Hungry Ghost Festival Sales Drop 40% As Chinese App Pinduoduo Ships Joss Sticks Free To Malaysian Doorsteps
Chinese eCommerce platform Pinduoduo has undercut Malaysian ceremonial goods merchants by up to 50% since entering the market in late 2025, with festive sales dropping as much as 40% and business groups calling for the platform — which operates with no local entity, no local staff, and no local tax footprint — to be regulated or suspended.
- Pinduoduo ships factory-direct goods, including joss sticks, free to Malaysian doorsteps for under RM2, undercutting local merchants by up to 50%.
- Hungry Ghost Festival sales dropped significantly, with some merchants reporting only 60% of previous revenue and associations recording declines of up to 30%.
- Pinduoduo operates outside Malaysia's regulatory perimeter, unlike Shopee and Lazada, prompting calls for new laws to protect local MSMEs.
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The item costs less than RM2.
The shipping is free.
The local sundry shop cannot match either number.
That is the Pinduoduo problem, and it arrived in Malaysia in late 2025.
PDD Holdings, the Chinese parent company behind global discount platform Temu, launched Pinduoduo in Malaysia late last year.
The platform ships factory-direct goods to Malaysian consumers, bypassing distributors, wholesalers, and local retailers entirely.
For ceremonial goods — joss sticks, prayer paper, incense — the price difference against local wholesale costs runs up to 50%.
The Hungry Ghost Festival Became the Test Case
The disruption registered most visibly during the Hungry Ghost Festival, one of the highest-volume trading periods for Malaysian Chinese sundry and prayer goods merchants.
Penang merchant Lee Chuan Wei reported festive sales at 60% of previous levels, while the Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia recorded sales declines of up to 30% among members in Johor and Kuala Lumpur.
Cross-border shipments from China carry no guarantee of arrival within days.
For a festival tied to a fixed lunar calendar, that is a variable a price-conscious consumer is apparently willing to absorb.
Orders placed early enough arrive in time, the savings are immediate and the wait is manageable.
Ceremonial goods carry no brand premium.
A joss stick purchased from a factory-direct platform and a joss stick purchased from a provision shop perform the same function.
The local merchant cannot offer a better product, while the platform cannot offer faster delivery.
On price alone — and price is the only variable that remains — the local merchant has no answer.
One tracking log circulating on social media showed a Pinduoduo order taking ten days at sea from Dongguan to Port Klang, then going silent at the port — and the tolerance for that wait, buyers suggest, extends to everything on the platform, joss sticks included.
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The Regulatory Gap
PKR MP Tan Kar Hing called for Pinduoduo’s suspension from app stores, drawing a direct comparison with its competitors.
Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop each maintain a local registered entity, a physical presence in Malaysia, and domestic supply chain employment.
Pinduoduo maintains none of these.
The platform is not competing on unequal terms. It is competing from outside the regulatory perimeter entirely.
Association of Praying Material Traders Malaysia President Eugene Sing urged the government to follow Indonesia’s policy model, which requires foreign eCommerce platforms to register locally and give priority to domestic merchants.
Indonesia moved against TikTok Shop in 2023, forcing a structural merger with local platform Tokopedia.
The Scale of the Exposure
Micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSMEs) employ nearly half of Malaysia’s workforce and contribute approximately 40% to gross domestic product.
The sectors most exposed to factory-direct cross-border pricing — sundry goods, provision shops, prayer material traders — are not high-margin businesses with reserves to absorb a prolonged price war.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali confirmed that a new law is being drafted to regulate eCommerce platforms.
Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong stated that engagement with major platforms is underway to establish a level playing field for domestic businesses.
A law is being drafted.
The Hungry Ghost Festival runs until 11 September.
@eric.chong.erican To all Malaysian business owners: Pinduoduo is here. How do you compete with a company that’s always cheaper? If your answer is price… Think again. So what should you compete on instead? Here are my thoughts. What do you think? Eric Chong
♬ original sound – Eric Chong | Erican
Reporting by The Straits Times first documented the scale of disruption among Malaysian merchants during the 2026 Hungry Ghost Festival period.
READ MORE: PKR MP Wants Pinduoduo Suspended; His Heart’s In The Right Place But His Stats, Less So
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