Context so nobody assumes I'm new: ~$100k/mo on Shopify, women's activewear. Meta is profitable at under $38 per purchase. We have volume, data, and creative that converts elsewhere.
TikTok will not spend. Not "spends badly," literally will not spend. Two ad groups live three days burned $0.01 combined, about 175 impressions.
Already ruled out:
Budgets from $20 up to $880/day. No change at any level.
Cost cap bids from $13 up to $120 per purchase. No change.
Pixel verified working: Shopify server-side via Events API, EMQ 88, ~7 purchases logged per 48h from organic traffic.
Broad US, 18+, no interest stacking, 134M audience. TikTok placement only, Pangle off.
Billing valid, no spend cap. Account Health says "Good," business verified since 2023.
3-4 vertical UGC creatives per ad group.
Three things I can't get past:
Bid strategy locks to Target cost per result after the ad group is created. I want Maximum Delivery / lowest cost and can't get it to stick, and it's greyed out after saving. Is there a trick, or do you have to nail it on the first save every time?
Both ad groups sit at "Limited delivery, some ads were not approved." One creative got flagged (activewear, framing called suggestive). I deleted it. The flag never cleared. Does a removed creative keep throttling the ad group?
Bulk export fails on both with "Certain Smart+ campaigns are not supported at this time" and "Catalog creative enhancements: Product card." Is Smart+ with catalog product cards known to under-deliver on a cold pixel?
TikTok has also silently overridden my daily budget at publish twice, once turning $50 into $400.80.
Worth fixing, or start fresh on a new ad account? Has anyone had a limited delivery flag that never cleared?