How GPA Motorpart Saves Margins from the 21% Marketplace Fee Cut

Founded in 2022 and based in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan, GPA Motorpart has rapidly built a loyal following among Malaysia's motorcycle enthusiast community.

Like many Malaysian businesses, GPA Motorpart started where most do: Shopee. It was the natural first step. Low barrier to entry, ready-made traffic, and a straightforward path to their first sale.

In just a few short years, they've become a trusted name for passionate DIY riders — the type who scroll for peer reviews, check out with exactly what they want, and always come back thinking, "what do I mod next?"

Keeping up with this community meant more orders, more revenue, and sometimes… more money flowing out to the marketplace.

Why Selling Vehicle Components at Scale is a Margin Killer

Marketplace fees are easy to dismiss when you're small.

GPA Motorpart was moving 700 orders a month. On the surface, business was good — orders were coming in, the catalogue was growing, and their presence on Shopee and TikTok Shop was strong.

But every sale came with a fee attached.

Transaction fees, platform commissions, and platform support fees. On top of that, optional cashback and free shipping programmes — the kind you can't really opt out of if you want to stay competitive.

Stack them together, and GPA Motorpart was handing over 21% of every sale back to the marketplace.

At an average order value of RM150, that's about RM32 per order. Multiply that by 700, and RM22,000 was quietly leaving the business every single month — not to suppliers, not to growth, but to platforms they didn't own.

The bigger they grew, the bigger that number got.

Escaping the Vulnerability of Borrowed Platforms

Marketplaces weren't the enemy, they were still valuable for discovery and reach. But building entirely on platforms he didn't control meant his business was permanently exposed.

"I need a channel that I own as a layer of security to my business." — founder of GPA Motorpart.

Fee structures could change overnight. Algorithms could shift. And every customer who bought through marketplaces remained, technically, the platform's customer — not his.

What GPA Motorpart needed was a foundation they owned, that still played well with the marketplaces they were already on.

Transitioning to a Multi-Channel Business Model

With EasyStore, GPA Motorpart built exactly that.

A storefront they own. Their online store became their home base — a direct channel where every sale lands in full, without platform fees taking a cut. Marketplaces remain active and synced, but the owned store is now where GPA Motorpart points their most loyal customers.

A membership programme built for riders. GPA Motorpart launched a tiered loyalty programme designed specifically for their community.  For a customer base that comes back project after project, giving riders a reason to return directly.

A meticulous shift in traffic. The goal wasn't to abandon Shopee overnight, but to gradually migrate their most engaged "VIP" customers toward the owned channel where margins are higher.

Why Everyone is Reclaiming Their Customer Data

Beyond the fees, there's something more valuable at stake: knowing who your buyers are.

Every order placed on a marketplace comes with a condition — the platform decides what seller gets to know about their buyers.

Names, contact details, purchase history — access is limited, retargeting is restricted, and building a direct relationship with the customer is difficult.

On their own store, GPA Motorpart owns all of it. Every customer who checks out directly becomes a contact they can reach, a behaviour they can understand, and a relationship they can build on their own terms.

This matters especially in motor parts, which sits firmly in medium-to-high repeat purchase territory. A rider who just upgraded their exhaust will be back for the next mod. A customer who bought a clutch plate will need a replacement.

The question isn't whether they'll buy again. It's whether they'll come back to GPA Motorpart specifically, or get intercepted by a marketplace recommendation along the way.

With an owned channel and a membership programme pulling them back directly, the odds shift in GPA Motorpart's favour.

From Marketplace Tenant to Independent Brand Owner

For GPA Motorpart, the move to an owned channel wasn't about abandoning what was working. Shopee and TikTok Shop are still part of the business, and likely always will be. But there's a meaningful difference between using marketplaces as a tool and being entirely dependent on them.

For a business only three years old, that kind of foundation changes everything about what's possible next.

Make Customers Love Buying From You

EasyStore empower brands to prioritize customers and enhance their experience, creating a unified customer experience (UCX) that customers love.

Over 50,000 brands have grown their businesses by embracing unified customer experiences (UCX) strategy through EasyStore across multiple sales channels - online store, retail outlets, marketplaces, and social media, ensuring consistency in product and service offerings for a seamless shopping journey.