Take rate is the percentage of gross merchandise value (GMV) that a marketplace or platform keeps as its own revenue. You calculate it by dividing platform revenue by GMV and multiplying by 100. Take rate reflects how much value participants believe the platform adds compared with doing the transaction themselves or through a competitor, so it has to be weighed against how easy it would be for either side to walk away.
Take rate is the bridge between the GMV you report and the revenue you actually earn, so investors read it as a direct measure of your monetization strength. A high take rate that both sides tolerate signals a defensible, valuable service.
Raising take rate too aggressively can push supply or demand toward a competitor or toward transacting off-platform, so any increase needs to move carefully alongside retention data.
Divide platform revenue by GMV for the same period and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. Calculate it both blended, across your whole business, and by category or segment, since take rate often varies a lot between them.
A marketplace earns $27,000 in platform revenue on $340,000 of GMV in a month. Take rate equals 27 divided by 340, times 100, which is 7.94 percent.
B2C marketplaces commonly run 5 to 20 percent take rate. Services marketplaces, where the platform does more matching and trust work, often run 10 to 25 percent. B2B verticals typically run 5 to 15 percent, though this varies by category and how much value-added service comes bundled with the transaction.
Ignoring the effect of promotions and subsidies, which can make your reported take rate look higher than what you actually collect in cash. Blending take rate across very different categories, which hides where you have pricing power and where you do not. Failing to strip out taxes and shipping when they pass through your platform without markup.
On your business model slide, break out take rate by category or tier and show the bridge from GMV down to revenue. Example line: a blended take rate of 8 percent, made up of 12 percent on services and 5 percent on goods.
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