Most Malaysian sellers can quote their commission rate from memory. Very few can tell you what actually lands in the bank on a RM 39 order.
That gap is where marketplace businesses quietly lose money. The commission is the number on the slide deck, but it is rarely half of what the platform takes. Add the transaction fee, the free-shipping programme you opted into two years ago, the flat per-order charge and the service tax sitting on each of those. Then add the ad spend it took to get the listing seen. On a small basket, the total can pass a fifth of the order before a single ringgit of product cost is counted.
This page prices the whole stack. It works through a RM 100 order line by line on both platforms, adds the real ad cost per order by category, then compares the blended cost of a marketplace sale against the same sale on your own website. If you are weighing the two channels in the first place, start with online store versus marketplace; this page assumes you are already selling and want the arithmetic.
It sits under our digital marketing pricing, alongside the other costs that decide whether a channel pays for itself.
The video below walks through how the commission lines on Shopee and Lazada are set and why they moved.
Commission Charges of Shopee and Lazada vs TikTok Shop
Source video: Kongpreneur Lazada Seller on YouTube
1. What Do Shopee and Lazada Actually Charge a Seller?
Quick Answer: Four charges, not one. A category commission, a transaction or payment fee tied to how the buyer paid, an optional free-shipping or programme fee, and on Shopee a flat per-order charge. Every one of them carries 8% service tax on top, and none of them includes your advertising.
The mistake is treating "commission" as the cost of selling. It is one line of four, and on a small order it is often not even the largest.
- Commission on the item price. Set by product category, and charged on the price after your own discounts, not the price you first listed. Shopee publishes the category bands in its Marketplace commission fee guide; Lazada shows your own rates under Seller Settings inside Lazada Seller Centre.
- Transaction or payment fee. Charged on the total the buyer paid, and it moves with the payment method — instalment and buy-now-pay-later orders cost more than a plain card or wallet payment. Shopee documents the calculation in its transaction fee guide.
- Programme fees. Free-shipping participation, cashback and campaign programmes. Shopee bills most of these as a separate percentage; Lazada folds much of the equivalent into a single higher all-in commission.
- Service tax. Platform fees are taxable services. The rate has been 8% since 1 March 2024, per the Royal Malaysian Customs service tax FAQ. It applies to each fee line, which is why the effective rates you see quoted end in odd decimals.
Because the mix differs, comparing the two platforms on commission alone tells you almost nothing. A lower Shopee commission with a separate shipping fee can end up dearer than a higher Lazada commission that already includes the subsidy. The only fair comparison is the total deducted per order — which is the next section. Where marketplace fees sit against every other channel cost is mapped in our digital marketing pricing.
Key takeaway: Never compare Shopee and Lazada on commission. Compare them on total ringgit deducted from an identical order, tax included.
Not sure what your marketplace orders really net?
We rebuild the fee stack from a month of your own settlement reports so you can see the take rate per category.
See how we approach e-commerce marketing →2. What Does a RM 100 Order Actually Cost You?
Quick Answer: On mid-band category rates, a RM 100 Shopee order gives up about RM 20.52 in platform fees and a Lazada order about RM 15.12, before advertising. Shopee splits the charge across four lines; Lazada carries more of it inside one commission. Add ads and both land in the low-to-mid twenties.
The table below prices one identical order on both platforms, with service tax already applied to each line. It is the view a settlement report never gives you in one place.
| Fee line | Shopee (RM) | Lazada (RM) | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission on item price | 10.26 | 12.96 | Category, Mall status, seller age |
| Transaction or payment fee | 3.78 | 2.16 | How the buyer paid |
| Free-shipping programme fee | 5.94 | Inside commission | Programme opt-in |
| Flat charge per order | 0.54 | 0.00 | Platform policy |
| Platform take before ads | 20.52 | 15.12 | Sum of the four lines |
| In-platform ads, typical | 6.00 | 6.00 | Your bids and category |
| Total cost of the sale | 26.52 | 21.12 | Before product and packing cost |
Modelled scenario at mid-band published category rates with 8% service tax applied to each fee line; ad figure from ZenWeb client tracking across Malaysian marketplace accounts, 2024–2026. Your own category rate will differ — read it in Seller Centre. Licence and data use.
Two things stand out. Shopee looks cheaper on commission and is not cheaper overall, because the shipping programme quietly adds a second commission-sized line. And the flat charge, trivial here, becomes the difference between profit and loss on a RM 15 accessory.
Service tax is worth naming separately. It is charged on the platform's fee, not on your product, and it behaves the same way as the tax on any other marketing service you buy — the mechanics of which are set out in SST on digital marketing services.
Key takeaway: Rebuild this table with your own category rates once a quarter. The rates move, and nobody sends you a notice you will read.
3. Is the Free Shipping Programme Worth Its Fee?
Quick Answer: Usually yes, but it is a marketing cost pretending to be a logistics cost. The programme fee buys placement in the shipping filter most Malaysian buyers apply by default. Leaving it drops your fee stack by several percent and drops your impressions further, so test it by category rather than switching it off shop-wide.
This is the line sellers query most often and cancel most rarely, because the fee is visible and the traffic it buys is not.
Think of it as a listing-level ad spend with a fixed rate. What you get for it:
- Filter eligibility. Buyers who tick the free-shipping filter never see non-participating listings at all, regardless of your ranking.
- Basket protection. A visible postage line at checkout is one of the most common abandonment triggers on low-value baskets.
- Campaign access. Payday and double-date campaign slots usually assume participation, so opting out narrows the calendar too.
The honest test is per category, not per shop. On bulky, low-margin items the fee can exceed the postage it replaces. On light, high-frequency items it is almost always cheaper than the conversion you lose. Run one category out of the programme for a full month and compare units sold, not just fee saved — and read the result alongside your listing visibility, which is a separate lever covered in Shopee and Lazada listing SEO.
Key takeaway: Treat the shipping programme fee as media spend. Judge it on units sold per month, not on the fee line you would save by leaving.
4. How Much Do In-Platform Ads Add Per Order?
Quick Answer: Between roughly RM 5 and RM 12 per order for most Malaysian categories, which is 4% to 9% of order value on top of platform fees. Beauty and fashion pay the highest percentage; electronics pays the highest ringgit but the lowest share, because the baskets are larger.
Ad spend is the part of the fee stack sellers control, and the part they measure worst. The figures below are cost per attributed order from ZenWeb-managed marketplace accounts.
| Category | Ad cost per order | Share of order value |
|---|---|---|
| Electronics and gadgets | RM 11.80 | 4.2% |
| Beauty and personal care | RM 8.40 | 9.3% |
| Fashion and accessories | RM 6.90 | 8.1% |
| Baby, kids and toys | RM 6.10 | 7.0% |
| Home and living | RM 5.20 | 5.6% |
Source: ZenWeb client tracking across Malaysian marketplace seller accounts, 2024–2026. Licence and data use.
Read the last column, not the middle one. Electronics sellers pay the most per order and worry least, because the basket absorbs it. Beauty sellers pay a third as much and are the ones squeezed, because RM 8.40 against a RM 90 basket sits on top of a fee stack that already took RM 18.
The lever is not bidding lower. It is bidding on fewer, better keywords and letting organic listing quality carry the rest — the platform-by-platform mechanics are in Shopee Ads and advertising on Lazada, and the split between them in Lazada versus Shopee ads. Sellers also running Google traffic into their listings should read Google Ads for Shopee and Lazada sellers, where the attribution behaves differently again.
Key takeaway: Track ad cost per order as a percentage of basket, not as a monthly budget. The same RM 6 is cheap in electronics and painful in beauty.
5. Marketplace or Own Website: Which Sale Costs More?
Quick Answer: A RM 100 marketplace sale costs about RM 26.50 to make; the same sale on your own site costs about RM 22.60. The gap is small on the first order and large on the second, because a marketplace buyer is not yours to re-market to and a website buyer is.
Own-site selling is not automatically cheaper. It moves the cost from a commission line to a traffic line, and the traffic line is where most Malaysian SMEs underestimate.
| Cost line | Marketplace order (RM) | Own website order (RM) |
|---|---|---|
| Platform commission and fees | 20.52 | 0.00 |
| Payment gateway | Inside fees | 2.30 |
| Traffic cost per order | 6.00 | 14.50 |
| Shipping subsidy | Inside fees | 4.00 |
| Site, tools and hosting per order | 0.00 | 1.80 |
| Total cost of one sale | 26.52 | 22.60 |
Source: ZenWeb client tracking across Malaysian marketplace and direct-to-site accounts, 2024–2026, at a RM 100 order value. Licence and data use.
Almost four ringgit of difference on the first order is not a reason to move a business. The reason sits in the row the table cannot show: across the same accounts, repeat purchase within 90 days runs materially higher on own-site buyers than on marketplace buyers, because you hold the contact details and the marketplace holds the relationship.
That second-order economics is the real argument, and it only works if the site is measured properly. Costs for the site itself are in e-commerce website costs in Malaysia, the processing line is explained in what a payment gateway is, and the tracking that makes the comparison trustworthy is priced in tracking setup costs in Malaysia. The metric that ties it together is customer acquisition cost.
Key takeaway: The marketplace charges more for the first sale. Your own site charges more for the first visit and less for every sale after it.
Running both channels and unsure which one is carrying the other?
We put marketplace settlements and site orders into one cost-per-sale view, by category, before recommending where the next ringgit goes.
See our digital marketing pricing →6. At What Order Value Do Marketplace Fees Stop Hurting?
Quick Answer: Around RM 80 to RM 100. Below that, the flat charge and the fixed ad cost per order eat a disproportionate share — a RM 25 basket keeps only about 54% before product cost, against 73% at RM 100 and 79% at RM 500. Raising average basket size beats negotiating any single fee.
Percentage fees scale with the order. The ad cost and the flat charge do not, and that is what breaks small baskets.
| Order value | Platform fees (RM) | Ads (RM) | Left before product cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 25 | 5.54 | 6.00 | RM 13.46 (53.8%) |
| RM 50 | 10.53 | 6.00 | RM 33.47 (66.9%) |
| RM 100 | 20.52 | 6.00 | RM 73.48 (73.5%) |
| RM 200 | 40.50 | 6.00 | RM 153.50 (76.8%) |
| RM 500 | 100.44 | 6.00 | RM 393.56 (78.7%) |
Modelled from the Shopee fee stack in Section 2 — percentage fees plus a flat RM 0.54 charge — with advertising held at RM 6.00 per order across all tiers. Licence and data use.
The curve is steep at the bottom and almost flat past RM 200. That has a plain operational meaning: a bundle that lifts the average basket from RM 45 to RM 90 does more for margin than any fee negotiation you are likely to win.
It also reframes what a good conversion rate is worth. Two levers move the same number: more orders, or bigger ones. The second is usually cheaper to pull. Benchmarks for the first are in e-commerce conversion rates, and the return maths behind the ad line is in return on ad spend.
Key takeaway: Below roughly RM 80 a basket, the fixed costs decide your margin. Bundle upward before you argue about percentages.
7. Which Marketplace Fees Can You Actually Reduce?
Quick Answer: Commission and service tax are fixed. Everything else moves. You control the payment mix, programme participation by category, ad efficiency, basket size and how much of your own discount you stack before the commission is calculated.
Work through these in order — the early ones cost nothing and take an afternoon:
- Reprice around your own discounts. Commission is charged after seller-funded discounts, so a voucher lowers both your revenue and your fee. Stacking a shop voucher on top of a campaign voucher on the same item is where margin disappears unnoticed.
- Check the payment mix in your settlement report. Instalment and pay-later orders carry a higher transaction fee. If they are a large share of your volume, that difference belongs in your pricing rather than in your surprise.
- Test programme participation by category, not shop-wide. One month out of the free-shipping programme on a single bulky category tells you more than any spreadsheet estimate.
- Cut ad keywords rather than ad budget. Most marketplace accounts carry a long tail of terms with impressions and no orders. Removing them lowers cost per order without lowering volume.
- Lift the basket deliberately. Bundles, add-on deals and minimum-spend vouchers move you up the curve in Section 6, which is the only lever that improves every fee line at once.
Two housekeeping points sit alongside this. Platform fees and advertising are business expenses, and the rules for claiming them are covered in is advertising tax deductible in Malaysia. And organic listing quality is what lets you cut paid keywords safely — the groundwork for that is in selling across TikTok Shop, Shopee and Instagram.
Key takeaway: You will not negotiate a commission rate. You can change the payment mix, the programme mix, the keyword list and the basket — and together those move more money.
8. Should You Leave the Marketplace Once Fees Rise?
Quick Answer: Rarely. The marketplace is buying you demand you would otherwise pay to create. The stronger move is to keep selling there while building an own-site channel that inherits the customers — and to decide which products belong on which channel rather than moving everything at once.
Every fee increase produces the same reaction and the same regret. Sellers who exit in a month usually return within two quarters, having discovered that the commission was cheaper than the traffic.
A more useful split, by product rather than by principle:
- Keep on the marketplace: discovery items, low-consideration purchases, anything where the buyer is comparing on price and does not care whose shop it is.
- Push to your own site: repeat-purchase consumables, bundles, subscriptions, and anything where you can build a reason to come back directly.
- Test on both: new launches, so the marketplace validates demand before you spend on traffic to prove it yourself.
Building the second channel properly is its own budget line, not a weekend job. The build side is costed in building an e-commerce website in Malaysia, and the one-off charges of getting an agency started are in marketing agency setup fees. Sellers whose buyers are businesses rather than consumers should plan against B2B marketing budgets in Malaysia instead, and the wider market context is in Malaysian e-commerce statistics.
Key takeaway: Do not choose between the channels. Choose which products belong on each, and let the marketplace fund the site that will eventually cost you less.
9. Price for the Whole Stack, Not the Headline Rate
Quick Answer: Budget around a fifth of order value for Shopee and Lazada seller fees in Malaysia, add your category's ad cost per order, then price the product on what is left. Rebuild the number quarterly, because the rates change more often than your price list does.
The seller who does well here is not the one paying the lowest commission. It is the one who knows, per category, what a sale actually costs before the stock is even counted.
We build that view from your own settlement reports, split marketplace and own-site cost per sale side by side, and put the next ringgit where the margin is — the scope and rates are on our digital marketing pricing page. More on how we work with Malaysian businesses at ZenWeb.
Want your real cost per marketplace sale, by category?
Book a free 30-minute session. Bring one month of settlement reports and we will rebuild the fee stack, show the take rate per category, and flag which lines are worth changing first.
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10. Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much do Shopee and Lazada take per order in Malaysia?
On mid-band category rates, expect roughly a fifth of order value once commission, transaction fee, programme fees and service tax are counted — about RM 20.52 on a RM 100 Shopee order and RM 15.12 on Lazada, before advertising. Your own rate depends on category, Mall status and which programmes you have joined.
2. Is service tax charged on marketplace seller fees?
Yes. Platform fees are taxable services, charged at 8% since 1 March 2024. The tax applies to each fee line rather than to your product price, which is why published effective rates carry odd decimals.
3. Do new sellers pay commission straight away?
Both platforms run waiver periods for new local sellers, tied to days since listing and, on Shopee, to a completed-order threshold. The waiver ends quietly, so diary the date and reprice before it lapses rather than after.
4. Is it cheaper to sell on my own website?
Per first order, only slightly — about RM 22.60 against RM 26.52 on a RM 100 basket, because traffic you buy replaces commission you avoid. The saving compounds on repeat orders, where you own the customer relationship and the marketplace does not.
5. Can I opt out of the free-shipping programme to save the fee?
You can, and most sellers should not do it shop-wide. Non-participating listings are hidden from buyers using the free-shipping filter, so the fee saved often costs more in lost orders. Test it on one bulky, low-margin category first.
