Build a Two-Sided Marketplace

Build a marketplace website for [WHAT IS BEING TRADED, e.g. handmade furniture from independent makers], connecting [WHO SELLS] with [WHO BUYS].

Pages: a home page explaining what the marketplace is and who it serves, with prominent search; a browse page showing all listings; a page for one single listing; a page showing everything from one seller; a page explaining how it works, separately for buyers and for sellers; and a contact page with a form that emails me at [EMAIL] and stores submissions.

Store listings as editable data with a private owner screen. A listing has a title, short description, full description, price, category, condition or type, location if relevant, images, the seller it belongs to, and a status of draft, pending review, active or removed. Only active listings appear publicly. Store sellers separately with a name, a short profile, a location and a joined date.

On browse, show listings as cards with image, title, price, seller name and location. Add search by words in the title and description, and filters for [YOUR FILTERS, e.g. category, price range, location]. Sort by newest by default.

The single listing page shows all details, all images, the price, the seller with a link to their page, and a clear action button — which does nothing yet, since purchases come later.

Design: [THREE ADJECTIVES, e.g. clean, trustworthy, uncluttered]. Colors: [YOUR COLORS]. Browsing must be excellent on a phone. Use labelled image placeholders saying [REAL LISTING IMAGE NEEDED] — do not use stock photography and do not generate product, seller or customer images from scratch. Editing my own real photos is fine; only invented or generated scenes are the problem.

Add three example listings from two example sellers, clearly labelled as examples for me to replace.

When finished, tell me where I add listings and sellers, and what is still an example.

Add accounts to this marketplace, with two roles: buyer and seller.

Anyone can sign up with email and password using the platform's built-in account system. A buyer account can browse, save favourites and manage their own details. A seller account can additionally create and manage listings.

Becoming a seller is a request, not a switch: an applicant submits [WHAT YOU REQUIRE, e.g. business name, location, what they sell, a short profile] and waits for my approval. Only I can approve a seller. Nobody may grant themselves seller status from the website.

An approved seller gets a private area where they create, edit, pause and remove their own listings, and see how many people viewed each. A seller must only ever be able to see and change their own listings and their own details. Enforce this on the listings themselves, not by hiding buttons — a seller must not be able to reach or change another seller's listing by typing its address.

New and edited listings do not appear publicly straight away. They go to pending review, and appear only once I approve them. Tell the seller clearly what state each listing is in.

Add an owner screen listing all sellers and all pending items, where I approve or decline with a reason that is sent to the seller. A normal account must not be able to reach this screen by any means.

When you are done, tell me exactly what each of these can see and do: a visitor, a buyer, an approved seller, and me.

Add the trust and safety layer to this marketplace.

Buyers and sellers can message each other about a specific listing, with the conversation kept inside the platform and visible to me if I need to investigate. Notify people by email when they receive a message. Warn users, in plain words, not to move payment or contact off the platform.

Anyone can report a listing, a seller or a message, choosing a reason from [YOUR REPORT REASONS, e.g. prohibited item, misleading description, suspected scam, offensive content] and adding a note. Reports go into an owner queue with the reported item, who reported it and when.

From that queue I can remove a listing, suspend a seller, or dismiss the report, always recording why. Removing a listing takes it out of public browse and search immediately, and suspending a seller hides all of their listings at once.

Publish the rules: a page explaining what may not be sold, what is expected of buyers and sellers, and what happens when a rule is broken. Link it from sign-up, from the listing form and from the footer.

Add reviews that can only be left by someone who actually completed a transaction — build the mechanism now and leave it inactive until purchases exist. Reviews show on the listing and the seller page with the reviewer's name and date. Sellers can reply once. Neither sellers nor I can delete a truthful negative review; I can only remove one that breaks the published rules, and it must be recorded when I do.

Keep the access rules from the previous step exactly as they are.

Add marketplace payments using [PAYMENT PROVIDER, e.g. Stripe] in test mode, with the provider's capability for paying out to third-party sellers.

Sellers must complete the provider's own onboarding before they can be paid — including whatever identity and bank details the provider requires. Show each seller their payout status clearly, and do not let a seller's listings go live for purchase until they can actually be paid. Never collect bank details or identity documents into my own app; that is the provider's job.

A buyer purchases a listing by paying once on the provider's own secure payment page. From that payment, [YOUR COMMISSION, e.g. 10 percent] goes to the marketplace and the remainder to the seller, handled by the provider rather than by me moving money manually. Never handle or store card details on my site.

When payment succeeds, create an order recording the buyer, the seller, the listing, the amount, my commission and the date. Mark the listing sold or reduce its quantity, whichever fits [ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEMS / MULTIPLE QUANTITY]. Email a confirmation to the buyer and a notification to the seller with what was bought and what they need to do next. The order must be created by the payment confirmation itself, never by anything a browser can trigger.

Show the buyer their purchases, and the seller their sales with what they earned after commission. Show me every transaction with both sides and my commission.

Activate reviews now: a buyer can review a seller only after completing a purchase from them.

Tell me exactly what I must do myself in the provider's dashboard, what each seller must do, and where my secret key goes in the platform's secure settings.

Build the operations tools for this marketplace.

Add a dispute process: a buyer can open a dispute on an order, choosing from [YOUR DISPUTE REASONS, e.g. item never arrived, not as described, damaged], with a description. The dispute appears in my queue with the full order, both parties and their messages. I can ask either side for information, and record an outcome of refund, partial refund, no action or seller suspended — with a reason kept on the record.

Add an order state that both sides can see: paid, in progress, completed, disputed, refunded. Let sellers mark an order as sent or completed with any relevant detail.

Give me a dashboard showing transactions and commission this month, active sellers, listings pending review, open reports and open disputes, plus my most active sellers and categories.

Let me email all sellers, or all buyers, from an owner screen, for policy changes or announcements.

Keep everything already working exactly as it is — especially the role restrictions, the review queue, the trust tools and the payment split.