GMV

GMV stands for gross merchandise value, the total sales value of everything sold through your TikTok Shop before any costs come out.

GMV counts the full sticker price of orders, not your profit. If you sell 100 items at 500 rupees each, your GMV is 50,000 rupees, regardless of what you paid for the goods, your ad spend, or the refunds that follow.

It is the headline number GMV Max is built to grow, which is exactly why you see it everywhere in TikTok Shop reporting. Watching GMV climb tells you sales volume is rising.

A rising GMV can hide a shrinking bank balance. Because it ignores product cost, ad spend, fees, and returns, you can post a huge GMV and still lose money, so never confuse it with profit or treat it as proof the business is healthy.

GMV is the top line, not the bottom line.