GMV (Gross Merchandise Value)

GMV stands for Gross Merchandise Value. It represents the total sales volume passing through a marketplace or shop, the sum of all transactions at the listed price before anything is subtracted. Platform fees, seller costs, refunds, and returns are not deducted from GMV. It is a gross number, not a net one.

The Simple Version

GMV is the top-line number. If you sold 100 units at $30 each, your GMV is $3,000. That does not mean you made $3,000. TikTok takes a platform fee. Shipping costs money. Some customers return products. What’s left after all that is your actual revenue. GMV tells you how much business moved through the shop. It does not tell you how much of it became profit.

Why GMV Is Used

GMV is the standard metric that marketplaces (TikTok Shop, Amazon, Shopify) use to report seller and platform performance. When TikTok reports how much commerce happens on its platform, that number is GMV. When a seller talks about how their shop is performing, GMV is the headline.

For new sellers, GMV is a useful growth tracking metric because it is simple. Every sale contributes to it. ROAS tells you whether your ad spend is efficient. CVR tells you whether your listing is converting. GMV tells you how big the operation is getting.

GMV in Practice

For creator affiliate programs, GMV is often used to calculate creator payouts. A creator earns a percentage of the GMV they drove, not your profit margin. This means your commission rate needs to be calculated against GMV, and your unit economics need to support it. If your GMV is $30 and your commission is 15%, you are paying $4.50 per sale to the creator, regardless of what your other costs are.