Sharetea franchise: what it costs
The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) lists opening a Sharetea franchise tea shop as $275,600 at the low end and $606,400 at the high end. It is the set of papers a brand must hand you before you buy.
Sharetea franchise cost, item by item
- Full cost of opening
- $275,600 to $606,400 Item 7, 2026 FDD
- Franchise fee you pay one time at the start
- $12,000 Item 5, 2026 FDD
- Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand
- 6% of gross sales every month, with $1,200 as the monthly minimum Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Figures on sales or earnings
- None given Item 19, 2026 FDD
- Locations at year-end 2025
- Franchise owners ran 146, and the company ran 0 Item 20, 2026 FDD
Each figure here comes from the 2026 Sharetea Franchise Disclosure Document. Lilian USA LLC filed it at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and the document is dated March 5, 2026. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.
Sales and earnings numbers in the Sharetea FDD
Sharetea includes no numbers on sales or earnings in Item 19, so its FDD tells you nothing about how much its locations sell or earn. Ask the owners listed under Item 20, the FDD's list covering locations and owners, how much they earn.
Before you rely on any figure in it, our guide shows the way to read Item 19.
Other bubble tea franchises next to Sharetea
Among the bubble tea franchises covered here, Sharetea has the highest opening cost.
| Brand | Total cost to opentotal, lowest to highest | Upfront feeone-time fee | Royaltyongoing, usually a % of sales | Sales or earnings showndoes the brand show sales figures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kung Fu Tea | $169K to $378K | $37,000 | 4% | No |
| Gong cha | $207K to $648K | $37,000 | 6% | Yes |
| Sharetea | $276K to $606K | $12,000 | 6% (at least $1,200 a month) | No |
Before you buy, a brand has to hand over its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD); the brand's latest one is where every figure comes from. The royalty means you keep paying the brand after opening, either a share of sales or the set amount; "Sales or earnings shown" tells whether the brand says how much its locations bring in. A K stands for thousand, an M for million. Each FDD here was filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce in 2026.
Every bubble tea franchise, side by side
Number of Sharetea locations
At the end of 2025, the United States had 146 Sharetea locations, with franchise owners running 100% of them (Item 20). In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.
Get the Sharetea FDD read by a franchise attorney
Before you sign, one franchise attorney can go through the Sharetea FDD and franchise agreement with you.