How Much Are TikTok Gifts Worth?

When you learn that TikTok users can make monetary contributions to content creators in the form of virtual gifts, your first questions would probably be “What are TikTok gifts worth?” and “How much do they cost?”

The answer is somewhat complicated, but here’s what matters most to creators: the gifts are worth a lot less than users pay for them.

Let’s dig in.

What Are TikTok Gifts?

In short, they’re tips or tokens of appreciation that users can give to their favorite creators. A more detailed explanation is required, though.

Once TikTok account owners meet certain requirements (like being 16 or older, having more than 1,000 followers, and being in good standing with the social media platform), they can operate TikTok Live streams for their fans. The sessions are great ways to boost engagement, get feedback on videos, and simply have a good time.

Content creators love running Live streams for another reason, too. It’s the only way that their followers can give them gifts worth real money, making it a valuable income stream for those with substantial fan bases. Anyone attending a Live session, as long as they’re at least 18 years old, can give the moderator a gift. (Those receiving gifts have to be 18 or older, too.)

Participants in a content creator’s TikTok Live can immediately give the creator a virtual rose by clicking on the rose icon on their screen. There are literally hundreds of other virtual gifts they can give, too, and they’re listed on a drop-down menu visible by tapping the “Gifts” button in the Live window.

Users have to use TikTok coins to buy a gift; the coins are sold in packages that are purchased with real money. They can be bought from the user’s TikTok profile (tap the menu icon, then “Balance” and either “Get Coins” or “Recharge”) or during a Live session, if necessary. Each coin is worth approximately 1.4 cents, depending on the size of the package you purchase.

The Available Selection of TikTok Gifts

Most TikTok gifts cost very little. You can buy more than two dozen different gifts for just one coin (about a cent-and-a-half), including the rose we’ve mentioned, as well as others like an ice cream cone and a lightning bolt. Dozens more cost between two cents and a dollar; these virtual gifts are truly tokens of appreciation, although their value can add up for creators over time.

Many slightly pricier are available for $1-$10, like confetti, a gold medal, or a diamond microphone; $10-$25 can buy virtual gifts like a fountain, a spooky cat, or shooting stars; a carousel costs about $27, dancing bears are about $40, and flying jets cost around $65.

Users who want to gift a creator with truly valuable virtual items have a surprising number of choices. For instance, a gaming console icon costs about $200, a gorilla sets the user back about $400, and the most expensive TikTok gift is a $562 TikTok Universe. Many of the high-cost items are accompanied by impressive on-screen graphic shows.

That’s why so many popular content creators love holding TikTok Lives — although the windfall they can receive from user gifts isn’t quite as enormous as you might think.

How Much Are TikTok Gifts Worth to the Recipients?

Here’s the shocker: when you give your favorite TikTok content creator a gorilla that cost you about $400 to purchase, they’re not receiving $400 in cash. Not even close to it.

All gifts are immediately converted to another virtual TikTok currency — and the app charges a 50% commission for the transaction. The value that’s left is added to the creator’s balance, measured in virtual “diamonds” that can be exchanged for cash at any time.

Here’s the bottom line, though. Creators only receive about half the value of that extravagant $400 gorilla, or $200. They get about three bucks for the $6 beating heart you bought them. And if you hit the rose icon because you like something that the moderator says in a TikTok Live, you’re actually gifting them about half a cent.

Content creators appreciate all the gifts they receive because their value adds up. If you don’t get a gracious, heartfelt “thank you!” for giving your Live moderator a rose, though, you can now understand why.