How to build a marketplace app for iOS
What a marketplace app needs
- Listings with photos, price, and description
- Search, categories, and filters
- Buyer and seller accounts
- Messaging between the two sides
- Payments and seller payouts (Stripe Connect for physical goods or real-world services)
- A backend with moderation for listings (Supabase)
The MVP slice is: post a listing, browse and search, message a seller, and check out. Reviews, disputes, and payouts at scale come later. Decide early whether you sell physical or digital goods, because it changes the payment rules.
Core screens and data
A marketplace app needs a browse and search screen, a listing detail, a post-listing flow for sellers, a messaging inbox, a checkout, and a seller dashboard for payouts. The table below maps each screen to what it does and what it stores.
| Screen | What it does | What it stores |
|---|---|---|
| Browse and search | Shows listings by category with filters and sorting | Listing index, categories, filter state |
| Listing detail | Displays photos, price, description, and seller rating | Listing record, image URLs, seller reference |
| Post a listing | Lets a seller add photos, price, and details | Draft and published listings, seller ID |
| Messages | Threads a buyer and seller before a sale | Conversations, message text, timestamps |
| Checkout | Takes card payment and confirms the order | Orders, buyer address, Stripe payment reference |
| Seller payouts | Tracks earnings and transfers to sellers | Connected accounts, balances, payout history |
| Reviews and profile | Shows ratings after a completed sale | User profiles, ratings, transaction history |
Starter prompt
This is the exact plain-English description you paste into AppFlight to start the build. Keep it specific about screens, data, and payments so the first version matches what you have in mind.
Build a marketplace app for buying and selling used furniture between people. Buyers browse listings by category, filter by price and location, open a listing to see photos and a description, and message the seller before buying. Sellers post an item with photos, a price, and a condition, then manage their active listings from a seller dashboard. When a buyer checks out, take card payment through Stripe and pay the seller out through Stripe Connect, keeping a commission on each sale. Store listings, buyer and seller accounts, and messages in Supabase, and include block and report actions on listings and messages. Because furniture is a physical good, use Stripe for payments rather than in-app purchase.
How to build it with AppFlight
Describe it, for example: "A marketplace where sellers post items with photos and a price, buyers search and filter, message the seller, and pay by card, and sellers get paid out." AppFlight plans the screens, generates native SwiftUI, and runs it in a live simulator. Use the Supabase connector for listings, accounts, and messages, and the Stripe connector for checkout and Connect payouts. You iterate by asking for changes in plain language.
Monetization for a marketplace app
For physical goods or real-world services traded between users, Apple allows Stripe, and you typically take a commission on each sale through Stripe Connect. If your marketplace sells digital content used inside the app, that must use in-app purchase instead. Most physical-goods marketplaces run on Stripe and a percentage fee, sometimes with a seller subscription or a listing fee on top.
Shipping it to the App Store
When it works in the simulator, AppFlight signs the build, uploads to TestFlight so you can test a real listing and checkout, then submits to the App Store with metadata and screenshots. Because it has user listings and messages, make sure block, report, and a content filter are in place, since Apple Guideline 1.2 expects them. If Apple rejects the build, AppFlight reads the reason, fixes it, and resubmits. Apple reviews every app, so a submission is not the same as an approval.
FAQ
Stripe or in-app purchase for a marketplace?
Physical goods and real-world services use Stripe, usually with Stripe Connect for seller payouts. Digital content used in the app must use in-app purchase.
How do marketplace apps make money?
A commission per transaction is the common model, taken through Stripe Connect. Some also charge sellers a listing or subscription fee.
Do I need moderation?
Yes, for user listings and messages. Apple Guideline 1.2 expects filtering, block, and report. AppFlight connects Supabase for the data and can include report flows.