Both these e-commerce platforms adjusted fixed fees and transaction processing fees and applied or plan to apply newly arising service fees.
These changes could affect the overall operating costs of sellers on the platforms, thereby indirectly affecting prices for consumers as well as the competitive environment in the e-commerce sector.
Following complaints received in May regarding adjustment of existing fees and introduction of new fees by several e-commerce platforms, Vietnam’s National Competition Commission recently organised working sessions with several sellers operating on Shopee and TikTok Shop to examine difficulties faced by sellers.
It also held sessions with representatives of several intermediary digital retail platforms.
The Commission also sent official requests for information and documents, and held working sessions with representatives of several intermediary digital retail platforms, including Shopee, to clarify the basis for developing, adjusting and applying the new fee policies, as well as their impacts on sellers and the competitive environment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said on its website.
In particular, the commission paid special attention to Shopee’s planned introduction of a new fee through the ‘Display Maintenance Programme’, funded through automatic deductions from sellers’ order revenues.
Under the mechanism proposed by Shopee, a certain percentage of revenue from successful orders would be automatically deducted from sellers’ earnings and transferred to display service accounts to maintain promotional and product display activities on the platform.
The standard display maintenance rate is set at 1 per cent of revenue from successful orders, excluding value-added tax (VAT). Sellers may also flexibly set rates ranging from 1 per cent to 50 per cent depending on their needs. The deducted amount would be directly subtracted before revenues are transferred to sellers’ accounts.
Following the review and working process, the Commission requested Shopee to reassess the basis for implementing the program and its potential impacts on the seller community operating on the platform.
On May 27, Shopee submitted a report to the commission regarding the review results and proposed postponing the implementation of the new fee policy under the Display Maintenance Programme. The company also said it would send an official notice to sellers soon.
Regarding adjustments to current fees applied by intermediary digital retail platforms to sellers, including fixed fees, transaction processing fees, infrastructure fees and other service charges, the Commission said it would continue strengthening monitoring and supervision over the formulation, adjustment and application of fee policies in the market.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
