What Is GMV in Resale?
The headline number, and what it hides.
GMV, or gross merchandise value, is the total value of everything sold through a platform before fees, returns, or costs. In resale it is the most cited scale metric because it captures the full flow of goods through a marketplace, not just the slice the platform keeps.
GMV matters because it measures liquidity and market share. A platform moving billions in GMV is clearly a large marketplace. But GMV is not revenue. A business can process enormous GMV and keep only a small percentage as take rate, which is why GMV and profitability are entirely different questions.
The number is also easy to flatter. Discounted goods, low-value items, and returns can inflate GMV without building a healthier business. Careful readers pair GMV with take rate and with whether the platform actually makes money on that volume.
For the business audience, GMV is the top of the funnel and revenue is what survives the fees. Both matter, but confusing the two is the most common mistake in reading a resale company.