Marketplace or Your Own Website? What Each Sale Really Costs

Selling on a marketplace is the easiest way to find buyers in Indonesia. Buyers are already there, searching for what you sell.

But every sale is cut before the money reaches you, and the platform can change its fees whenever it wants. This post shows how much a marketplace keeps from one sale, using official fees. It also shows when a website of your own is worth it.

How much a marketplace keeps

Here are the seller fees TikTok Shop by Tokopedia lists on its official Seller Center page, last updated 15 September 2026:

Platform commission: 2.5% to 12.2% of the price after your discount, depending on seller type and product category.
Dynamic commission: 3% to 8%, capped at Rp60,000 per item since 16 September 2026, when you use the platform's standard promotion benefits (details). Clothing, shoes and bags are at 8%.
Order processing fee: Rp1,250 per order.
Logistics service fee: Rp540 to Rp5,060 per order, depending on parcel size and route.

Shopee also takes an admin fee that depends on the category. We left Shopee's numbers out because we couldn't check them on an official Shopee page. Check the payment details for your own orders in Shopee Seller Centre.

One shirt, worked through

Say you sell a shirt for Rp100,000, at the lowest platform commission and with the dynamic commission:

Platform commission 2.5%: Rp2,500
Dynamic commission 8%: Rp8,000
Order processing: Rp1,250
Logistics, lowest rate: Rp540

That's about Rp12,300 out of Rp100,000, before ads, vouchers or any extra programmes. A higher commission tier means more.

The rules belong to them

Fees change. The dynamic commission cap changed on 16 September 2026. The next change could go either way.
Some fees don't come back. If a delivered order is returned or refunded, the dynamic commission is not refunded to you, according to the same Seller Center page.
Your repeat buyers go back to the app. A happy customer who wants to buy again opens the marketplace. They see your competitors next to you, and you pay the cut again.

What a website changes, and what it doesn't

A sale through your own website or WhatsApp has no marketplace commission. If the buyer pays by QRIS, payments up to Rp100,000 have had a 0% fee since 1 October 2026 (our post on that).

But a website isn't free, and nobody finds it by accident. You pay for the domain, hosting and the build, and you have to send people there through Google, Instagram and your existing customers. A new buyer will still usually find you on a marketplace first.

A 15-minute test

Open the income report for your last 10 marketplace orders. Add up everything that was deducted.
Divide by 10. That's what one order costs you.
Count how many of last month's buyers had bought from you before.
Multiply the two numbers. That's roughly what you pay each month to sell to people who already know you.

If that number is bigger than a website would cost you per month, a website is worth it.

What this means for you

Keep the marketplace for finding new buyers. That's what you're paying for.
Build a direct route for people who already know you. A simple website with your catalogue, prices and a WhatsApp button is enough. Link it from your Instagram bio and Google Business Profile.
Don't ask marketplace buyers to pay outside the app. Read your platform's rules first, because breaking them can get your shop penalised.

If you want a simple website that takes orders without a commission, book a free consultation, or see how we build websites.