The share of transaction value a platform keeps as its own revenue, calculated as revenue divided by gross merchandise value.
Take rate is the pricing power of a marketplace expressed in one number. Rising take rate on stable volume means the platform is capturing more of the value it creates; falling take rate usually means competition or a shift toward lower-margin categories.
It also bounds the growth story. A platform at a 3% take rate has room to expand monetisation; one at 25% is more likely to face seller revolt or regulatory attention than further increases.
Example: Northwind Marketplace earns $180M on $2.0B of GMV, a 9.0% take rate, down from 9.7% as larger sellers negotiated better terms and advertising mix shifted.
Original diagrams for the ideas on this page. Illustrative, not real market data.
Margin and leverage. A $5,000 deposit can control a $100,000 position, which is 20:1 leverage. Because the loss is measured on the full $100,000, a 2.5% move against you halves the deposit and brings a margin call, and a 5% move uses all of it.
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