Getting collabs and samples is the goal of many creators.
But once the excitement wears off, a few practical questions creep in:
- Do I actually have to post about this?
- Do I have to say it was free?
- Can I sell it on Vinted?
- Do I have to pay tax on it?
So here is a plain-English run through the questions I get asked most, with the actual steps I take.
This is written from one UK creator to another, not as legal or tax advice. If you’re earning money as an affiliate, you should at least have a conversation with an accountant, if not an actual relationship with one. Treat it as a starting point and check the official sources I have linked if you need certainty.
How do I get sent free samples as a creator?
There are two main routes, and before I go into them, there is one thing to think about: you will be expected to market the items you get. That means you need to be prepared to use them multiple times and video yourself doing that.
If you’re happy with that, this is generally where they come from:
- Brands gift directly once you have built a bit of a following in your niche. This type of offer will generally come via email, and once you get a couple, you will find that you’re getting them quite regularly.
- If you’re a TikTok Shop affiliate, you can request samples for free or as a refundable item, which means you have to pay and get your money back if you sell it.
Getting freebies sounds great, but remember that you will have to post at least one video about everything. In 2026, TikTok and its associated agencies are asking for 3-5 videos per product, and sometimes more than that.
Do I have to post about a free sample?
It depends entirely on how you got it, and this matters, because getting it wrong on TikTok Shop can cost you your access to the affiliate program. There are three situations:
- You requested it through TikTok Shop. Then yes. Requesting a sample means agreeing to post within the window. If you do not, your fulfilment rate drops, sellers can see that rate, and your future sample requests start getting rejected. On TikTok Shop, treat a sample as a commitment. This is why it’s important not to go mad with sample vouchers, because you will end up with piles of samples and a lot of filming to do.
- You have a contract or a paid deal. In this case, you post whatever the agreement says you have to. If you have signed anything or been paid, the terms dictate what happens next. Miss what you agreed and you are in breach, and you can wave goodbye to repeat work.
- A brand sends something genuinely unsolicited, with no terms. This is the only case where you are under no obligation, but it is very unusual. If it came out of the blue, no agreement, no TikTok Shop request, no payment, nothing in the email: you can try it, keep it, or leave it in a drawer. Just know this is the rarest of the three for most working creators, so do not assume it is the default.
How many times do I have to post about a free sample?
Most guidance says 1 sample = 1 video, but I have seen TikTok pushing for 3 videos per sample. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being a requirement. At the moment, it is definitely a requirement for Managed Creators (people who TikTok have chosen to give extra support to).
The number of videos you post is scored, and you can see that score in your TikTok Shop for Creators screen in the app. Brands can also see this score.
If I do post, do I have to say it was gifted?
Yes, always. A free product is a material connection, so any content about it has to make that clear, even if the brand never asked you to post.
The official guidance says it must be, “clear, prominent, upfront, timely, appropriate for the platform and format of the content (e.g., a post, a story, a reel), and suitable for all potential devices”.
Here is exactly how I do it:
- Say so clearly in the video: ideally, you should disclose the freebie in the first few seconds, something like “quick heads up, [brand] gifted me this.”
- Use the word AD in your description. This must be at the beginning of the description, either as the word “ad” or a hashtag, #ad.
- On TikTok Shop: attach the product link, then turn on the content disclosure setting as you post. It’s the first toggle switch under Disclosure and Ads Settings. Turning it on applies TikTok’s own Paid Partnership label, which the ASA accepts on its own when it is clear and upfront.
- When there is no product link (for something that isn’t on TikTok Shop, or when you’re promoting a discount code, or when cross-postoing to Instagram or a blog): type Ad or Ad – Gifted as the very first thing in the caption. This is the manual label, and it is your safety net any time the automatic one is not there.
Example captions you can adapt:
- “Ad – Gifted | [Brand] sent me this to try, here are my honest thoughts.”
- “Ad | Use code BLINDBOX15 for 15% off. I earn a small commission if you use it.”
What does not count on its own: alternative words like #gifted, #affiliate, or just tagging the brand. The CMA guidance for content creators is very clear on this. You must be clear and upfront.
Do I have to say “ad”? Can I just say “I got this for free”?
No, you must say it’s an ad, and you have to say it early in the video and clearly, in both text and in the voiceover. It is illegal not to do this.
You can use these, with or without a hashtag:
- Ad
- Advert
- Advertising
- Advertisement
- AdvertisementFeature
Anything else is unlikely to comply with the rules, and there is even a public name-and-shame website that lists people who don’t do it right.
Should I say my content it’s an ad if I bought the item myself?
Let’s say I was gifted a blind box and opened it. Then I bought a blind box in the same series, opened that, and attached a shoppable link to both.
The second one is not automatically an ad. The first (gifted) one is, but a past gift doesn’t taint everything after it.
The second video only needs a label if there’s a “material connection” on that post. If your second video has your TikTok Shop link in it, it’s an ad regardless of who paid for the box, because you’re earning commission. If there’s genuinely no link, no code, no commission, and you just bought it and opened it for fun, that one’s not an ad.
The subtler one is whether the original gift came with strings. If the brand gifted you the first box on the understanding that you’d keep posting about the series, or has any say over what/when/how you post, then the ongoing relationship means later posts can still count as ads even when you bought the item. A true no-strings gift doesn’t carry forward like that.
There is another side: saying you have been gifted something when you haven’t. This is unlikely to get you into to trouble with the (ASA/CMA), but Instagram’s and TikTok’s branded content tools and “Paid Partnership” labels are only meant to be used when a genuine commercial relationship exists. Using them when there’s no real partner breaches their Branded Content Policies and can your content content suppressed or removed.
There’s also a reputational and legal edge: tagging a brand as a “partner” when they aren’t misrepresents a relationship that doesn’t exist, which the named brand can object to.
Do I have to pay tax on free products?
If a brand gives you something in exchange for promotion, then yes. HMRC treats it as a payment in kind, which means it counts as income even though no cash changed hands.
The amount taxed is the item’s normal retail price (for example, a £150 blind box set is counted as £150 of income).
A genuine no-strings gift, with no expectation that you post, generally is not taxable. So it is the promotion attached to it that turns a freebie into taxable income.
When do I need to tell HMRC?
The trigger is the £1,000 trading allowance.
Add up your total creator income for the tax year (6 April to 5 April), counting both cash and the retail value of anything you promoted.
If that gross total is £1,000 or less, there is usually nothing to do, but keeping records is a good idea.
If it goes over £1,000, you must register for Self Assessment by 5 October after that tax year ends, then file your return and pay any tax due by the following 31 January. This is where an accountant is worthwhile.
Remember: it’s gross income that counts, not profit, so £1,100 of income puts you over even if you spent some of it.
How to actually stay on top of it.
Set up a tab in whatever sheet you already use, with these columns:
- Date received
- Brand
- Item
- Retail value (the normal selling price, this is the number that matters)
- Posting required? (yes / no)
- Link to post
- Kept, returned or sold
Add a row every time a parcel lands, so you are not reconstructing it in a panic next January.
At month end, total the Retail value column for anything you actually promoted, and move a slice of it into a separate pot for tax. A lot of creators park 20 to 30% so the bill is never a shock.
When you do your Self Assessment, that promoted total goes in as part of your self-employed income.
If the numbers are more than pocket change, this is genuinely the point to get an accountant.
Can I keep the product?
With most true gifts, yes, it is yours (subject to the tax bit above). But read the terms, because not everything is going to be yours to keep.
How do TikTok Shop refundable samples work?
Refundable samples are different from a free sample, and worth understanding before you opt in.
Rather than the seller shipping it free, you buy the sample through TikTok Shop (from the Product Marketplace, or by turning an eligible self-purchase into a refundable sample at checkout).
You then post content with the product link, and if that content generates the sales the seller has set as their target within 120 days, you get refunded the purchase cost.
Hit the target and the item is effectively free and yours to keep.
The bits that catch people out:
- The seller sets the target. The default is often just one qualifying sale, but a seller can set it higher (usually up to around three). The criteria are shown on the offer, so check before you buy.
- You have 120 days, but aim sooner. Each qualifying order has to clear its 30-day return period before it counts, so hitting your goal inside the first 90 days gives orders time to settle before the window closes.
- Your own purchase does not count. Only genuine sales to other people, that pass the settlement period, count towards the target.
- Miss the target and you are not refunded. You keep the item, but you have paid full price for it. So only take a refundable sample on something you are confident you can sell.
Refundable samples are actually pretty good for creators. They make you think: could I sell this? If you don’t think you can, you will avoid it. I think that’s for the best in some cases.
My rule of thumb: treat a refundable sample as a small bet, not a freebie. Log the upfront cost in your sheet, mark it as pending, and update it to refunded or kept once you know. TikTok’s Refundable Samples guide has the current terms.
Can I sell the product I got free?
Often you can, if it is genuinely yours, but check for “not for resale.” terms in your contracts.
PR and sample items are sometimes marked this way, and flipping the items breaks the terms you accepted when you took them.
Either way, selling can be taxable. If you sell a gifted item, HMRC can treat the proceeds as income, and it specifically watches creators converting gifts to cash on Vinted or Depop without declaring it.
If you are VAT registered, a resale is a normal taxable supply on top.
So you can often sell, but log it in that same sheet and declare it. Marketplace sales are not invisible.
Do I have to give samples a good review?
No, and please do not.
The ASA expects your content to reflect your genuine experience, so a free product does not buy a glowing review.
You are entitled to post an honest, mixed or even negative take, or (for no-obligation gifts) you can choose not to post at all. I sometimes do that with refundable samples if I wouldn’t feel good about recommending it.
This is general guidance from one creator to another, not legal or tax advice. For anything you are unsure about, check the current ASA advice, the CMA guidance, or speak to an accountant.