A VIRAL make-up brand has been forced to close its TikTok Shop and cancel orders after the online store allegedly “lost” a load of its stock.
Made by Mitchell is most popular with teenagers and young women, with parents stocking up on items such as Blursh for their offspring for .
Made by Mitchell’s Mitchell Halliday took to TikTok to address the situation with the social media site’s shopCredit: @madebymitchel / TikTok
Many customers are being left without their orders of the viral make-up ahead of ChristmasCredit: instagram/mmmmitchell
However, things have now hit a road block, with the majority of orders not turning up or being cancelled, with owner Mitchell Halliday addressing the situation in a video on his page.
He began the clip by explaining the relationship between the seller, Made by Mitchell, TikTok Shop, the platform, and a fulfillment centre called FBT which distributes the orders.
“This 99% of the time is amazing and it means your orders get out as quick as possible… ” he said.
“But there are times like this where they fall short and we can either let them keep falling short or we take control.”
The Made by Mitchell team first contacted FBT at the end of October to ask if there was a problem fulfilling orders, after receiving “quite a heavy amount” of messages from customers saying that they hadn’t received their items.
FBT told them everything was fine, but the Made by Mitchell team didn’t hear back, so contacted them again the next day.
“This led to a lot of back and forth with FBT but then eventually finally we had a little bit of an answer back from FBT,” he continued.
“They’d run into an issue where they basically misplaced stock due to moving warehouses during quarter four.
“We are very understanding in business that things don’t always go to plan and you know as you are growing as FBT is growing you are gonna run into little bumps in the road…
“And while I understand and while my team understands that these things happen we also know that customer is king and customer is number one.
“So rather than letting these customers wait weeks and weeks until we find the stock, we cancel their orders and give them their money back. which is what we said to FBT.”
FBT “seem to agree” and Made by Mitchell “advised TikTok to cancel the orders”.
“But this still wasn’t happening and we physically couldn’t cancel the orders because it was on TikTok Shop’s platform,” he added.
“We informed TikTok Shop that our customers were getting a message that basically said the seller Made by Mitchell hasn’t sent out the order and TikTok shop and FBT agreed to change that.”
However, “that never happened”, and Mitchell said that he’s “getting the blame for it”.
“Fast forward a little bit of time and this is us taking back control comes into play,” he said.
How to shop safely on TikTok shop
TIKTOK shop is an e-commerce feature of the video app TikTok and officially launched in September 2023.
Popular TikTok creators often advertise products from the shop as they are given affiliate links which means they make money from referring followers.
Entrepreneurs can upload their products onto TikTok Shop for others to purchase.
However, it is important to stay vigilant when it comes to .
- Stick to verified sellers with good reviews—check ratings and feedback before buying.
- Avoid suspiciously low-priced items—“too good to be true” often is.
- Always pay via the in-app checkout, never off-platform.
- Avoid clicking links outside the app—especially unfamiliar domains or QR codes.
- Read product descriptions carefully and note return policies.
- Document your order—save screenshots and track delivery updates.
- Report suspicious activity through TikTok and initiate disputes if necessary.
“We decided to take every single last unit out of TikTok Shop’s fulfillment center FBT.
“It was a hell of a lot of stock and it’s been a real process being able to get that back into our own warehouses…
“We have a hell of a lot of stock in TikTok Shop and as we’ve been receiving it we have learned that there’s a hell of a lot of it missing and unaccounted for, and a hell of a lot of it that is damaged that we can no longer sell.
“And that leads me on to the point of this video which is me saying that we are closing our TikTok Shop, for now.”
Mitchell said that the situation is “deja vu” as they had to do the same last year during Black Friday and their “busiest week of the year.
This Black Friday, TikTok Shop received a record breaking number of orders marking its highest sales day on the platform to date, with 27 items selling every second.
Mitchell added: “This time, this will give us time to make sure we have resolved any outstanding orders in the best way that we can and hopefully give our customers that haven’t had the Made by Mitchell experience confidence that we care about you, we care about how you are spending your money and most of all we want you to get your orders.”
He added that customers can still purchase items from the Made by Mitchell website directly, and through the international store, and issued an apology to anyone who has been affected by the latest issues.
“I promise I will always prioritise you guys over anything else, whether it’s turning off our TikTok shop or whether it’s with a shade range,” he concluded.
“We could carry on our TikTok Shop being open right now taking thousands of orders a day but that’s just not the right thing to do right now.”
The comments section was almost immediately filled with angry customers, with one writing: “This explains why my order was cancelled.
“Did get my money back but still disappointed as I had ordered a load of products for my for Christmas.”
As another raged: “Can’t believe they’ve kept us waiting over two weeks, I don’t want my refund, I want your products!!!”
“My wife’s arrived damaged so returned them and they refused refund because they were damaged in transaction,” a third commented.
“So we had to go through the bank to get refunded.”
While someone else praised: “Thank you Mitchell for always coming with a full explanation and doing the right thing.
“The way you personally send out a message to your customers is top quality customer service – I appreciate you!!”
A spokesperson for TikTok Shop told Fabulous that Made By Mitchell was one of their many brands which exceeded their own expectations this Black Friday, increasing sales by double digits using Fufilled by TikTok.
They claimed that given the overwhelming demand due to a record breaking Black Friday, a small percentage of orders were delayed during this period.
However, they added that Made By Mitchell was one of their earliest merchants on TikTok Shop, and they looked forward to continuing to working with Mitchell and his team.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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