E-commerce giant Shopee has announced a major change in its commission fees that will affect all local sellers very soon. Starting from 10 January 2023, the commission fee rate for marketplace sellers will be increased from the current 2% to between 2.5% and 4%.

Marketplace sellers are local sellers who are not part of Shopee Mall. Those who sell their products on Shopee from overseas or through Shopee Mall will not be affected by the revised rates. Moreover, commission fees are only charged to Marketplace sellers who have completed at least 100 orders, continuing its policy of exempting new e-commerce sellers on its platform.

shopee marketplace commission fee rate — Image: Shopee

The new rates will differ according to cluster, category, and sub-category, with some electronics getting charged a rate of just 2.5% while the fashion category is charged the most commission fee at 4%. Keep in mind that these rates are before the 6% SST is added on, meaning that some sellers can be charged as much as 4.24%.

Interestingly, while products under the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are charged between 3% to 4%, the company is giving an exemption to certain essential goods. This includes bakery, baking needs, cooking essentials, food staples, and fresh and frozen food.

The new commission fee rates will only be applicable to orders placed and completed from 10 January onwards, meaning that orders placed before then will be charged the 2% rate even if they were completed after said date. Of course, the commission fee is just one of the fees charged to sellers in addition to the 2.12% transaction fee and other service fees such as the unsuccessful order fee.

For most categories, the revised Marketplace rates are still lower than what Shopee charges its official brand or retail partners on Shopee Mall, which ranges from 4% to 6%. The company is justifying the fee increase by saying that it plans to reinvest the revenue towards increasing targeted seller support programmes and opportunities to export overseas.

(Source: Shopee)