Take rate.
aka commission rate, platform fee, rake
The platform's cut of every sale. Small percentage, entire business model.
What it actually means
Take rate is the share of each transaction's value that a marketplace or payment platform keeps as its own revenue. It is calculated as platform revenue divided by GMV, and it includes commissions, listing fees, advertising and service charges paid by sellers.
A marketplace with US$100 million of GMV and US$12 million of revenue has a 12% take rate. Sellers experience it from the other side: as the gap between what the customer paid and what arrives in their bank account.
Take rates vary by model. A payment processor may keep under 3%. A general marketplace commission often sits in the low to mid teens before extras. Once fulfilment and advertising are added, sellers on large marketplaces commonly report giving up 30 to 45% of the selling price, which is why the headline commission is only the opening line.
Where you'll hear it
Commission is 15%, but after fulfilment and ads the platform is taking 38% of my sales.
Translation: the official take rate and the real one are different numbers. The real one is everything the platform deducts, divided by what customers paid.
Also in marketplace investor decks, in app-store fee debates, in food-delivery economics, and in any conversation that starts with “is it still worth selling there?”
The pop-culture version
A band sells T-shirts at its own show. The shirts are the band's, the fans are the band's, and the venue still takes a percentage of every shirt sold, because the venue owns the room where the fans are standing.
The band can refuse and sell nothing, or pay and sell hundreds. Most pay. The cut is the price of access to a crowd someone else gathered.
A marketplace is the venue. Its take rate is the merch cut: a fee for standing where the buyers already are.
A rising take rate is the quiet way platforms grow revenue without growing sales. Sellers should track their own effective rate every month.
Say it like you mean it
“Our effective take rate on that marketplace is 34% including ads and fulfilment, against 9% all-in on our own site before marketing.”
Compares like with like and names what is included.“They only charge 15%.”
That is the commission. Add fulfilment, storage, advertising and returns before deciding whether the channel pays.For any platform, ask what is inside the percentage. A take rate with ads and logistics is not comparable to one without.
What each sales channel really costs and the order to add them in.
Decoded next
Decoded by the Kurums editorial team. Kurums Decoded translates the language of business for people who are new to it. Definitions are kept short on purpose; the serious version above goes deep. Nothing here is financial, legal or career advice.