By Alan W
A take rate is the fee charged by a marketplace on a transaction performed by a third-party seller or service provider.
Take rates usually vary between 5-20% for product marketplaces like Amazon or eBay whereas service marketplaces like Uber or Airbnb usually charge a higher rate between 15-25%.
The average order size and transaction frequency also are a factor. Platforms that facilitate frequent, lower-cost transactions tend to charge a lower take rate, like Uber. While platforms that facilitate infrequent, high-cost transactions, like Airbnb, charge a lower take rate on a higher order value.
Service marketplaces with lower average transaction size like ride sharing or food delivery tend to have higher take rates than product marketplaces because of lossage, in-person transaction risk, and human error. If a mistake is made on a product marketplace, the product can be returned without the marketplace bearing too much cost. On a service marketplace, if a mistake occurs, the cost to remedy the situation is usually much more costly to the marketplace.
On Airbnb, for example, both the consumer and producer pay a take rate to the marketplace. On Uber, the producer pays the full price of the take rate to the marketplace.
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