The article was originally published on Codica Blog.

Do you want to start a successful marketplace like eBay or Amazon? It is a perfect idea as eBay generated more than $10 bln of net revenue in 2020. Here comes the main question: how much does it cost to build a website marketplace in 2021?

For this reason, we have prepared a thorough guide that will help you get approximate pricing of marketplace development. It includes the list of features, technology stack, and software type your future platform will need.

Types of online marketplaces

What is a marketplace website? It is an e-commerce platform that works as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. It facilitates virtual shopping for consumers who can choose goods or services online from different suppliers.

Before building an online platform, you should define the type of your future marketplace. It is a business model that will help you implement the right monetization strategies.

Besides, marketplace websites can differ depending on the participants involved. They include the B2B, B2C, and C2C platforms. This classification is also important to understand the best revenue sources you can implement on your platform.

How to build a marketplace website?

So, you have two options: to build an e-commerce website from scratch or use a ready-made solution.

• Off-the-shelf software

It is a good solution if you want to launch your online marketplace as soon as possible. It becomes available as you can skip wireframing, development, and testing. 

However, this option also provides some drawbacks. For example, you can face customization issues. The matter is that the software includes certain limitations so you can’t go beyond them. 

The most popular open-source products are Sharetribe and Magento.

So, how much does a ready-made solution cost? 

• Bespoke software

If you want to launch an e-commerce website with personalized business logic, consider custom software development. This approach will allow you to implement diverse functionality and build a complex system like Amazon or eBay.

There are different ways of starting the process of online marketplace development. These are as follows:

• In-house development team
• Freelance services
• Software development agency.

The core benefit of the last option is that such companies have solid experience in marketplace development. This way, you can be sure to get the solution that you need. 

As for the prices for software developers’ services, everything depends on their rates and location. For example, Payscale states that the average hourly rate of a Web Developer in the USA can exceed $100 per hour.

In Eastern European countries, development costs are lower. For instance, if you decide to use the services of Ukrainian software development companies, they can charge you around $25-49 per hour.

Tech stack for marketplace development

Before starting an online platform, consider the programming tools you will use to build a marketplace. Why is it crucial for entrepreneurs? The tech stack you implement will influence the application’s performance and maintainability. Shortly, you may get low page loading speed and face scalability and update problems.

Let’s take a look at the main technologies you will need to implement the platform features.

Server-side

Take into consideration Ruby, Ruby on Rails, ElasticSearch, Redis, i18n gem, MySQL, Sidekiq.

Client-side

Considering front-end development, pay attention to the following tools: HTML5, CSS3, JS, React, Vue.js, Angular.

Tools and integrations

At Codica, we use AWS S3, GitLab, GitHub, Slack, and Digital Ocean.

Main functionality for a marketplace website

Here is the list of basic functionality for an online platform:

• Marketplace MVP features
• Registration / Authorization
• Profiles 
• Item listing 
• Advanced search
• The product page 
• The shopping cart 
• Payment methods
• The administrator panel.

How much does it cost to create a marketplace app?

In fact, there are two important factors that influence the final development costs:

• The unique requirements of each project;
• The hourly rates of the software company you choose.

If you need the exact figures, find the detailed table in the original article. It shows the approximate costs of building must-have functionality for an online marketplace. 

This way, it will take approximately 972 hours to build a marketplace app with advanced features. If we consider the average rate of $45, the price to build a website starts from $43,740.

Codica expertise in a marketplace development

At Codica, we have been building custom marketplace apps for 6 years. Our priority is to build fast-loading and engaging websites. They will help you generate traffic, boost conversion rates, and increase sales. 

Since 2015, we have delivered successful applications for travel, finance, automotive, insurance, and other domains.

Multi-vendor vehicle marketplace

The Codica team built the platform for a successful startup that is the first vehicle marketplace in Africa. It enables buyers, private sellers, and dealers to interact. This way, they can buy, sell, exchange new and second-hand vehicles, motorbikes, and trucks.

What are the outcomes?

• 430% traffic growth for the past two years;
• 90+ independent online marketplaces operating separately;
• Lower page load time.

Summing up

We hope our article helped you realize how much does it cost to create a marketplace app. In case you want to hire a reliable software company, we will be glad to help you build a marketplace website. Check our ready works or contact us to discuss your project.

Originally published on Codica Blog.