Marketplaces are harder to build than most applications. The complexity is in the transaction layer.
A two-sided marketplace requires Stripe Connect for split payments, identity verification for both sides, trust-building mechanisms (reviews, ratings, verification badges), and dispute resolution workflows. We build marketplaces that handle the transaction layer correctly from the start — fixed scope, fixed price.
You're building a marketplace where buyers and sellers (or providers and clients) transact. You need the payment infrastructure, the trust infrastructure, and the matching logic designed correctly from the start.
Marketplaces have a specific technical complexity that distinguishes them from standard SaaS applications: the transaction layer. Money flows from a buyer through the platform to a seller, with the platform taking a commission. This payment flow — called a split payment or marketplace payment — is fundamentally different from a standard Stripe charge and requires Stripe Connect, which has a significantly more complex implementation than standard Stripe Payments.
The trust layer is the second marketplace-specific complexity. Both sides of the marketplace need to trust the other before they'll transact. Buyers need to know sellers are legitimate; sellers need to know buyers will pay. The trust mechanisms — identity verification, profile completeness, review systems, verification badges, dispute resolution — are not optional features. A marketplace without adequate trust mechanisms has a conversion problem: users visit, consider transacting, and leave without completing because the trust signals aren't sufficient.
The matching layer is the third complexity: how do buyers find the right sellers? Search and filtering are the basics. Smart matching (recommending sellers to buyers based on past transactions, stated preferences, or quality signals) is a more significant engineering investment.
A production marketplace with Stripe Connect split payments, identity verification, two-sided user profiles, search and matching, and the trust mechanisms that drive the first 100 transactions.
Stripe Connect split payments
Stripe Connect Express for seller onboarding (KYC, bank account collection, payout scheduling). Application fee splits on every transaction. Seller payout management. Refund and dispute workflows that handle the complexity of reversing a split payment.
Two-sided user profiles
Separate onboarding flows for buyers and sellers, with role-specific profile requirements. Seller profiles include verification status, reviews, past transaction volume, and category-specific attributes. Buyer profiles include payment methods, order history, and trust signals.
Identity verification
Stripe Identity or Persona for KYC verification of sellers (or buyers, for high-value marketplaces). Verification status is surfaced on profiles and affects marketplace trust signals.
Search and filtering
Full-text search across seller profiles with filtering by category, price, location, availability, and review score. Elasticsearch or Postgres full-text search depending on scale requirements.
Review and rating system
Two-sided reviews (buyers rate sellers; sellers rate buyers). Review authenticity enforcement (reviews only possible after a completed transaction). Response mechanism for sellers to respond to reviews. Built on Next.js, Postgres, Clerk, Stripe Connect, TypeScript.
One honest number to start.
Fixed-scope, fixed-price. The number below is the starting point — final scope is built from your brief.
A production marketplace with Stripe Connect split payments, identity verification, two-sided user profiles, search and matching, and the trust mechanisms that drive the first 100 transactions.
Three steps, every time.
The same repeatable engagement on every project. No surprises, no mystery, no billable ambiguity.
Brief & discovery.
We send you questions, then get on a call. Output: a written scope with every step, feature, and integration listed.
Build & ship.
Fixed schedule, weekly reviews. No scope creep unless you change the scope — and if you do, we reprice it transparently.
Warranty & retainer.
30-day warranty on every launch. Most clients stay on a monthly retainer for ongoing features and maintenance.
Why Fixed-Price Matters Here
Marketplace builds have a defined MVP scope: the features required to enable the first 100 transactions. Fixed scope, fixed price applied to that scope — no scope creep into features that aren't necessary for the first transactions.
Related engagements.
Marketplace APIs that connect buyers, sellers, and the payment and trust infrastructure between them.
Read more02A marketplace analytics dashboard that shows you supply quality, transaction health, and growth levers in one view.
Read more03Stripe is the right payment processor. Integrating it correctly is harder than it looks.
Read moreQuestions, answered.
Stripe Connect supports payouts to sellers in 45+ countries. The seller onboarding flow (Stripe's hosted Express dashboard) handles local bank account collection and local KYC requirements for each country. International sellers are handled automatically by Stripe's infrastructure.
Escrow (holding funds until buyer confirms delivery) and milestone payments (releasing funds incrementally as milestones are met) are Stripe Connect features that require specific implementation. These features are included in the project scope when required by the marketplace model.
Dispute workflows include: in-app dispute filing with evidence upload, platform mediation with admin decision tools, Stripe dispute handling for payment chargebacks, and refund execution after dispute resolution. The dispute workflow is designed for the specific transaction types in your marketplace.
A production marketplace with Stripe Connect, two-sided profiles, search, and reviews typically runs $35k–$75k. Escrow, milestone payments, and complex matching algorithms add to the scope. Fixed-price.
12 to 18 weeks for a production marketplace ready for the first real transactions.
Tell Ryel about your project.
Describe what you’re building and what outcome you need. You’ll have a written, fixed-price scope within the week.