South Korea's Baemin offered restaurants 3.5% commission if they drop Coupang Eats and Yogiyo.
On 9 May 2026 Baemin (Woowa Brothers) launched a "Baemin Only" promotion offering franchise restaurants a 3.5% commission rate — down from a 7.8% headline rate — in exchange for dropping Coupang Eats and Yogiyo. Around 1,100 of 1,200 Cheogajip fried-chicken franchisees signed. On 20 May 2026 a franchisee group filed a complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) alleging abuse of market dominance and exclusive dealing. People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), in an October 2025 analysis, put Baemin's all-in take at 23% to 26% of order value, up from 20% to 22% in 2023, and as high as 30% on smaller-ticket meals. From 2025 Baemin also began charging 6% to 8% on takeout orders the customer picks up at the counter.
01The pain
Three-and-a-half per cent. That is the commission Baemin offered Korean franchisees on 9 May 2026 if they would drop Coupang Eats and Yogiyo from their kitchens. Around 1,100 of 1,200 Cheogajip fried-chicken franchisees signed up for the "Baemin Only" rate. Eleven days later, a franchisee group filed a complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), alleging abuse of market dominance and exclusive dealing.1
The headline rate was 7.8% before the promotion. People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), in an October 2025 analysis, put Baemin's all-in take, including commission, fixed delivery fee, and paid ad placement, at 23% to 26% per order, up from 20% to 22% in 2023, and as high as 30% on smaller-ticket meals.2 In January 2025 Baemin announced it would lower the headline rate. From the same year it also began charging 6% to 8% on takeout orders the customer picks up at the counter.3
Korean restaurant operators on Ruliweb's small-business board describe single-digit margins. One owner posted that the platforms force a price hike of 5,000 won to cover delivery, then dangle a 2,000-won pickup discount the operator funds. Franchisees face a fork: sign exclusive and carry antitrust risk, or stay on the higher rate while rivals on the 3.5% deal undercut every order.4
Further reading
- 1 Seoul Economic Daily (English) — Baemin "Baemin Only" 3.5% promotion, exclusive-dealing terms, Cheogajip sign-up numbers, Korea Fair Trade Commission complaint by franchisee group: en.sedaily.com
- 2 The Korea Herald — People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) October 2025 all-in take analysis (commission + fixed delivery fee + paid placement) running 23% to 26% per order on Baemin, up from 20% to 22% in 2023, and as high as 30% on smaller-ticket meals: koreaherald.com
- 3 The Korea Times — January 2025 Baemin announcement of headline-rate reduction; 2025 introduction of 6%–8% takeout-order commission on counter-pickup orders: koreatimes.co.kr
- 4 Ruliweb 유머 게시판 — March 2026 thread, 67 commenters: Korean restaurant owner describes the price-hike-plus-pickup-discount squeeze on Baemin/Coupang Eats: bbs.ruliweb.com
Operators discussing this
These are real Korean operators (and adjacent commenters) talking about this pain in their own words. They are the reason this page exists.
-
«배달비 이유로 가격 5천원 인상해놓고 포장 할인 2천원 이 ㅈㄹ 하면 그걸 왜 도와줘야함»
"They [the platforms] make us hike prices 5,000 won to cover delivery, then offer a 2,000-won pickup discount — why should the operator be helping clean up that mess?"
뜨거운 감자인 배민 쿠팡 수수료 때문에 메뉴명으로 SOS 보낸 사장님 · Ruliweb forum-board — March 2026 thread, 67 commenters; recurring topic on Ruliweb 유머 게시판 across a multi-year arc with separate threads in 2022 (boycott), 2024 (Baemin commission hike), and May 2026, returning every fee change.
-
«배달에 이어 오더기 수수료 폭탄이 문제가 되는 중»
"After delivery [apps], the table-ordering-device commission bomb is the next problem."
자영업자들의 새로운 수수료 폭탄 · Ruliweb forum-board — May 2026 thread, 99 commenters in 3 days; the same Ruliweb 유머 게시판 board that carried the prior 2024, 2025 and March 2026 commission threads — pain pattern recurs whenever a platform moves fees.
02Who solves this today
Direct-order, restaurant-CRM, table-QR and reservation platforms publicly self-marketing to restaurants — including in the Korean market — that an operator reaches for to pull repeat orders off Baemin and Coupang Eats. Each homepage was checked live on the date of writing. The list intentionally mixes Korean-market vendors with global commission-bypass platforms; inclusion is not endorsement.
Listed providers publicly self-market in one of the wedges named above. Inclusion is not endorsement. Considered and dropped (each WebFetched on the date of writing): catchtable.co.kr / app.catchtable.co.kr — Korean reservation app, fetcher returned only the consumer-facing tagline "즐거운 미식 생활의 시작" with no operator-side self-claim about direct ordering or CRM; mycabin.io — ECONNREFUSED; ddingdong.kr — domain hosts a youth LGBTQ+ support centre, not a restaurant-tech vendor (name collision with the consumer "ddingdong" delivery brand, which has no public homepage we could verify); tablemanager.io — ECONNREFUSED; tablemanager.kr — 301-redirects to tablesolution.com, which in turn 301-redirects to tablecheck.com (already listed above as the surviving entity); payhere.in — Korean POS vendor, fetcher returned only the header tagline "페이히어｜매장의 새로운 미래" with no concrete operator-side self-claim captured; cashnote.kr — Korean SME platform, fetcher returned only the generic "사장님의 모든 순간 캐시노트로 쉽고 빠르고 똑똑하게" with no specific direct-ordering or table-QR claim surfaced; menutiger.com — generic global QR-table self-claim captured but no Korean-market footprint surfaced on the homepage; chownow.com — HTTP 403 from the fetcher, could not capture verbatim self-claim; HAAT (haatdelivery.com) — Israeli restaurateur-owned counter-platform, no Korean-market presence; Tabit / Como — Israeli restaurant-tech vendors already listed on the Israel delivery-app squeeze page; Naver Smart Place / Smart Order — operated by Naver (Korea's dominant search portal); not listed because the wedge here is bypass of aggregator economics, and Naver's own ranking pressure on restaurants is its own pain pattern; Baemin (Woowa Brothers), Coupang Eats and Yogiyo — named delivery platforms cited in section 01 as the cause-set, not as solution providers; PSPD (People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy), Korea Fair Trade Commission, Cheogajip and the named trade-press outlets are referenced in section 01 as the cited public-record sources.
Report a mistake — or suggest a new solution
Spot a wrong number, dead source link, missing aspect, broken translation? Or know a vendor we should list as a solution? Tell us. The Director re-checks every report and either updates the page or writes back with a reason.
Got it — thank you.
The Director will look at your report on the next research cycle. If you left an email you'll hear back when we either update the page or decide it's not actionable (with a one-paragraph reason).
Listed companies — manage your entry. If you are one of the providers above and anything here is wrong, missing, or out of date — or you'd rather not be listed — write to us. Removal within 24 hours; corrections within 7 business days. We do not contact listed companies first; we publish what your own public marketing claims and respond when you reach out. Email contact@aikraft.com.