A Cuban creator with nearly 200,000 followers on TikTok published a video in which she exposes misleading tutorials on how to sell on TikTok Shop from Cuba, and takes the opportunity to explain the actual requirements that most of those tutorials deliberately neglect.
"To create a TikTok Shop from Cuba, you must have someone from the United States who can lend you their documents. What documents? Social Security," warns the creator, who has been on the platform with the same account for three years.
The central point that many tutorials overlook is the tax aspect: TikTok Shop in the United States requires sellers to provide a tax identification number, which for individuals is either the Social Security Number (SSN) or the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Without this information, the platform can withhold payments altogether.
“If not, you can set up a TikTok Shop, but you won’t be able to cash out what you sell because you need tax information,” explains the creator.
This means that a Cuban without legal residency in the United States cannot directly register as a seller and receive payments. They need someone with a Social Security Number to provide their tax information, and that person assumes real tax liability before the U.S. tax authorities at the end of the year.
"You have to pay the W-9 at the end of the year; you need to file your taxes, and given the situation up north, everyone is reluctant to take on any more burdens," he points out.
But the Social Security number is just the first obstacle. The creator lists other requirements that superficial tutorials also do not mention: initial capital to send product samples, a logistics agency or a relative in the United States to receive the merchandise, and a physical address in that country to manage the shipments.
"You need to have a Social, you need to have some money saved up because you have to send those samples to Cuba. You need to have an agency... you need to have the address of that agency so that your things can arrive there. It's not easy," he summarizes.
The phenomenon is framed within a surge predominantly led by Cubans from the diaspora in the United States. Cases such as “Flor de Cuba”, which reported nearly 10 million dollars in gross merchandise value in six months, or Camila Guiribitey, with over 100,000 dollars in sales in December 2025, have triggered a wave of tutorials and digital academies promising to replicate those results without explaining the actual requirements.
The creator also warns about a common misconception: the large numbers circulating on social media typically refer to GMV, meaning the total value of goods sold, not the net profit that the creator actually receives. This distinction is crucial for understanding whether the model is viable.
The complaint points directly to those who exploit the economic needs of Cubans with incomplete information. "Don't deceive the Cuban, because Cubans are so desperate that they believe any nonsense," says the creator, who also reveals the personal cost it took her to try to start this business: "There was a time when I was even losing my hair."
"When you go to create a tutorial on how to set up TikTok Shop from Cuba, the first thing you need to mention is that you need a Social Security number. Otherwise, don't provide the information, don't mislead people anymore," he concludes.
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