Software package

Second hand marketplace package

A peer-to-peer resale marketplace with condition-graded listings, offers and counter-offers, buyer payment held through a payment provider until receipt is confirmed, carrier labels or local collection, a moderation queue, prohibited item reporting, two-way ratings and messaging, ready to configure around your category.

Custom build Concept demo

Get a quote for this package

Who it is for

Built for

A good fit

Operators of resale and pre-owned marketplaces in a defined category, from a community that has outgrown a social media group to a platform with thousands of listings and a small moderation team. It suits platform admins who set the grading scale, fees and rules, moderators who review reports and decide disputes, sellers who want a fair price without public haggling and a reliable payout, and buyers who want to know what condition an item is in and that their money is safe until it arrives.

Also worth knowing

It is less suited to marketplaces of professional vendors selling new stock, which the multi-vendor marketplace package covers, to timed bidding with lots and reserves, which the online auction package covers, and to classified adverts with no payment on the platform. Operators who need an inspection step inside the protection flow or partner trade-in routes should look at the custom service first.

The operational problem it solves

How it runs, step by step

A seller photographs a child's balance bike on Saturday morning and lists it from her phone.

The category template asks for brand, size and age range, the condition grade is chosen from the marketplace's scale with the criteria shown beside each grade, the four photographs meet the minimum and the listing goes live with offers allowed.
A listing of a prohibited item submitted the same hour is blocked by the rule, and a borderline one lands in the moderation queue.
By Saturday evening a buyer has made an offer below the asking price; the seller counters, the buyer accepts and pays, and the payment provider holds the funds.

The seller prints the carrier label the marketplace generated and drops the parcel at a shop on Monday; tracking is written back and the buyer sees the parcel on its way.

On Wednesday the buyer confirms receipt in the protection timeline and the held funds are released to the seller's balance less the marketplace fee.
Both rate each other.
On another order the same week the buyer reports that a pram arrived with a broken brake not shown in the photographs; the protection window is still open, so the funds stay held, the moderator opens the dispute with the listing, the grade, the photographs, the messages and the buyer's evidence in one view, and decides on a return with a full refund.
At month end the admin runs the payout cycle, and the dashboard shows sales by category, disputes by outcome and the sellers whose ratings have dropped.

Features

What the package does

The package is organised as modules that follow an item from listing to rating: listings and moderation, offers and messaging, protected payment and delivery, disputes and ratings, and fees, payouts and promotion. Each module below lists what it does; the comparison table shows which package variant includes it.

Listings and search

Listings with condition grading and photo rulesSellers list against category templates with a condition grading scale and the photographs you require.
Offers and counter-offersBuyers make offers and sellers counter, with an expiry and a full record of each step.
Saved searches and alertsBuyers save a search and are alerted when a matching item is listed.

Compliance and records

Prohibited item rules and moderationProhibited items are checked when listing, can be reported by users and are handled in a moderation queue.
Seller identity verificationIdentity verification at seller onboarding, recorded against the seller's profile.

Billing and payments

Payment held until receipt confirmedPayment goes through a connected provider and is held until the buyer confirms the item arrived.
Seller balances, fees and payoutsSeller balances, marketplace fees and payout statements, so sellers see what they are owed.

Payments and policies

Carrier labels or local collectionCarrier labels with tracking are generated for posted items, or buyer and seller arrange local collection.

Workflow and tasks

Protection window and dispute queueWithin a protection window buyers can report a problem, and disputes go to a queue for your team.

Messaging and notifications

Two-way ratingsAfter payment is released, buyer and seller rate each other.
Messaging per listingBuyers and sellers talk through messages attached to the listing instead of sharing personal contact details.

Catalogue and checkout

Promoted listingsSellers can pay to promote a listing so that it is shown more prominently to buyers.

Roles and permissions

Who does what

Platform admin
- Define categories, listing templates and the condition grading scale with criteria
- Set fees, protection window length and prohibited item rules
- Run payout cycles and see fees, payouts and refunds
- See sales, disputes and ratings across the marketplace
Moderator
- Review flagged and reported listings and remove those that breach rules
- Open disputes with the listing, photographs, messages and evidence in one view
- Decide a release, a return or a refund and record the reasoning
- Suspend sellers or buyers and see their history
Seller
- Create graded listings with photographs and choose whether to accept offers
- Accept, decline or counter offers and message buyers
- Generate a carrier label or arrange local collection
- See their balance, payout statements and ratings
Buyer
- Search, filter by grade and save searches with alerts
- Make offers, pay and follow the protection timeline
- Confirm receipt or report a problem within the window
- Rate the seller and message about a listing

Example screen

Concept demo

Concept demo of the second-hand marketplace protection timeline showing payment held, parcel tracking, the receipt window and the pending release.

The protection timeline as the buyer sees it: offer accepted, payment held with the provider, label created and parcel in transit with tracking, the window to confirm receipt or report a problem, and the release step still pending.

Scope and options

What is included and what is extra

In the base package

Seller listings against category templates with a condition grading scale and photograph requirements
Prohibited item rules at listing time, reporting and a moderation queue
Offers and counter-offers with expiry and a full record
Payment through a connected provider held until the buyer confirms receipt
Carrier label generation with tracking, or local collection
Protection window with problem reports and a dispute queue
Two-way ratings after release
Seller balances, marketplace fees and payout statements
Messaging between buyer and seller per listing
Saved searches and alerts

Common add-ons

Promoted listings paid by sellers
Identity verification at seller onboarding, recorded against the profile
Bundle offers across several listings from one seller

Needs custom work

Inspection or authentication step inside the protection flow
Partner trade-in offers on listings
Category-specific pricing guidance from past sales

See the custom development service

Ownership, maintenance and pricing

After the build

Deployment and ownership

The package runs on your hosting or on hosting we manage, chosen in the proposal and changeable later. You own the code and your data either way. Member records, listings, orders, dispute records and payout statements can be exported in standard formats at any time, and the platform can be moved to another provider. Buyer payments are held by the connected payment provider under its terms and are never held by the platform itself.

Maintenance

Maintenance is optional and scoped separately. When taken, it covers security updates to the platform and its dependencies, monitoring of payment provider callbacks, release and payout runs, carrier connections and notification sends, backups, and a monthly window for small configuration changes such as a new category template, a grading criterion or a fee rate. Larger changes are quoted as change requests.

Pricing model

Priced per proposal.

The package is sold as a one-off setup and customisation with optional monthly maintenance and hosting as separate recurring lines. The setup figure depends on the number of category templates, the add-ons chosen, the payment provider and its holding model, the carrier connected, how many members and listings are migrated and whether you host it yourself. The fees your marketplace charges sellers are your business decision and are not part of what you pay us. Recurring costs are listed on their own lines in the proposal.

Software package

Custom build Concept demo

Variants

Custom Platform : quote for this variant

Seller listings against category templates with a condition grading scale and photograph requirements
Prohibited item rules at listing time, reporting and a moderation queue
Offers and counter-offers with expiry and a full record
Payment through a connected provider held until the buyer confirms receipt

Priced per proposal. A written proposal is the only binding figure.

Get a quote for this package Prefer a fully custom build?

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How does buyer protection work?

The buyer pays when an offer is accepted or at the asking price, and the connected payment provider holds the funds. The seller ships or hands over, the buyer confirms receipt or reports a problem within the window the admin set, and the funds are released to the seller or the dispute is decided by your moderator.

What if the buyer never confirms receipt?

When tracking shows delivery and the protection window passes without a problem report, the funds are released automatically, with reminders to the buyer beforehand. For local collection, the seller marks the handover and the same window applies.

How is the condition grade kept honest?

The admin defines the scale with written criteria shown to sellers as they grade, photographs are required per grade, and buyers can report a grade that does not match on receipt. Repeated mismatches show on the seller's record for moderators.

Can sellers and buyers meet in person?

Yes, where you allow it. A listing can offer local collection within an area, payment is still held through the provider, and the seller marks the handover so the receipt window starts. The marketplace does not arrange the meeting itself.

How are disputes decided?

By your moderator, not by the software. The dispute view gathers the listing, the grade, the photographs, the messages, the tracking and the buyer's evidence, and the moderator records a release, a return or a refund with the reasoning that both parties can see.

Is this a finished product I can see running?

Not yet. The readiness badge shows the real state: the package is a custom build assembled from our listings, orders, messaging and directory modules for each operator, and the example on this page is a labelled concept demo rather than a live marketplace.

We want items inspected before they reach the buyer. Is that included?

The package runs the item directly from seller to buyer with payment held until receipt. An inspection step with a second shipping leg and release tied to the result is custom work handled through the custom second-hand marketplace service.

Get a quote for Second hand marketplace package

Tell us about your locations, the people who will use it and the add-ons you need. We reply with a clear, competitive proposal.