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Shopee vs TikTok Shop Malaysia: Which Takes Less From Your Sales?
Shopee vs TikTok Shop Malaysia: Which Takes Less From Your Sales?
The honest answer is: it depends on your category, and on one accounting difference that makes the two platforms' headline rates look further apart than they are. This article puts the same product through both platforms' real fee stacks, so you can see the actual take rate — then covers the structural differences that a simple percentage misses.
All rates are the Marketplace (non-Mall) rates from each platform's official documentation, verified 2026-10-09. Shopee's table is effective 14 August 2026; TikTok's is effective 13 September 2025.
The SST catch before you compare numbers
This is the single most important thing to understand:
- Shopee publishes commission rates excluding 8% SST. You add 8% yourself to get the effective rate.
- TikTok Shop publishes commission rates including 8% SST. The number you see is the final rate.
So a "14%" on Shopee and a "14.58%" on TikTok are much closer than they look: Shopee's 14% becomes an effective 15.12% once SST is added. This single accounting difference explains most of the confusion in comparison blog posts.
Same product, both platforms
Take a RM50 clothing item (Women Clothes), sold by a non-SCP Marketplace seller on Shopee and a non-BXP Marketplace seller on TikTok Shop. Assume the buyer also pays a RM4.90 shipping fee.
| Fee layer | Shopee MY | TikTok Shop MY |
|---|---|---|
| Commission rate (as published) | 14.00% (excl. SST) | 14.58% (incl. SST) |
| Effective commission rate | 15.12% | 14.58% |
| Commission incl. SST | RM7.560 | RM7.290 |
| Transaction fee (on RM50 + RM4.90) | RM2.075 | RM2.075 |
| Platform Support Fee | RM0.540 | RM0.540 |
| Total platform fees | RM10.175 | RM9.905 |
| Seller keeps (of RM50) | RM39.825 | RM40.095 |
| Take rate on product price | 20.35% | 19.81% |
On this example, TikTok Shop leaves the seller about RM0.27 more — roughly 0.5 percentage points of take rate. That is close enough that it should not drive your platform choice on its own: a 1-point category difference or a BXP/SCP status change can flip the result.
A note on the transaction fee: the table uses the buyer's total including shipping as the base, for an apples-to-apples comparison. TikTok's own worked example calculates its transaction fee on the subtotal without shipping, which would make its number marginally lower still. The 3.78% rate is identical on both platforms; only the billing base differs.
Where the platforms structurally differ
1. Commission basis. Both bill commission on the item price after seller discounts. TikTok explicitly excludes platform-funded discounts from the base. Check how each platform treats vouchers you fund yourself.
2. Commission tables. Shopee's table has Mall and Marketplace tiers, each split into SCP and non-SCP. TikTok's splits into BXP and non-BXP, plus Mall. The category-to-category winners are not fixed — see the examples below.
3. The SST presentation. Covered above. TikTok's "all-in" quoting is simpler to compare across platforms; Shopee's requires you to do the 1.08 multiplication.
4. Service fees are nearly identical. Both charge RM0.50 + 8% SST = RM0.54 per completed (Shopee) or delivered (TikTok) order. TikTok's took effect 2026-02-15; Shopee's 2025-07-16.
5. New-seller terms. Shopee waives commission until the earlier of 120 days or 200 completed orders. TikTok waives commission for 120 days (plus 30 days of the platform fee), but only after you complete a listing task, and only for shops that joined after 2026-04-01.
6. Settlement speed. Shopee releases escrow within 3 calendar days of delivery (SSL channel) or 7 days (non-SSL). TikTok uses a performance-tiered schedule — Introductory 31 days, Standard 8, Accelerated 5, Express 1 — from the delivery date. Faster cash conversion can be worth more than a fraction of a percent in fees, especially for a seller buying inventory on a short cycle.
Category winners flip
The take-rate winner depends on category, and the direction changes. Using non-SCP (Shopee) and non-BXP (TikTok) rates, commission including SST for a few common categories:
| Category | Shopee (incl. SST) | TikTok (incl. SST) | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's Clothing | 15.12% | 14.58% | TikTok |
| Shoes | 16.20% | 14.58% | TikTok |
| Furniture | 17.82% | 12.42% | TikTok |
| Pet Supplies | 16.20% | 11.88% | TikTok |
| Mobile Phones | 11.88% | 9.72% | TikTok |
| Health – Personal Care | 18.36% | 15.12% | TikTok |
Shopee figures are its published non-SCP rates multiplied by 1.08 to include SST; TikTok figures are its published non-BXP rates, which already include SST.
The pattern above is real but incomplete: it compares non-BXP against non-SCP. If you qualify for BXP on TikTok or opt into SCP on Shopee, the numbers shift. SCP, for example, drops Shopee's Women Clothes rate to 9% (effective 9.72%) but adds a separate 5.5%/7.5% programme fee.
When to pick which
- Choose TikTok Shop when your category has a wide Shopee-vs-TikTok gap (Furniture, Pet Supplies, Shoes), you can qualify for BXP, and you can absorb a longer Introductory settlement window on a new shop.
- Choose Shopee when you sell in a low-commission electronic category where its 6–11% Marketplace-SCP rates are competitive, when you want predictable 3-day escrow rather than a 31-day introductory tier, and when its search demand matches your product.
- Run both where volume supports it: the fee difference on most categories is small enough that demand-side traffic and conversions dominate. Fee optimisation is a margin lever, not a growth lever.
Whatever you choose, model it before you commit. A take rate difference of half a percent is trivial next to a category misclassification that moves you up several percentage points.
Related reading: Shopee Malaysia seller fees, TikTok Shop Malaysia fees, Malaysia tax: SST and the 10% LVG tax, and the full Shopee commission table by category.
Run your own comparison: the free SEA Profit Calculator lets you enter one product and compare the full six-layer fee stack across both platforms side by side — commission, payment fee, platform fee, SST, first-mile logistics, and FX.
Run the numbers on your own product. Six fee layers, live market price band, no sign-up.
Open the calculatorSources
- Shopee MY — Marketplace Commission Fees: https://seller.shopee.com.my/edu/article/6799
- Shopee MY — Shopee's Transaction Fee: https://seller.shopee.com.my/edu/article/16038
- Shopee MY — Platform Support Fee: https://seller.shopee.com.my/edu/article/25269
- TikTok Shop MY — Commission Fee & Seller Fees Calculations: https://seller-my.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=6907739532281602&lang=en
- TikTok Shop MY — Platform Support Fee: https://seller-my.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=7992113007347457&lang=en
- TikTok Shop — Payment Settlement (SG, cross-market framework): https://seller-sg.tiktok.com/university/essay?knowledge_id=8150481751656193&lang=en
Rates verified 2026-10-09 — always confirm in your seller centre.