How do marketplace payments work in the MVP?

We use Stripe Connect in destination charges mode. When a buyer pays, the money goes to your platform's Stripe account. Stripe automatically deducts your commission and transfers the remainder to the seller's connected account on your chosen schedule, whether that is daily, weekly, or on demand. Sellers complete Stripe's identity verification during onboarding, which handles KYC compliance for you.

Can this handle both product and service marketplaces?

Yes. The listing schema supports both physical products with inventory counts and shipping and services with availability calendars and booking windows. For the MVP we configure one model based on your business. The data layer is flexible enough that adding the second model in sprint two requires minimal schema changes.

Build a Marketplace MVP

Build a Marketplace MVP
Payments, Search, Reviews. 2 Weeks.

A marketplace lives or dies on the chicken and egg problem. We build the supply side tools that attract your first sellers, the discovery experience that converts browsers into buyers, and the payment rails that make money move safely between them. Stripe Connect handles payouts, escrow, and platform fees so you never touch the funds.

14 day delivery

Stripe Connect included

Full source code

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What Ships in Your Marketplace MVP

Everything both sides of your marketplace need to transact. Sellers list, buyers discover, money moves, and you earn a commission on every sale.

Separate buyer and seller dashboards with role specific workflows and permissions

Stripe Connect for marketplace payments with escrow, splits, and automated seller payouts

Full text search with filters for category, price range, location, and availability

Two way review system where buyers rate sellers and sellers rate buyers

In platform messaging between buyers and sellers with read receipts and notification alerts

Location based listing display with radius search and map view for local marketplaces

Seller onboarding flow with identity verification, listing creation wizard, and payout setup

Admin dashboard with GMV tracking, take rate analytics, and user growth metrics

Transactional notifications for new orders, messages, reviews, and payout confirmations

Dispute resolution workflow with evidence submission, admin review, and refund processing

Platform configuration for commission rates, listing fees, and featured placement pricing

Fraud prevention with listing moderation queue, flagging system, and suspicious activity alerts

Marketplace Architecture

Next.js serves the buyer facing storefront and seller dashboard from a single deployment. Server components pre render listing pages for SEO while client components handle real time messaging and search. PostgreSQL stores users, listings, orders, and reviews with foreign key relationships that enforce data integrity. Stripe Connect operates in destination charges mode so the platform collects payment, takes its fee, and forwards the remainder to the seller automatically. Webhooks handle payout status, dispute notifications, and account verification events. Image uploads go through a presigned URL flow to S3 compatible storage. The search layer uses PostgreSQL full text search for the MVP with a clear migration path to Meilisearch when listing volume demands it.

Tech Stack

Battle tested tools that scale from your first transaction to your ten thousandth. No proprietary lock in.

Next.js

Frontend and API routes

TypeScript

End to end type safety

PostgreSQL

Primary database

Drizzle ORM

Type safe queries

Stripe Connect

Marketplace payments

Better Auth

Authentication

Tailwind CSS

UI styling

Resend

Transactional email

Vercel

Frontend hosting

Railway

Database hosting

14 Day Build Timeline

Day 1 to 2

Foundation and Data Model

Discovery call, database schema for users, listings, orders, and reviews. Auth setup with buyer and seller roles. CI/CD pipeline.

Day 3 to 5

Seller Experience

Seller onboarding, listing creation wizard, inventory management, Stripe Connect account setup, seller dashboard.

Day 6 to 8

Buyer Experience

Search and filtering, listing detail pages, cart and checkout flow, Stripe payment integration, order tracking.

Day 9 to 10

Trust and Communication

Review system, in platform messaging, dispute workflow, listing moderation queue.

Day 11 to 12

Admin and Analytics

Admin dashboard, GMV reporting, user management, commission configuration, featured listings.

Day 13 to 14

Launch

E2E testing, security audit, performance optimization, production deployment, founder walkthrough.

Marketplace MVP, Fixed Price

$9,499

14 day delivery • Stripe Connect included • 30 day support

50% upfront, 50% on delivery • Multi vendor platforms from $14,999

Start Your Marketplace MVP

See a Marketplace MVP We Built

HomeHero: a two sided home services marketplace that hit $47K GMV in its first month. Stripe Connect payouts, real time booking, and provider verification all shipped in 14 days.

Read the HomeHero Case Study