With the Ministry of Industry and Trade's intervention, Shopee immediately postponed the fee increase.

TPO - The National Competition Commission, Ministry of Industry and Trade, stated that it had requested Shopee to review the basis and impact of the new fee policy. Subsequently, the company proactively proposed postponing the fee for the "display maintenance program," which was scheduled to be implemented from May 29th.

The National Competition Commission has recently received numerous reports regarding several e-commerce platforms adjusting and adding new fees, which could increase the operating costs of sellers, thereby impacting selling prices and the competitive environment in the e-commerce market.

After receiving the information, the National Competition Commission worked with several sellers on the Shopee and TikTok Shop platforms to record the difficulties and shortcomings arising from the adjustment of fixed fees, transaction processing fees, and some new service fees expected to be applied in May.

The regulatory body also requires platforms to provide information, documents, and organizational resources to clarify the basis for the adjustments, the methods of application, and the impact of the new fee policies on sellers and the competitive environment.

During its work, the National Competition Commission noted Shopee's planned implementation of the Display Retention Program starting May 29th. Under this mechanism, the platform will automatically deduct a portion of revenue from successful orders to top up the seller's promotional account, maintaining product visibility.

The standard display maintenance fee is applied at 1% of successful order revenue (excluding VAT), while sellers can proactively set a flexible rate from 1-50% depending on their needs. This fee is deducted directly before revenue is transferred to the seller's account.

Following a review, the National Competition Commission requested Shopee to reassess the basis for application and the impact of the program on the seller community.

On May 27th, Shopee Vietnam Co., Ltd. submitted a report to the National Competition Commission, stating that it proactively proposed postponing the implementation of the new fee policy through its Display Retention Program. According to the company, the official announcement to sellers will be sent out on May 28th.

Shopee's continuous fee increases have drawn backlash from sellers.

Regarding other types of fees applied by e-commerce platforms such as fixed fees, transaction processing fees, infrastructure fees, and related service fees, the National Competition Commission stated that it will continue to strengthen supervision of the development, adjustment, and application of fee policies in the market.

The agency also requested Shopee, TikTok Shop, and related businesses to continue providing complete information, documents, and explanations regarding the basis for establishing the fee structure, the fee collection mechanism, its reasonableness and transparency, as well as the impact of these fee policies on the business operations of sellers and consumer rights.

The National Competition Commission recommends that retail intermediary digital platforms, when adjusting their fee policies, ensure transparency and reasonableness, avoid creating unreasonable burdens for sellers, prevent distorted competition, or negatively impact consumers.

From the beginning of May, Shopee increased its transaction processing fee for some prepaid payment methods from 4.91% to 6%. From May 23rd, the platform continued to increase various fees and sales programs such as Voucher Xtra, PiShip, etc.

Starting May 29th, Shopee will implement an Automatic Display Retention Program, which will deduct at least 1% of the value of successful orders to be added to the shop's display advertising account.

In particular, for highly competitive product categories such as cosmetics, personal care, or fashion , the total platform fees have increased significantly when including fixed fees, payment fees, Xtra vouchers, and mandatory or nearly mandatory programs to maintain visibility.

According to many shop owners, after the latest adjustments, the total platform fee for a Shopee store could increase from approximately 24.5% to over 30.5% of order revenue, not including advertising, livestreaming, affiliate marketing, or internal operating costs.

If you add up all the costs of maintaining orders and displaying products, the actual total cost in some product categories amounts to around 40-45% of revenue. This increased cost, coupled with a lack of strong consumer demand recovery, is further eroding profit margins.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/bo-cong-thuong-vao-cuoc-shopee-lien-hoan-tang-phi-post1847063.tpo