Marketplace

Sides

Demand, supply and the exchange operator on one ledger

Unit of work

The Transaction: match, hold, settle, split

Examples

• Marketplaces
• gigs.lawyer and closers.deals as exchanges (in design)

The five tests

1. who signs in
2. which record dominates
3. who acts next
4. how money moves
5. who may settle what

Carried only by it, from What every App needs

Liquidity per segment; five matching modes; reviews revealed together; money shapes a take rate cannot express

Screens its Interfaces name, by reader

Demand

Search and category hubs with paid placement labelled · listing detail with the all-in price, cancellation policy and "last verified" · Supplier profile · a request form · proposals side by side · checkout freezing the Offer Version and price · the Order page with every sub-lifecycle, who acts next and its deadlines · approvals inside the work · messages relayed and masked · review prompt · money requests · disputes · receipts naming the merchant of record · buyer org admin

Supply

Join funnel · verification status · listing editor showing "you receive" · calendar · opportunity feed with a teaser, then a sheet, then the full packet after claim · proposal composer · active work · earnings by state · standing · reviews · disputes · policy notices with an appeal · team

Operator

Market health per segment · supply pipeline · listing moderation · matching and dispatch board · Order search with view-as · safety queues · disputes · refunds · payouts run · tax reporting · policy and terms Versions · reviews oversight · guarantee claims · support

Build today: the Site pages around it

• directory-list Template
• product-list
• Benchlist

5actors5workflows10records

A marketplace is a family of Apps for a Business that brokers between parties instead of selling as one. It makes a transaction between two parties who do not trust each other safe enough to happen and cheap enough to repeat on the platform. It promises three things: find a match, trust it, and settle the money.

Any Business whose earning model is Marketplace ships one: a staffing agency moving online, a produce cooperative, a law-firm referral network, a franchisor routing leads. One Order is read by at least three parties, each through a different projection.

One App with fields hidden by Role undershoots all three, so each side gets its own App over the same records. This type is the exchange: demand, matching, liquidity, trust, disputes and the split. The supply side's App is the Worklist, and posting work to a site and verifying it is the delivery and dispatch console.

A licensed operator is not a marketplace. A Business that holds the regulated edge itself and staffs it from a credentialed network ships the Worklist, the console and a developer portal. The study describes the work; how an App is defined is open, see What every App needs.

• Buyer; buyer org admin; buyer approver and accounts payableDemandWorkRequester and payer; approves spend over a limit
• Supplier (person or company); seller of goods; credentialed professional; Supplier staff; a firm steward who holds grants, not accountsSupplyWorkPerformer, seller of record and payee; a professional attests reserved acts
• Merchant and courier in three-sided markets; a guarantor or insurerFurther sidesWorkEach owns a leg of the Order or pays a claim
• Founder; supply manager; risk analyst; treasurer; contracts and legal; billing; delivery manager; an uninvolved appeal adjudicator; supportOperatorWorkEvery projection; view as any party
• Issuing bank, credential issuer, background-check bureau, tax authorityOutsideWorkDecides a chargeback; vouches for a credential; receives information returns

1. 01
   Workflow 1: Supply onboarding

   1. 1.1Recruit, or let Suppliers apply with credentials, jurisdictions, availability and a minimum fee.
   2. 1.2Complete Stripe-hosted payout onboarding.
   3. 1.3Pass background, credential and sanctions checks, with notices before any adverse action.
   4. 1.4Sign the Supplier terms Version, calibrate on sample work, and list; the listing is reviewed before it publishes.
   5. 1.5Continuous checks follow.
2. 02
   Workflow 2: Matching, in five modes

   1. 2.1Choose (search, listing, checkout).
   2. 2.2Quote (a request, proposals, accept).
   3. 2.3Dispatch (an offer with a timer to the best eligible Supplier, then the next).
   4. 2.4Broadcast-claim (a teaser in a feed, a claim, clearance, the packet).
   5. 2.5Escalation-dispatch (work posts only when the seller's Mandate says a human is needed).
   6. 2.6Empty segments wait, get filled by hand, or join a waitlist.
3. 03
   Workflow 3: The core loop

   1. 3.1Place freezes the Offer Version and price.
   2. 3.2Screen, pay as a destination charge on the Supplier's behalf with the take as an application fee, accept, start, work, deliver.
   3. 3.3The buyer confirms, or the acceptance window confirms for them.
   4. 3.4Clearance holds the payout, release ends it, remit pays on the payout day with a statement.
   5. 3.5Both sides review, revealed together.
4. 04
   Workflow 4: The dispute ladder

   1. 4.1Talk in the Thread, then send a money request.
   2. 4.2Then open a dispute with the amount held and an answer deadline; a missed deadline decides for the buyer.
   3. 4.3Decide buyer, seller or split with a reason, and appeal once to an uninvolved Worker.
   4. 4.4A chargeback forks to the issuer, with no split and no appeal.
   5. 4.5Damage goes to a guarantee claim.
5. 05
   Workflow 5: Reversal

   1. 5.1A refund after payout fails to reverse the transfer, so the platform covers the negative balance and recovers it from future earnings.

Commercial6 states

1. placed
2. paid
3. fulfilled
4. closed
5. canceled
6. refunded

Screening4 states

1. allow
2. authenticate
3. review (an Approval)
4. block

Work6 states

1. intake
2. working
3. delivered
4. accepted
5. in revision
6. disputed

Supplier acceptance, dispatch7 states

1. requested
2. accepted
3. declined or expired
4. offered
5. accepted
6. declined or timed out
7. next

Supplier money7 states

1. charged
2. transferred
3. held (clearance or dispute)
4. released
5. remitted
6. reversed
7. recovered

Reviews4 states

1. open for both
2. one submitted and hidden
3. revealed together
4. responded

Dispute6 states

1. inquiry
2. open
3. answered
4. decided
5. appealed
6. closed

Legs, three-sided7 states

1. merchant received
2. preparing
3. ready
4. courier assigned
5. at pickup
6. picked up
7. delivered

Supplier8 states

1. recruited
2. applied
3. checks pending
4. onboarded
5. active
6. limited
7. suspended
8. reinstated or terminated

Listing7 states

1. draft
2. in review
3. published
4. paused
5. withdrawn
6. rejected
7. delisted with appeal

ActorsCopy Anchor Link

Agents act on every side. A buyer's agent orders under a Mandate, and a Supplier's agent drafts quotes and work for the Supplier to sign.

Operator agents recruit supply, match and dispatch, review listings, screen payments, build dispute evidence and run payouts. The relation to the Order picks the projection, not a Role flag.

InterfacesCopy Anchor Link

The supply side's App for services and labor is the Worklist; for goods it is the storefront's merchant desk. On day one the operator side is mostly the founder's Worklist.

Records and actionsCopy Anchor Link

The Order is a header over several concurrent machines. The party who acts next follows the earliest unfinished machine whose next step needs a party.

Order Verbs: place, screen, pay, start, deliver, confirm (runs on its own when the window passes), dispute, refund, cancel. Supply: recruit, onboard, verify a credential, attest, suspend.

Money: hold, release, remit. Disputes: answer with frozen evidence, decide, appeal once.

TermsCopy Anchor Link

Terms1 quoted from startupbuilder.dev · 3 it lacks · 0 colliding

Term	In startupbuilder.dev	Definition, quoted from startupbuilder.dev or the gap
Order	Order	"An Order is a Customer's commitment to buy one or more Offers once, moving from placed to paid, fulfilled, and closed." It lacks the concurrent machines and legs.
Supplier, seller	two words	startupbuilder.dev's Supplier is human supply; a goods seller is a Customer under a seller Agreement. Both are payees.
Escrow	avoided	Stripe is not escrow. startupbuilder.dev's word is hold, and a hold is a payout delay on the Supplier's own account.
Listing, request, proposal, dispatch offer	lack	A dispatch System exists with no Verbs registered.
Two-way review with reveal	lacks	startupbuilder.dev's Review is a Customer's evaluation of a Product, Offer or Brand.
Balance, cancellation policy, fee schedule, standing, claim, money request, leg	lack	"Policy" is taken by an accounting sense.

WorkflowsCopy Anchor Link

1. Supply onboarding. Recruit, or let Suppliers apply with credentials, jurisdictions, availability and a minimum fee. Complete Stripe-hosted payout onboarding. Pass background, credential and sanctions checks, with notices before any adverse action. Sign the Supplier terms Version, calibrate on sample work, and list; the listing is reviewed before it publishes. Continuous checks follow.
2. Matching, in five modes. Choose (search, listing, checkout). Quote (a request, proposals, accept). Dispatch (an offer with a timer to the best eligible Supplier, then the next). Broadcast-claim (a teaser in a feed, a claim, clearance, the packet). Escalation-dispatch (work posts only when the seller's Mandate says a human is needed). Empty segments wait, get filled by hand, or join a waitlist.
3. The core loop. Place freezes the Offer Version and price. Screen, pay as a destination charge on the Supplier's behalf with the take as an application fee, accept, start, work, deliver. The buyer confirms, or the acceptance window confirms for them. Clearance holds the payout, release ends it, remit pays on the payout day with a statement. Both sides review, revealed together.
4. The dispute ladder. Talk in the Thread, then send a money request. Then open a dispute with the amount held and an answer deadline; a missed deadline decides for the buyer. Decide buyer, seller or split with a reason, and appeal once to an uninvolved Worker. A chargeback forks to the issuer, with no split and no appeal. Damage goes to a guarantee claim.
5. Reversal. A refund after payout fails to reverse the transfer, so the platform covers the negative balance and recovers it from future earnings.

The charge path decides which variants are possible. A destination charge on behalf of one Supplier cannot carry a multi-seller cart or a three-sided split; those need separate charges and transfers.

An employment edge is an axis: contractor, an Employer of Record, or employee. Dispatch-and-verify for shift work reads as employer control and may need an owned employment edge.

BoundariesCopy Anchor Link

• Three Tenants meet on one Order: the buyer's, the Supplier's and the operator's. Each sees a projection per relation and per stage.
• Disclosure is staged. Counterparty contact comes only after booking, or never; the buyer's address comes after acceptance. A Supplier's credential shows as issuer and jurisdiction only. A sensitive brief shows as a teaser, then a sheet (viewing recorded), then the packet.
• Neither side sees the other's review before the reveal.
• Operators never see full payment or bank numbers, tax IDs, background-check content beyond the adjudication, or licensed matter content outside need.
• Scanning messages for safety and leakage is in the terms, and reading them is recorded.
• Frozen records stay frozen: submitted evidence, an Attestation, the Offer Version on an Order, a published review.

AgentsCopy Anchor Link

Agents recruit and calibrate supply, review listings first, and match, rank and dispatch. They screen payments, build dispute evidence, run payouts below a limit, and flag fraud and review abuse.

Humans keep the acts that are one-way and bear money or a livelihood:

• adverse action after background checks;
• suspending or terminating a Supplier, where EU platform-work law requires human review of automated decisions;
• deciding disputes, and refunds and payouts, above a limit;
• reserved acts, and signing Supplier terms;
• safety incidents.

On day one these land in the founder's inbox.

Hard partsCopy Anchor Link

1. Liquidity is per segment. A marketplace is many small markets by category, place and time; a healthy average hides dead cities. The operator needs segment balance and a lever to close or pause one.
2. The ledger runs backwards as often as forwards. Refund after payout, chargeback after payout, a dispute after clearance, partial refunds on multi-item Orders. Negative balances are normal and need a per-Supplier sub-ledger.
3. The regulated perimeter. The platform transmits no money, holds no stored value, lends nothing and pools no insurance. Net terms, protection products and escrow each need a licensed upstream. Evidence, reputation from settled outcomes and fast payouts are the moats left.
4. Tax thresholds wake later. Marketplace-facilitator sales tax, US information returns, the EU seller report, high-volume seller verification within 10 days.
5. Worker classification. Offer timers, acceptance-rate penalties and set prices push supply toward employment. Supplier-set prices and free decline are the safer default.
6. Leakage. Once two sides meet, the take is a tax on repeat business. Masking, a relay with detection, and value only the platform holds keep them on.
7. Seller standards meet the measurement policy. A rate on a Supplier that is a Business is legitimate. On a natural person, standards come only from settled outcomes, show to that person as their own standing, route work, and appear publicly only as a positive badge. A rate invented for a performer with no history, shown to a buyer, breaks both rules.
8. Reviews and ranking are law. Every completed Order gets the same ask, removal follows a published policy and keeps the record, ranking parameters are disclosed and paid placement is labelled.

Day oneCopy Anchor Link

The founder-led marketplace on day one: the directory is live, with one segment, one Offer shape and one human.

• Demand: the Site, a request form the founder and a concierge agent match, hosted checkout, an Order page by magic link, email, an MCP buy tool.
• Supply: the join funnel, hosted payout onboarding, signed terms, the Order page by link, delivery by upload, a balance with a weekly statement.
• Operator: the founder's Worklist for screen reviews, disputes above $200, large refunds and payouts, and adverse actions; an Order list with view-as; Liquidity for the segment.

The Startup layer adds the build chain from a directory to a marketplace to a licensed marketplace. That chain misleads a Business that owns its licensed edge, which is not a marketplace at all. The layer sets Liquidity as the Live metric and Fill rate as the repeatable one, and a marketplace template is single-human or multi-human.

Related studiesCopy Anchor Link

Prototypes this study needsCopy Anchor Link

No prototype names it by any of: marketplace, Transaction.