Shopee has announced that it will be raising its SPayLater seller fee up to 4.5% from its current 3.5%. This change will take effect starting 8 May, and all completed orders from then on will be charged the new fee. This follows a relatively recent hike to sellers’ Transaction Fees which excludes SPayLater and credit card transactions, going from 2% to 3.5% back in August of last year.
The announcement was made via the official Shopee Seller Education Hub. While the e-commerce outlet mentions the benefit of the SPayLater scheme the way an FAQ page would, not mentioned was the reason for the raised fee.
Shopee charges buyers and sellers differently for the use of SPayLater. Buyers pay no extra fees for instalments of up to three months, but these fees can go up to 36% for 24-month instalments. Though these have also gone through multiple changes over the years, with it initially being a flat 1.5% to the current 1.5% per month but without the three-month duration being exempted.
Sellers, on the other hand, are charged a flat rate of 3.5% currently, and 4.5% starting tomorrow, regardless of instalment duration, with the increase being met with negative reactions from sellers. Worth noting also that the e-commerce platform also doesn’t allow sellers to opt out of offering instalments.
The Star reports that sellers from an unspecified Facebook group contemplating “why they are being charged when it is buyers who choose to use the SPayLater payment method”. Some even suggested raising prices to offset the higher fee. One power tool seller said that these compounding costs are pushing him “away from focusing too much effort towards selling in Shopee”.
(Source: Shopee [1], [2], [3], The Star)
