasing them through TikTok DMs hoping they respond before your processing window closes.
That’s not a buyer problem. It’s a setup problem.
TikTok Shop has a native feature called Custom Order Requirements that forces buyers to submit personalization details before or immediately after completing a purchase. Most sellers don’t know it exists. The ones who find it usually can’t figure out where it lives in the Seller Center dashboard.
This guide fixes both problems.
What Are Custom Order Requirements on TikTok Shop?
Custom Order Requirements is a TikTok Shop Seller Center feature that lets sellers add buyer-facing input fields to individual product listings. These fields prompt shoppers to enter personalization details such as engraving text, size specifications, color preferences, or upload files as part of the order process. The seller receives this information directly inside the Orders tab alongside the purchase details.
One clarifying note: this is different from product variants (like size or color dropdowns). Custom Order Requirements collect open-ended, buyer-specific information that can’t be captured through standard SKU options.
According to Deloitte’s 2023 Consumer Products Industry report, 36% of consumers are interested in purchasing personalized products and 1 in 5 of those buyers will pay a 20% price premium for it. That’s not a niche market. That’s a margin opportunity sitting inside a feature most TikTok sellers haven’t turned on yet.
Where to Find the Custom Order Requirements Setting in Seller Center
Here’s where most guides stop being useful. The TikTok Seller University article confirms the feature exists but doesn’t show you the click path to get there.
Go to seller-us.tiktok.com and log into your Seller Center account.
To add Custom Order Requirements to a TikTok Shop listing, follow these steps:
- Navigate to Products in the left sidebar menu.
- Click Manage Products, then select the product you want to edit (or click Add New Product).
- Scroll down to the Sales Information section of the product listing page.
- Locate the Custom Order Requirements toggle; it appears below the pricing and shipping fields.
- Toggle it ON, then click Add Requirement to create your first input field.
- Enter a field label (e.g., “Enter the name for engraving max 12 characters”).
- Set the field as Required or Optional depending on your fulfillment needs.
- Click Save or Confirm to apply.
Quick note: If you’re on a product draft that hasn’t been published yet, the toggle may not appear until the product passes the basic listing requirements check (title, category, at least one image). Complete those fields first, then scroll back to Sales Information.
How to Write Custom Order Requirement Fields That Actually Get Filled Out
Turning the feature on is step one. Writing the field label well is step two and it’s where most sellers leave conversion on the table.
Vague prompts get vague responses. A field that just says Custom Info will confuse buyers and generate incomplete submissions. A field that says Enter the first name to be engraved (e.g., Sarah) max 15 characters, no special symbols tells the buyer exactly what format you need.
Here’s the thing: you’re not just asking for information. You’re reducing your own back-and-forth support load.
What makes a strong custom field label:
- Specify the format: First name only vs. Full name
- Specify character limits if relevant: Max 20 characters
- Give an example: (e.g., Mom, Emma, Class of 2025)
- Flag restrictions: No special characters or emojis
- Tell them what happens if left blank (if the field is optional): Leave blank for standard design
Look, if you’re selling print-on-demand through Printful or Gelato and the order data flows directly into their fulfillment system, a poorly formatted custom field creates downstream errors. If your Gelato integration expects First Name Only and a buyer submits John & Mary Smith, that’s a production delay. The field label is your quality control.
How to View Custom Order Requirement Responses After Purchase
Sellers who enable the feature for the first time often ask the same follow-up question: Where do I actually see what the buyer submitted?
The answer is inside your Orders tab and it’s easy to miss if you don’t know where to look.
After a buyer completes a purchase and fills in their custom requirement fields, here’s how you access their responses:
- Go to Orders in the left sidebar of Seller Center.
- Click on the relevant order to open the order detail page.
- Scroll to the Order Information section.
- Look for Custom Requirements the buyer’s submitted text appears directly below the product line item.
That’s it. No separate dashboard, no export required. The personalization data lives with the order.
Or maybe I should say it this way: the data is there, but it’s easy to overlook if you’re batch-processing orders quickly. Build a fulfillment habit of checking this field before you pull inventory or send a file to your POD partner.
What to Do When a Buyer Skips a Required Custom Field
Most people assume setting a field to Required is foolproof. The data says otherwise and this is the part no competitor article addresses.
TikTok Shop’s required field enforcement depends on the buyer completing their side of the checkout flow correctly. In practice, edge cases exist: buyers checking out through certain promotional flows, third-party redirects, or mobile app variations may occasionally complete a purchase without triggering the required field prompt.
When that happens, you have three realistic options:
Option 1: Contact the buyer through Seller Center messaging. Go to the order, use the built-in message function, and request the missing information. Keep a message template saved for this it saves time.
Option 2: Set a fulfillment hold policy. In your shop policies (accessible under Account Settings), note that personalized orders will be held for up to 48 hours pending buyer confirmation. This sets expectations before the sale.
Option 3: Pause fulfillment and flag the order. Tag the order manually in Seller Center with a note and move it to a review status until you have the required information.
Some experts argue that setting all custom fields to Optional reduces buyer friction at checkout and leads to fewer abandoned carts. That’s valid for low-stakes customization where a default version of the product exists. But if you’re selling something like laser-engraved items where a missing name makes fulfillment literally impossible, Required is the only defensible setting; just pair it with a clear policy page so buyers know what to expect.
Quick Comparison: Required vs. Optional Custom Order Fields
| Setting | Best For | Key Benefit | Limitation |
| Required Field | Products where personalization is essential (engraving, custom printing) | Eliminates orders missing critical info | May slightly increase checkout friction |
| Optional Field | Products with a default version available | Reduces abandoned carts | Requires a fallback fulfillment plan |
| Multiple Fields (Mix) | Complex custom products (e.g., color + name + date) | Captures all needed data in one step | Longer checkout form; label clarity is critical |
| No Custom Field | Standard products with no personalization | Simplest checkout experience | No mechanism to collect buyer notes |
FAQs
Q: What’s the best way to write a custom order requirement field on TikTok Shop?
A: Be specific. Include the format you need, a character limit if relevant, and an example (e.g., Enter first name only max 12 characters, e.g., Emma). Vague labels produce vague buyer responses and create fulfillment delays.
Q: How do I find where to enable custom order requirements in TikTok Shop Seller Center?
A: Go to Products → Manage Products → edit a product → scroll to Sales Information. The Custom Order Requirements toggle appears in that section. Enable it, then click Add Requirement to create your input field.
Q: Should I set custom order fields as required or optional on TikTok Shop?
A: Set them as Required if the product cannot be fulfilled without the buyer’s input (e.g., engraved items). Use Optional only when a default, non-personalized version of the product can ship as a fallback.
Q: Why does a buyer’s custom order information not show up in my TikTok Shop orders?
A: Open the specific order in your Orders tab and scroll to the Order Information section. The buyer’s custom requirement response appears beneath the product line item it’s easy to miss when batch-reviewing orders quickly.
Q: When should I use custom order requirements instead of product variants on TikTok Shop?
A: Use variants for fixed options buyers select (size, color, material). Use Custom Order Requirements when you need open-ended buyer input that can’t be captured by a dropdown like a name, date, phrase, or file upload for personalization.
A Note on What This Guide Doesn’t Cover
I’ve seen conflicting data on whether TikTok Shop’s required field enforcement is consistent across all buyer checkout paths some seller community reports suggest the field can be bypassed in certain mobile flows, while TikTok’s official documentation implies enforcement is universal. My read is that Required fields work as intended in the majority of standard checkout flows, but high-volume sellers should audit a sample of personalized orders weekly to catch any edge-case gaps.
This guide also doesn’t cover: custom order requirements for TikTok Shop’s affiliate/creator gifting program, multi-seller marketplace scenarios, or API-level order data retrieval for enterprise sellers using custom integrations.
