Three fee moves, three different intents
Three of the region’s largest ecommerce platforms changed their fee structures within weeks of each other in early 2026. Shopee added a new charge. TikTok Shop raised an existing one. Lazada held its rate steady. Reading all three as the same category of move, platforms extracting more from sellers as growth slows, misses what each one is actually signaling.
What each platform did
Shopee announced a 5% technical support fee on 24 December 2025, applying to orders completed from 1 February 2026 across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Coverage of the announcement disagrees on exactly which seller types it applies to, so that detail is left out here rather than stated as settled. Check your own Seller Centre account for the exact scope. Shopee is offsetting part of the cost during the rollout with advertising credit worth up to 5% of order value, though the credit is explicitly smaller than the fee itself for most sellers.
TikTok Shop raised its Vietnam commission to 12.5% for marketplace sellers and 14.5% for mall sellers, effective March 2026. Vietnam is TikTok Shop’s fastest growing market in the region, with GMV up 83% year on year according to Vietnamese ecommerce data provider Metric, so this increase lands on a seller base that has strong reason to stay rather than leave.
Lazada held its most visible base rate near 3.99%, the lowest headline figure of the three platforms, even as its broader category-by-category commission table runs higher in specific segments and even as the platform raised rates in some markets and categories separately during the same period. Read against Shopee’s and TikTok Shop’s increases alone, Lazada’s positioning looks defensive, a platform protecting seller volume by staying cheap while it loses ground on growth metrics.
Fee comparison table
| Platform | Change | Effective date | Markets affected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopee | New 5% technical support fee | 1 February 2026 | Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam |
| TikTok Shop | Commission raised to 12.5% (marketplace) / 14.5% (mall) | March 2026 | Vietnam |
| Lazada | Entry tier base rate held near 3.99% | Ongoing | Region-wide, category and market variation applies |
Why Lazada’s number reads differently in context
Lazada’s low headline rate looks like a defensive play only if every platform in this comparison is chasing the same buyer at the same price point. They are not. Lazada’s own Thailand business turned profitable in 2022 and generated 30.16 billion baht in revenue with 1.46 billion baht in profit in 2024, a return that comes from holding a margin segment, not from discounting to chase share.
Singapore’s buyer profile supports that reading. Singapore’s shoppers spend an average of roughly USD 1,400 a year online, the highest figure in SEA. Around 55% of that spend crosses borders. That is a buyer built for a brand-led, premium positioning, not for a volume race against Shopee’s lower price points.
Lazada’s fee position fits a brand commerce strategy aimed at that higher spending, cross-border buyer rather than a strategy built to out-discount Shopee or TikTok Shop on price. A lower entry commission on a platform positioned toward higher order values is a different economic bet than a lower commission on a platform chasing transaction volume.
The comparison only tells one story if the platforms are competing for the same buyer
Benchmarking Lazada against Shopee’s or TikTok Shop’s growth rate assumes all three are running the same race. Shopee and TikTok Shop are competing hardest for transaction volume and platform GMV share, the metrics that dominate most regional ecommerce reporting. Lazada’s own recent strategy commentary and its Thailand profitability track record point toward a different target: fewer orders, higher average order value, a buyer who cares more about brand assurance than about shaving a few percentage points off price.
The verdict
For a seller running a volume-driven, price-competitive category, Shopee’s new technical support fee and TikTok Shop’s Vietnam commission increase are the more relevant cost changes to model, since both platforms compete hardest on transaction volume where fee percentage directly compresses margin per unit. For a brand-led seller in a premium or cross-border category, Lazada’s held rate is worth weighing against its narrower audience and lower absolute order volume, not benchmarked against Shopee’s or TikTok Shop’s growth numbers, since the three platforms are not competing for the same transaction in the first place.