GMV Calculator (Gross Sales Value)

How to Use the GMV Calculator: Orders, AOV and Returns

The GMV calculator turns three numbers from your store into a gross sales value on a monthly and annual basis. You enter your data and see the result straight away.

What you enter:

• Orders / mo. — how many orders came in during a typical month. Defaults to 850.
• AOV — the average order value, meaning the average amount one customer leaves behind. Defaults to 38.
• Returns % — the share of orders that come back to you. Defaults to 4.

What you get:

1. GMV / mo. — monthly gross sales value.
2. GMV after returns / mo. — what remains once returns are subtracted.
3. Annual GMV — monthly GMV multiplied by 12.

Example with the default values: 850 orders × $38 = $32,300.00 per month, $31,008.00 after returns, and $387,600.00 over a year.

How to Calculate Monthly and Annual Store GMV

You work out monthly GMV by multiplying the number of orders by the average order value:

Monthly GMV = number of orders × AOV

For 850 orders and an AOV of $38, that gives 850 × 38 = $32,300.00. This is the value of all orders placed in the month, before returns are taken into account.

To get the annual figure, multiply the monthly result by 12:

Annual GMV = monthly GMV × 12

$32,300.00 × 12 = $387,600.00. That is a quick way to see what order of magnitude your current order pace represents in sales.

Keep in mind that multiplying by 12 is a simplification — not every month sells the same. Promotional periods, sale season or the December peak push the number up, while quieter months pull it down. Treat annual GMV as a benchmark for your current pace, not a rigid forecast. Change the number of orders or the AOV to test a different scenario.

Gross GMV vs. Sales After Returns: Reading the Result

Gross GMV is the value of orders placed by customers. Returns are not subtracted from it, so it shows the upper limit of sales — as if every customer kept their order.

Sales after returns is GMV minus the value of the orders that came back to you:

GMV after returns = monthly GMV × (1 − return rate ÷ 100)

With the default inputs: $32,300.00 × (1 − 0.04) = $32,300.00 × 0.96 = $31,008.00.

The gap between the two results is $1,292 per month that in practice goes back to customers. At a higher return rate this amount grows faster than you might expect, which is why you should look at both figures together.

• A large gap between gross GMV and GMV after returns means returns are eating heavily into sales — it is worth checking what is causing them.
• A small gap means customers rarely send orders back and the gross value is close to actual sales.
• Both results describe sales value, not profit. They say nothing about costs or about how much money the business keeps.

Compare results across different months and sales channels — only a side-by-side view shows whether rising orders translate into sales or just into more returns.

AOV and Return Rate in E-commerce: Where to Get the Data

AOV, or average order value, is one of the most important numbers in e-commerce. You calculate it by dividing sales value by the number of orders:

AOV = sales value ÷ number of orders

If you sold $32,300.00 worth of goods across 850 orders in a month, the AOV is $38. That is the value set in the calculator. In practice AOV shifts over time, so pull data from several months and average it.

Where to look for order and sales data:

• your store's admin panel (Shopify and similar) — order and sales reports,
• marketplace dashboards: Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Vinted, TikTok Shop — the sales and returns section,
• accounting software or invoices — if you sell outside a store,
• analytics tools — they help you track transaction counts and revenue over time.

You calculate the return rate by dividing the number of returned orders by the total number of orders and multiplying the result by 100%:

return rate = returned orders ÷ all orders × 100%

You can also calculate it by value: value of returns ÷ sales value × 100%. Pick one method and stick to it so your month-to-month results stay comparable.

Calculator Limitations: What It Leaves Out (Fees, Taxes, Costs, Profit)

The calculator gives you gross sales value and sales after returns. These are useful planning numbers, but they are not the full picture of your store's finances — the result is an estimate.

What the tool does not include:

• commission and fees charged by sales platforms — rates vary and change over time, so check your sales channel's current pricing,
• taxes, including VAT and income tax,
• shipping and return costs, packaging and logistics,
• the cost of buying goods and storage costs,
• marketing, advertising and payroll costs,
• exchange rates, if you sell in more than one currency,
• returns not yet reported and orders canceled after being placed,
• margin and profit — those require setting sales against full costs.

That is why GMV is not the same as net revenue or profit. If you sell on marketplaces, the platform keeps part of the order value as commission and fees. Likewise, a high AOV does not have to mean a good margin if the product is expensive to buy and to ship.

The calculator works well as a quick order-of-magnitude estimate: for planning sales targets, comparing months and checking how a change in AOV or return rate affects the result. For decisions about pricing and profitability you need a full cost calculation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Results depend on the data you enter and are estimates only; before making a decision, check your current sales data as well as platform pricing and accounting figures.