Gross Merchandise Value

Also called GMV and Gross Merchandise Volume

Gross merchandise value: the total value of goods sold through a marketplace or platform over a period, before taking out fees, refunds, or costs.

Why it matters

GMV shows the scale of transactions flowing through a marketplace, but it is not revenue, your cut is. Founders should always pair GMV with take rate, since a huge GMV at a tiny take rate can be a small business.

For example

A marketplace processes 100 crore of transactions in a year; that is GMV, but at a 10 percent take rate its actual revenue is 10 crore.

Go deeper

16 More Startup Metrics a16z · article Gross Merchandise Value is defined here among the core startup metrics investors actually track, with how to read it honestly. Open a16z.com →

Related terms

Also in Starting Up

See how founders actually handle this on Money, pricing and metrics, part of the Starting Up hub.

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