How To Develop An Online Marketplace Application Like OfferUp And LetGo?

Letgo & OfferUp are among the trending buy and sell marketplace apps that help you sell used things locally.

The idea behind these platforms is to help people post the product, interact through chat and sell without any hassles.

When it comes to Letgo and OfferUp, you can sell things locally. You need to set a location and the buyers search for the products they wish to purchase. These two apps let users sell different items online. The apps are user-friendly and let you buy or sell with a few clicks.

After the sellers register on these apps, they draft ads for the items they wish to sell and the websites let them interact with buyers. Also, these apps let sellers and buyers communicate in person using the call and chat features to discuss details of the products.

The idea has inspired a lot of entrepreneurs and they want to know how to develop a buy & sell application like Letgo and OfferUp.

Firstly, you need to know about the functions and features of the app that help these apps attain success. So, let us go ahead to understand about on-demand marketplace app development process to build an app like Letgo and OfferUp.

Crucial Steps To Consider To Develop An App Like OfferUp or LetGo

Carry out in-depth analysis
Choose an appropriate business model
Pick the right Tech stack
List the basic features of the app
Come up with a relevant brand name
Focus on creating impressive UI & UX
Integrate a shopping cart
Incorporate a payment gateway
Engage in product promotion

How Does The LetGo App Works?

It is one of the largest marketplaces for local sellers and buyers. The app offers complete security as it helps the user to create a presence via the profile page.

The app allows users to rate a particular person once the deal is complete.
The system offers a secure chat feature but the deals are carried out personally.

Business Model Followed by LetGo and OfferUp

The idea behind LetGo and OfferUp apps is to help users buy and sell used goods. Both these apps follow a similar business model that focuses on generating revenues. These apps do not charge users to register, create a profile or close a deal on their platform.

So, if you wish to know about how to create an app like LetGo or OfferUp, consider some of the effective monetization strategies like

1. In-app-purchases

It is about purchasing special offers or charging the sellers to list their ads at the top.

2. Online transactions

When customers pay through your app, you can set a fixed price to be paid by them for each deal completed through your app. For example, you can do it by integrating some 3rd party services such as Stripe.

3. Internal ads

It is one of the most effective ways to generate income, wherein you can post special offers and some recommendations.

4. Delivery

Your app act as a catalyst helping sellers to grow their domain.

Technology Stack required to create a Buy & Sell App

Frameworks – Backbone.js, Angular.js, React.js

Languages: Kotlin/Java for Android apps) and Swift/Objective-C for iOS apps

Server-side development- Node.js. Express.js

Client-side development – CSS, HTML, Bootstrap, JavaScript

Database- MySQL, MongoDB

Cloud architecture- AWS

Payment integration- Stripe, Braintree

Web server – Nginx

Additional Tools Used For Hosting And Monitoring

Confluence
AWS S3
MailChimp,
Swagger
PostgreSQL

Certainly, the above-mentioned tools are not just the only tools that you can choose for buy and sell marketplace app development. You need to choose the tech stack wisely to meet your project needs like features and functionalities etc

After knowing the tech stack for on-demand service app development to develop apps like LetGo or OfferUp, let us learn about the features to be included in such apps.

Essential Features For Your Buy & Sell App

Registration using social network
Search engine
Profile creation
Advanced filters
Built-in camera
Listing Items
Built-in chat
Push notifications
Multi-language & currency support

Extra Features To Be Included In your Buy-And-Sell App

The above-mentioned features are essential ones. But, to make your app unique you need to consider some added features that would impress the users.

Compare the prices
Add categories
Offer hot deals
Scan photo feature
Delivery feature
Inbuilt payment solution
Comments & rating

Steps To Consider To Build An Effective Buy and Sell App

1. Pick an impressive brand name

Certainly, your app needs to be impressive not just by design but also by name. The name of the app is the first element that grabs users’ attention, so keep it short and relevant. To choose an appropriate name you can use brand name generators available online. Also, you need to focus on the title size of your app, interpretation, and the audience’s expectations.

2. Include a shopping cart

Include a digital shopping cart into your app to facilitate easy shopping for the users and add different products. The users can add the products they wish to buy into the shopping cart and then move to the cart to proceed to make payment page or select different payment options like payment on delivery, online payment through different modes as per their convenience. With a shopping cart, the users can organize the products easily.

3. Interactive UI/UX is the key

Impressive and interactive Ui/UX is the vital element you cannot overlook while creating your buy & sell app.

You can include catchy images to offer an amazing and smooth user experience. During buy-and-sell app development, make sure you focus on simple UI/UX for the users to use your app seamlessly.

4. Integration of multiple Payment gateways

Make sure you pick the relevant payment gateways to be included in your buy-and-sell app. For instance, Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, etc

If you are not sure which payment gateway to choose, you can search what your competitors are following and what the market demands are. Do not miss out on the requirements laid by the local government and also pay attention to the security of the payment system.

5. Create an effective promotional strategy

No matter how efficient or incredible a product you create, It is important to promote your product for people to know what you have in store to offer. Hence, you need to have a promotional strategy in hand. For example, you can opt for Google Ads on multiple websites. It may be an expensive option, but it will gain you, potential customers, as well.

With the right approach and execution, you can get the desired outcome. You can make your buy & sell app competitive and generate revenues in less time.

Conclusion

When almost all of us are using tablets, smartphones and have uninterrupted internet connectivity, a lot of enterprises are moving towards mobile app development solutions to build an app to reach a large audience base.

After learning about the process of developing a buy and sell marketplace app, you must have got an idea about the process and its complexity. Hence, you need technical assistance from an expert marketplace app development company. At a leading mobile app development company, like Apps on Demand, you get app solutions for custom or white label marketplace app development that scale your buy & sell app like LetGo or OfferUp. With the help of our certified and experienced developers, we can assist you to build selling and buying apps like LetGo or OfferUp. Let us connect and discuss your app requirements.