Small businesses selling through online platforms such as Coupang, NAVER and Baedal Minjok pay about 21% of their sales to the platforms, a survey showed.
The Korea Federation of SMEs released the findings of its 2026 survey on transaction practices among businesses operating on online platforms on the 15th. The survey covered 1,250 small businesses selling through online shopping malls, delivery apps and lodging apps, and was conducted from June 18 to July 3.
Small businesses on online platforms pay an average of 21.7% of their monthly sales in transaction costs, including brokerage commissions, advertising fees and information usage fees, the survey found. By platform type, delivery apps carried the heaviest burden at 26.2%, followed by online shopping malls at 20.6% and lodging apps at 18.3%.
Delivery apps also posted the sharpest increase from a year earlier. The average burden rose 5.2 percentage points for delivery apps, 2.0 percentage points for online shopping malls and 0.8 percentage point for lodging apps.
Among individual platforms, Coupang Eats ranked first at 27.6%. It was followed by Yogiyo at 26.4%, Musinsa at 24.3%, Baedal Minjok at 23%, Coupang at 22%, Gmarket and 11st at 19.6%, NAVER and Lotte On at 18.8%, Yanolja at 18.6%, Yeogi Eottae at 18% and SSG at 17.2%.
Gaps were wide even within the same platform. Based on individual responses, the highest burden rates reached 45% among online shopping mall sellers (a Coupang seller), 45% among delivery app sellers (Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats sellers) and 40% among lodging app sellers (Yanolja and Yeogi Eottae sellers), meaning some businesses spend close to half their sales on transaction costs.
Respondents reporting unfair trade practices or improper conduct accounted for 17.8% among online shopping mall sellers, 14.0% among delivery app sellers and 9.2% among lodging app sellers. The most commonly cited type was unjustified returns of goods for online shopping malls at 14.2%, avoidance of responsibility for customer response and compensation for delivery apps at 3.1%, and forced enrollment in unnecessary advertising or add-on services for lodging apps at 2.4%.
Delivery app sellers felt the strongest need for legislation on fair dealing by online platforms. Some 66.9% of delivery app sellers said they agreed such a law was needed, the highest share, while more than half also agreed among online shopping mall sellers at 62.2% and lodging app sellers at 50.0%. On introducing collective bargaining rights for small business owners, delivery app and online shopping mall sellers most often said it was needed, at 45.4% and 39.7% respectively, while lodging app sellers most often answered neutral at 35.2%.
For online shopping malls, 14.9% of sellers said settlement payments took more than 40 days in brokerage and consignment transactions, while 12.5% said payments took more than 60 days in direct-purchase and private-brand transactions.
Asked about the cost-saving effect of tiered commission rates on delivery apps, 49.4% of sellers said nothing had changed, the largest share. The tiered system applies different brokerage commission rates depending on a seller's sales volume. The most common reason for finding it unhelpful, cited by 35.5%, was that brokerage commissions remain high even after the reduction.
"Small businesses and small business owners are becoming more dependent on platforms every year, while costs such as commissions and advertising fees keep growing and unfair trade practices persist," said Kim Hee-joong, head of the federation's economic policy division. "To resolve this imbalance, the fundamental solution is to establish a horizontal structure in which sellers are granted autonomy in negotiating transaction terms."
