SharkNinja Pays Fans 8–15% Commission to Sell Beauty Ahead of Holidays

An oil-field worker's skincare video drew over 10 million views — and now SharkNinja is formalizing how it recruits creators like him, with consumer commissions starting at 8% and reaching 15% for a VIP tier.

In May, Kevin O'Connor (@kevin_0connor_; 460,000 TikTok followers), who works on an offshore oil field supply vessel, posted a video using the Shark FacialPro Glow, an at-home facial cleansing and exfoliating device. The video attracted more than 131,000 likes and 3,500 shares, according to SharkNinja. Stacy Carpenter, the company's svp of global social media, said the appeal came from the unexpected demonstrator — and the residue collected in what she called his device's "gunk tank."

"Those are the sorts of stories we're trying to collect because that is what moves the needle," Carpenter said. "The effectiveness of the product, the wow, the unexpectedness of the person in that situation are really what drive part of that conversation."

What did SharkNinja announce?

On October 20, SharkNinja announced two programs:

• First Fans, a creator program for its more than 4,100 global employees, offering training, content prompts and rewards, including commissions where eligible.
• SharkNinja Storytellers, an affiliate program for consumers, activated ahead of holiday shopping with tiered commissions from 8% to 15%.

The programs add employees and everyday consumers to a mix that already includes celebrity partners, macro and mid-tier influencers, and affiliates selling through TikTok Shop. SharkNinja's brand and creator content generated more than 19 billion impressions across more than 200,000 posts this year, according to the company. Carpenter said thousands of inquiries arrive weekly from creators and consumers who want to work with it.

How do the commission tiers work?

Storytellers gives customers a defined route to earning money:

• Everyday creator tier: 8–10% commissions for content including unboxings and reviews.
• Professional creators — stylists and estheticians — earn 8–12% and get access to paid briefs and masterclasses.
• VIP tier (invitation only): 12–15% commission.

Applicants must currently live in the U.S. and have at least 1,000 total followers.

First Fans targets a different talent pool. Carpenter wants engineers, research and development staff, and test-kitchen employees in the storytelling. A video featuring the engineers behind the Ninja CRISPi Microwave generated 2.9 million views across Instagram and TikTok in its first week, according to the company. Carpenter wants employees to show "the spills on the floor" and "the messy pieces of how we bring products to life."

One participant is Mariana Menezes, a quality engineer who was already making Portuguese-language videos about curly hair, fitness and everyday life for about 18,000 Instagram followers, per the company.

Why not just hire beauty influencers?

Only a minority of SharkNinja's creator roster would classify exclusively as beauty influencers, Carpenter said. When choosing partners, the team weighs hair type, age, lifestyle and the specific problem a product solves.

The company is also rethinking how it sorts creators altogether. "The shift we're making is actually away from categorizing people by their following and more [toward what] they do for the business," Carpenter said. Some creators reliably attract millions of views, she added. "But they might not drive sales."

SharkNinja has not disclosed sales attributed to O'Connor's video or to the new programs. To close that gap, it uses an internal "social signal engine" that combines organic, influencer and paid content with point-of-sale data. The team looks for correlations to inform repeat partnerships, new product assignments and expansion into other markets.

What comes next?

SharkNinja will prompt creator partners to join holiday wish lists, storefronts and gift-guide challenges. It is considering putting a customer-created gift guide on its homepage. For fans already telling everyone what to buy, the company is now offering a reason to keep going: a cut of the sale.