GMV (gross merchandise value)

The total value of goods sold through a marketplace over a period, before discounts, refunds and fees. It measures the size of trade on the platform, not the platform’s income.

FormulaGMV = Σ value of goods in paid orders

Try it · 30 seconds · from Atterna’s practice

An AI assistant

“Paid orders totalled €552,645 in gross merchandise value (GMV).”

Can you infer the platform’s own revenue from that number?

Preparing the practice…

How we work it through

1
Say whose money it is: GMV is what buyers paid sellers for goods, before the platform takes anything.
2
Sum paid orders only; cancelled and failed payments are rows too.
3
Put the platform’s own revenue next to it, so nobody reads GMV as income.

On the practice dataset

The query we run on Meridian, Atterna’s practice marketplace, and what it returns.

SELECT SUM(items_total_eur) AS gmv
FROM meridian.orders
WHERE status = 'paid';

Result€552,645 — 249 cancelled orders (€15,687) stay out

The common trap

Calling GMV “revenue”. The platform earns only its commission.

ExampleOn Meridian, paid orders have a GMV of €552,645; the platform’s commission income is €67,040.

When an AI answers

An AI assistant

“The platform earned €552,645 last period.”

What it didn’t know: The AI saw a column called items_total_eur and did not know most of it belongs to sellers.
Ask back: “Is that GMV or the platform’s commission? Give both, and say which orders are included.”

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