How to Easily Build A Marketplace App Like Letgo

Last Updated on July 15, 2022

Contrary to common belief, the secondhand marketplace is living up to its potential, and it will be safe to say that this is the right time for entrepreneurs to invest in it to make a good fortune. 

There is no possible way to extract consumerism from the current model of our society. We are consuming resources at an unsustainable rate which eventually creates a disbalance not just in nature but in the market as well. However, the secondhand marketplace is a promising way to deal with these concerns. 

This article will present you with a detailed line so that you can go ahead and create a marketplace app like LetGo. Keep reading to dive right into the details.

Here is a walk-through of the article:

• Steps to Build a Marketplace App Like Letgo
• Letgo App Revenue Model
• Letgo App Features List

The Growth Timeline of LetGo Marketplace app

Whenever mentioning the pioneers of the second marketplace, there is no possible way for you to miss out on Letgo. One of the most successful classified applications available on the secondhand market. LetGo has been dominating the second marketplace for a considerable period of time now. Even though it is just a startup, it gives tough competition to its established peers such as Craigslist, eBay, and more. 

Until now, LetGo has been successful in mediating transactions of around $23 billion. The app accounts for more than 45 million downloads with a $5 million minimum weekly transaction. The startup was founded back in 2015 with the aim to present its customers with an exceptionally well-experienced, highly optimized, intuitive user interface. So far, LetGo has successfully raised $975 million.

As per the statistics from DMR, every single day, 500,000 used items are listed on LetGo, and 100,000 of those are sold. If you are wondering, what was the deciding factor that amplified the user base to such a whopping number, then all you need to do is understand how important role functionality and the ease of customer role plays in popularizing a peer-to-peer e-commerce marketplace application like LetGo.

In a definite period of its existence, surely LetGo has transformed into an amazing platform where people can easily sell and buy products that are highly diverse in nature. 

Guide to Creating A Marketplace App (9 Easy Steps)

Before you head on to build an extensive application with multiple features like that of LetGo, it becomes even more essential than ever that you start with a thorough game plan so that you can implement the best approach in order to build such an application. The best way to go about it is to have a solid business model. This will ensure that you have everything planned in the very beginning, and at any point in time, you do not feel stuck with the work process.

1. The WorkFlow and The Business Model

For an application to be built from scratch, the one thing that you certainly need other than dedicated efforts and discipline is a well-defined and streamlined process. A process can help you channel your resources in a much more optimized manner. Here is an outlook for you to observe so that you can come up with your own model when trying to build an app like LetGo. Read on in order to learn more about the minute details. 

2. Ideation

It does not really matter what the nature and peculiarities of the application are. There must be an ideation phase so that you can get a better grasp of the concept as to what you wish to create. The idea behind the creation of LetGo was to offer the users a friendly application where they can sell as well as buy second-hand things. Thus, acting as a bridge between the sellers and the buyers. If you are unable to incorporate this primary essence in your application, then it might be quite difficult for you to turn the tables around in your favor in the long run. The simplicity and convenience are something that you must target in order to reach out to a larger number of users.

3. The Ideal Architecture

When working with humongous volumes of data, it becomes more essential than ever for an application to have the right architecture to support its functions. While you expect the number of users to grow by the day, you must be able to get the hang of managing the traffic with the help of a well-formed structure. 

4. Database servers

Once you actually deep dive into the realms of data, only then will you understand the need of the hour is to have highly optimized data servers that ensure efficient functionality of the back end of your application. While there are numerous options available online for you to choose from, make sure to keep the needs of your application and users in mind while choosing one. 

5. BackEnd

If you wish to incorporate the features that are going to set up apart from the already existing applications where the users can sell and buy second-hand things, then you must dedicate an ample amount of time, research, and effort in order to come up with a back end set up which will help you with attaining your goals. The core functionality in an application lies with that of the backend. The more streamlined, efficient, and optimized your backend is, the less time you need to spend in the future for the purpose of maintenance.

6. Front-End

It is a proven fact that the outlook of your application plays a great role in determining the popularity of the users. While most people end up committing the common mistake of focusing on how it looks different from other applications, you need to make sure that the user interface you choose will eventually create a sense of trust among the application users so that they feel comfortable enough to use the payment gateways.

However, this is something that you need to figure out on your own. When you feel that the outlook and user interface of the application is user-friendly, somewhat familiar, easier to use, and reflects the essence of your application, only then are you done with creating the front end of the application. 

7. Mobile Application

After the back and front end of the application are done and dusted with. Testing and deployment are the next steps. However, in order to make sure that you do not get stuck in an endless loop of testing, it is strongly advised that you consider the implementation of the app in mind. This will help you in creating an application with a fewer number of glitches and faults.

Mobile application is the most quintessential part of the entire process as the communication through the APIs has to be hassle-free so that not only can you attract new users but also retain them by offering a hassle-free customer experience.

Other than this, app nativity is something that new coders miss out on. Make sure that if you are developing the iOS version of your application, it is created by strictly going through the iOS guidelines; the same goes for the android version as well.

8. Payment Gateways

The payment gateways are always a great concern for an eCommerce platform. These gateways involve financial transactions, and hence, they must be secure by all means. 

9. Marketing Strategies

When you are trying to create a place for yourself in a highly competitive market, it must be a top priority on your end to stand apart from your peers for the consumers. One of the highly effective ways to get this done is to use effective marketing strategies. 

How Letgo-Like Marketplace App Generates Revenue

There are different aspects and approaches to a business model for an application like LetGo. However, the best approach is to focus on the sale and purchase of the goods. 

The Membership plans also present a promising revenue generation for the platform. But, this is something that you should be considering once you have been successful in retaining a certain number of consumers.

Other than this, clickable ads can help you in the monetization of the application. If you wish to get inspired by the revenue model of LetGo, go through the following features offered by the platform.

• Bump- Up Premium Feature

This premium feature will promote the sale of a particular entity by placing it on the top of inherent search results and charges about $2 from the sellers for about 24 hours. 

• LetGo Pro

LetGo is a highly competitive sales platform for auto dealers. In order to raise the stakes as well as support the deals, one can use LetGo Pro to get more local leads. This is made possible with imports and syncing of the ads. You can get LetGo Pro for $99 with a free trial for about 30 days. 

• Google Ads

If you go by the book, you will learn how contextual advertising can be a boon. 

See also:

• Launch An Online Marketplace To Buy/Sell Electronic Goods
• Create An Online Marketplace Like Etsy
• Developing a Multi-Vendor Marketplace

Technology Stack To Build An App Like Letgo

• Application and Data– JavaScript, Python, Node.js, React, PHP, HTML5, NGINX, Java, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache HTTP Server, Google Drive, Ubuntu, ES6, Redis, Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, Android SDK, AWS Lambda, Kafka, Swift, Amazon RDS, MariaDB, Scala, Symfony, Cassandra, Amazon DynamoDB, Apache Spark, Hadoop, Akka, Amazon Aurora
• Utilities– Postman, Elasticsearch, Amazon Route 53
• DevOps– GitHub, Git, Docker, Jenkins, Kubernetes, Bitbucket, IntelliJ IDEA, Webpack, New Relic, Kibana, Xcode, Ansible, Grafana, Selenium, Terraform, PhpStorm,Amazon EC2 Container Service, AWS Elastic Load Balancing (ELB), Amazon CloudWatch, Logstash, Pingdom, Puppet Labs, PHPUnit, Jenkins X, Behat
• Business Tools– Slack, Jira, G Suite, Confluence

Important Features to Include in your Marketplace App

User Panel:

• Flash Screen
• Signup (Google, Facebook, Phone, Email)-
• Account Verification
• Login (Email ID and Phone)
• Home Page
• Explore
• Chat
• Favorites List
• My Account to manage their account and billings
• Product Information
• Coupon Code
• Geolocation
• Browse Seller Profile
• Product rating/review

Admin Panel

• Signup/Login
• Dashboard
• Seller/Customer profiles verification
• Manage sellers/customers
• Manage invites
• Manage rewards
• Payment
• Push notifications
• Pre-notification (SMS, Email, Facebook, WhatsApp)

Seller Panel

• Login through Unique ID
• Promote
• Maintain Profile
• Post Ads
• Contact
• Stats
• In-App Chat

Bonus – Tips For Launching a Marketplace Solution

Here is a list of dedicated tips to help you create a successful marketplace app like LetGo. Read on:

• Consider the needs of a user as to how this app can act as a bridge for the sellers and buyers.
• Make a blueprint for the cash flow. The money you invest, spend, and by when you can break even. 
• Be very thorough with the business model, workflow, and the technical aspects included so everything in the project can sail through.
• An essential part of the app creation is the testing. Any bugs and glitches that you come across must be catered to. 

Frequently Asked Questions For Building a Marketplace App (FAQs)