What equipment do I need for TikTok LIVE selling?

The short answer

A recent phone, a stable tripod, a lapel or shotgun microphone, two soft lights and a wired internet connection. Budget £300 to £800 for a setup that will not embarrass you. Sound and light matter more than camera quality, because TikTok compresses video hard and viewers leave the moment audio gets muddy. Never broadcast on wifi if you can run ethernet.

Lighting that reads on a phone screen

Two lights, both soft. A key light at forty five degrees to the host and a fill on the opposite side at half the power. Add a third small light on the product table if you are selling anything with texture, shine or colour detail.

Ring lights are fine for a face and poor for products. They flatten texture and throw a circular reflection across anything glossy. Two 60cm softboxes cost roughly £100 to £150 the pair and will make a £15 product look like a £40 one.

Sound is the thing people quit over

Phone microphones pick up room echo, till noise and the extractor fan. A wired lapel mic into the phone costs around £30 and removes most of the problem. Test it by listening back to the replay on phone speakers, which is how most viewers hear you.

If two hosts share the frame, use two mics into a small mixer or a dual receiver set. Passing one microphone back and forth reads as amateur and creates a gap in the audio every time it moves.

Connection, phone and the shelf behind you

Broadcasting drops are the fastest way to lose a room. A reconnect resets your distribution wave. Use ethernet with a USB adapter or a dedicated 5GHz band with nothing else on it. Test upload speed at the time of day you broadcast.

Keep the phone plugged in, on aeroplane mode with wifi on and set to do not disturb. Behind the host, keep one clean backdrop with stock visible. Visible stock signals a real operation and gives you something to point at.

Quick answers

Can I stream from a laptop or camera instead of a phone?

Yes, through TikTok LIVE Studio or an RTMP key on desktop, which unlocks OBS overlays and a proper camera. Eligibility rules for desktop streaming change, so check yours before buying capture hardware.

Do on screen graphics and overlays help sales?

A simple price card and a delivery promise help. Heavy overlays hurt, because they cover the product and TikTok crops the frame differently across devices. Keep the centre of the screen clear for the product.

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