Malaysian Retailers Brace for New Shopee Platform Support Fee Effective 16 July 2025
Starting 16 July 2025, Shopee Malaysia will roll out a new Platform Support Fee of RM0.50 (excluding SST) for every completed order on its platform. This announcement has significant implications for the thousands of sellers on Shopee, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) that rely heavily on the marketplace for sales volume. The fee is intended to help Shopee sustain and enhance its payment infrastructure and service standards, while also aligning with Malaysia’s expanding tax regime.
What Is the Platform Support Fee and Who Will It Affect?
As outlined in Shopee’s official communication, the Platform Support Fee will only be applicable to sellers who meet either of the following conditions:
- They have listed their first product for more than 120 days, or
- They have completed 100 orders or more on the platform
Sellers who are still within their initial onboarding phase and have yet to cross these thresholds will be exempt from the fee. This exemption policy appears to be a strategic move aimed at encouraging new merchants to scale their operations before incurring additional platform costs.
For qualifying sellers, the RM0.50 fee will be charged on every successfully completed order and will also be subject to the standard 8% Sales and Service Tax (SST). This brings the real cost per transaction slightly higher, though the listed fee remains RM0.50 before tax. Shopee has justified this fee by citing rising operational and payment gateway costs and the need for continuous platform upgrades and seller support initiatives.
A Fee That Reflects Broader Economic Shifts
This move by Shopee does not occur in isolation. It closely follows the Malaysian government’s announcement of a broadened SST framework that will take effect in July 2025. The revised policy is designed to capture a wider range of digital services, including cross-border transactions and fees from digital platforms such as marketplaces and payment processors. (Source: The Star, June 2025)
The earlier SST rate increase—from 6% to 8% in March 2024—already widened the tax net to cover services like platform commissions, subscription packages, and advertising credits. Shopee’s introduction of the Platform Support Fee aligns with a regional trend of marketplaces adapting to similar legislative pressures across Southeast Asia. Digital platforms are under increasing pressure to maintain compliance while balancing seller satisfaction and marketplace profitability.
The Real Impact on Seller Margins
Though RM0.50 may seem negligible at a glance, its cumulative impact is significant. Sellers handling 1,000 orders a month will find themselves paying an additional RM500 monthly, even before SST is applied. This can challenge profitability, especially for sellers operating in low-margin sectors.
The impact will be especially felt in competitive categories such as consumer packaged goods (CPG), apparel, beauty products, mobile accessories, and home essentials—where price sensitivity is high and margins are traditionally thin. In these cases, sellers may be forced to choose between absorbing the cost, raising prices, or increasing operational efficiency to offset the fee.
How Sellers Can Strategically Respond
In light of this development, Malaysian retailers should take immediate steps to future-proof their marketplace operations:
- Reassess Pricing Structures: Analyze current price points and explore strategies such as bundling, minimum order thresholds, and loyalty incentives to offset the added fee without reducing competitiveness.
- Drive Higher Order Values: Focus on increasing Average Order Value (AOV) through cross-selling, product recommendations, and curated combos.
- Improve Fulfillment Efficiency: Tools like Sellercraft’s Order Management System (OMS) can automate order syncing across multiple channels, reduce errors, and enhance overall fulfillment speed.
- Invest in Customer Retention: Building brand loyalty through post-purchase engagement, exclusive deals, and strong customer service can reduce the cost of reacquisition and help justify value-based pricing.
- Monitor and Adjust Frequently: Use analytics to evaluate the impact of the fee on your unit economics and monitor performance across categories and timeframes.
Final Thoughts
The introduction of Shopee’s Platform Support Fee is not just a pricing update—it signals a shift in how digital marketplaces in Malaysia are evolving in response to increasing regulatory and operational complexity. Sellers must now manage not only inventory and marketing, but also compliance and cost control at a deeper level.
Furthermore, Shopee is unlikely to be the only player making such a move. As Malaysia’s expanded SST framework takes full effect, we anticipate similar policy-driven fee adjustments from other key platforms like Lazada and TikTok Shop. These changes underscore the need for retailers to stay informed, agile, and well-integrated in their e-commerce operations.
At Sellercraft, we’re committed to helping Malaysian retailers navigate these shifts with greater ease. Our platform simplifies order management, enhances multichannel visibility, and equips your team to grow sustainably in a competitive digital environment.