Net Revenue, AliExpress

Net Revenue for AliExpress stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

Metrics type: Supporting Metrics • Category: Marketplace

At a glance

Net Revenue is the money your AliExpress store actually keeps after the marketplace has taken its cut and after refunds and cancellations are stripped out. It starts from gross GMV, then subtracts refunds, cancelled orders, and AliExpress fees such as commission and transaction charges, leaving the figure that reflects real earnings rather than headline sales. For an owner or finance lead this is the truth-teller next to total revenue, because two stores with identical GMV can keep very different amounts once fees and refunds are accounted for. It pairs naturally with aex_total_revenue to see the gap fees and refunds are opening, and with aex_marketplace_fees_paid and aex_return_rate to explain a move.

What it counts	Gross GMV for the period less refunds, cancellations, and AliExpress fees, leaving the net amount the store retains.
Sample type	Backend API data from AliExpress, refreshed for the rolling 30-day window with the prior period held for comparison.
Why it matters	Net revenue is the figure that survives to the bottom line, so a falling net while GMV holds steady points straight at rising fees or refunds.
Reading the value	Read it against the prior period. A net that grows in step with gross is healthy; a net that lags or falls while gross holds signals margin leakage worth tracing.
Currency	Reported in your store’s base currency.
Time window	30D vsP
Alert trigger	drop >10% vsP
Sentiment key	aex_net_revenue
Roles	owner, finance

Calculation

Vortex IQ takes gross GMV for the trailing 30 days, subtracts refunds and cancelled orders, then deducts AliExpress fees such as commission and transaction charges, and presents the result against the prior 30-day period. The comparison is what drives the alert when net falls by more than the configured tolerance. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.

Worked example

A representative reading of Net Revenue for a typical mid-volume cross-border AliExpress store. For the 30 days ending 15 Mar 26 the card shows net revenue of 42,800 against 47,100 in the prior period, a fall of roughly 9 percent that sits just under the alert line. The finance lead checks the siblings, sees gross GMV is actually flat, and traces the drop to a spike in returns on one product line plus a higher fee mix from a promotion. They tighten the return policy on that line and the next period’s net recovers. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

Card	Why merchants reach for it
aex_total_revenue	Shows gross GMV, so the gap to net reveals how much fees and refunds are taking.
aex_marketplace_fees_paid	Breaks out the AliExpress fees deducted on the way from gross to net.
aex_return_rate	Surfaces the refund pressure that pulls net below gross.
aex_fees_as_of_revenue	Frames fees as a share of revenue so you can judge whether the take rate is creeping.
aex_pending_payouts	Connects net earnings to the cash still waiting to land in your account.

Reconciling against AliExpress Seller Center

Where to look in AliExpress Seller Center:

Open the Finance or Account Statement area where AliExpress reports settled order amounts, deducted fees, and refunds, then compare the settled total to the net figure on the card.

Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:

Reason	Direction	What to do
Refund timing. A refund issued late in the window may post to a different period in Seller Center than in the card.	Variable	Align both views to the same closed period before comparing totals.
Fee posting lag. Some AliExpress fees settle on their own schedule rather than at order time.	Marginal	Allow fees to fully post before treating a gap as an error.
Currency conversion. Cross-border orders settle in mixed currencies that are converted to your base, and the rate used can differ slightly.	Variable	Check the conversion reference when a small residual remains.

Cross-connector reconciliation: If the same products sell through a connected BigCommerce or Shopify store, compare net revenue across channels to confirm the AliExpress share is consistent. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

Q: How often does Net Revenue update? It refreshes for the rolling 30-day window and holds the prior period alongside it, so as new orders, refunds, and fees post the comparison updates at the next sync.

Q: Why does my AliExpress Seller Center show a different number? Seller Center reports settled finance figures that can lag the card; refund timing, fee posting schedules, and currency conversion all explain short-term differences between the two.

Q: How does Net Revenue relate to other revenue metrics? It is what remains after aex_marketplace_fees_paid and refunds are taken from aex_total_revenue, and it feeds the cash you eventually see in aex_pending_payouts.

Q: Can I customise the alert threshold? Yes, alert thresholds are configurable per profile in the Alert Rules tab. Adjust to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default.

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Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

Net Revenue is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across AliExpress and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

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