What is a take rate?
Written by Arnon Shimoni
✓ Expert
Last updated on:
Take rate is the share of transaction value a marketplace or platform keeps as revenue. If a fan pays €100 for a ticket on a resale marketplace and the marketplace keeps €12, the take rate is 12%. The other €88 goes to the seller. Take rate is the single number that describes a platform business model: it says how much of the money flowing through the platform is the platform's own revenue.
At a glance | |
|---|---|
Formula | Platform revenue / gross transaction value |
Unit | Percentage of GMV or payment volume |
Who uses it | Marketplaces, payment platforms, app stores, delivery and booking platforms |
Billed as | Payout deduction, self-billed invoice or separate invoice |
How to calculate take rate
take rate = platform revenue / gross merchandise value (GMV)
Two choices change the result. The first is what counts as revenue: commission only, or commission plus payment fees, listing fees and advertising. Most platforms report a "net take rate" on commission and a "total take rate" on everything they charge both sides. The second is the denominator: gross GMV (what the buyer paid, including tax and shipping) or net GMV (after refunds, cancellations and tax). A platform with €12 of commission on a €100 ticket has a 12% take rate on gross GMV. If the ticket price excluded €10 of VAT and the platform also charged the buyer a €3 service fee, the take rate on net GMV is €15 / €90 = 16.7%. State which one you use.
Take rate vs commission vs platform fee
Term | What it is | Who pays | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Take rate | Total platform revenue as a share of transaction value, all fees combined | Buyer and seller, combined | 12% of every ticket sold |
Commission | A percentage of the sale charged to the seller | Seller | 10% of the ticket price, deducted from the payout |
Platform fee | A fixed or percentage fee charged to the buyer or the seller for using the platform, separate from commission | Either side | €2 buyer service fee; €29 per month seller subscription |
Commission and platform fees are the components. Take rate is the total. A platform can have a low commission and a high take rate if it charges both sides, or a high commission and a lower effective take rate if it gives discounts and promotions.
Typical take rates by platform type
Published rates from the platforms' own fee pages, as of October 2026. Each row is one line and one source; actual rates vary by category, country and seller tier.
Platform type | Typical take rate | Example and source (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
Marketplaces, goods | 6% to 15% | Etsy transaction fee 6.5% (etsy.com fees page); Amazon referral fees mostly 8% to 15% by category (sell.amazon.com) |
Marketplaces, services and travel | 3% to 20% | Airbnb host fee 3% on the split-fee model, 15% to 16% on the host-only model (airbnb.com help centre) |
Payment platforms | 2% to 3% plus a fixed fee | Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 on standard US card payments (stripe.com/pricing) |
App stores | 15% to 30% | Apple App Store 30%, 15% under the Small Business Program (developer.apple.com); Google Play 15% on the first $1M per year, 30% above (support.google.com) |
Food delivery | 15% to 30% | DoorDash partnership plans 15%, 25% and 30% commission on delivery orders (merchants.doordash.com) |
How take rate is billed
The take rate is revenue, so it has to be invoiced. Platforms do it in three ways.
Payout deduction with a self-billed invoice. The platform pays the seller the sale minus the take rate and issues a self-billed invoice to the seller for the commission, with VAT where it applies. This is the standard marketplace pattern because the platform already holds the sales data.
Separate invoice to the seller. The seller receives the full payout and the platform invoices the commission monthly, often with a minimum spend or a subscription on the same document. Common in B2B marketplaces where sellers want gross receipts.
Buyer-side fee on the receipt. A service fee charged to the buyer at checkout appears on the buyer's receipt, and the platform is the seller of that fee for tax purposes.
Whichever model is used, the platform needs the commission schedule per seller, per category and per country as data on the seller's account, so each invoice line is computed rather than reconciled.
Take rate and revenue recognition
Take rate decides what the platform reports as revenue. A platform acting as an agent recognises only the take rate as revenue, net of what it passes to the seller. A platform acting as a principal, that controls the goods or service before transfer, recognises the gross transaction value and books the seller's share as cost. Under ASC 606 and IFRS 15 the principal-versus-agent test decides this, not the billing model. Most marketplaces are agents and report net; most delivery platforms that set the price and control fulfilment report gross. The take rate is the same either way, but reported revenue can differ by a factor of ten.
Where Solvimon fits
Solvimon rates percentage fees with floors, caps and tiers per seller, per category and per country from the platform's transaction stream, and issues the commission as a self-billed invoice, a seller invoice or a buyer fee from the same ledger. Payment platforms in Europe run their fee schedules on it; see the Yapily and Montonio case studies.
Frequently asked questions
What is a take rate?
The share of transaction value a platform or marketplace keeps as revenue, all fees combined, expressed as a percentage of gross merchandise value.
What is a good take rate?
It depends on what the platform does for the money. Payment platforms run at 2% to 3% because they only move money. Goods marketplaces run at 6% to 15%. App stores and delivery platforms, which also handle distribution or fulfilment, run at 15% to 30%. A take rate above what the platform's value justifies pushes sellers to transact off-platform.
Is take rate the same as commission?
No. Commission is one component, charged to the seller. Take rate is the platform's total revenue from the transaction, including commission, buyer fees, payment fees and any other charges, divided by the transaction value.
How do marketplaces invoice their take rate?
Most deduct it from the seller payout and issue a self-billed invoice to the seller for the commission. Some invoice the seller separately each month. Buyer-side fees are shown on the buyer's receipt.
Is take rate calculated on gross or net GMV?
Either, and the result differs. Gross GMV includes tax, shipping and later refunds. Net GMV excludes them. Investors usually want both, with the definition stated.
Related
Self-billing. How the commission is invoiced to the seller.
Revenue recognition. Gross vs net reporting for platforms.
Embedded finance. Platforms that also run payments for their sellers.
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