
Ask HN: Can Shopify support a marketplace idea or do I need custom solution? - _jdams
I&#x27;ve read &quot;Do things that don&#x27;t scale&quot; and &quot;Ideas are worthless; execution is everything&quot;, so I&#x27;m putting this out there to hopefully obtain some good feedback and direction.<p>I want to create an art marketplace that sells original works. Signed or unsigned, the work would be original and potentially from a set (limited number), authenticated by myself with the support of the original artist. No prints or mass reproductions.<p>In Model 1, the artist would hold the item, but have an agreement with me to place the product on the marketplace. At time of sale, I would be responsible for (somehow) transferring profit to the artist, and the artist would be responsible for packaging and shipping the product.
Pros: I&#x27;m not touching inventory.
Cons: I lose control of photos, which provide the consistent &quot;look and feel&quot; of product listings. I would also rely on artist to ship timely.<p>Model 2 - have agreement with the artist and list the product. The seller would ship the product to me. When sold, I would provide payment to the seller, and ship the product. 
Pros: I would have full control of the product photos, and timeliness of shipping. 
Cons: I&#x27;m responsible for storage of all inventory. I&#x27;m responsible for taking all photos (lots of work). I&#x27;m responsible for product damages before consistent photos of the product, but would need to store the product until it sells. If it doesn&#x27;t sell, I have to ship it back.<p>On the topic of doing things that don&#x27;t scale, a small marketplace that will at first suffer from the classic &quot;chicken and egg&quot; problem will be manageable for me, but I&#x27;m not sure about the logistics of the two models. I would prefer to never touch inventory.<p>Will Shopify support what I&#x27;m trying to do? I know marketplaces are tough, but people have been able to achieve it in the past. I want to execute on the idea but do it smartly and obtain feedback from everyone here.
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_jdams
As a follow-up, this idea came out because I have somewhat recently taken a
huge interest in art, not helped by my binge watching of Bloomberg's Brilliant
Ideas documentary series on various artists. I have collected some
prints/reproductions over the years, but didn't see a marketplace to buy
authentic, original works from artists. I check Craigslist occasionally with
varying degrees of success. Thus, the idea was born.

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sharemywin
Depending on the cost. I would want it verified it was authentic through some
kind of escrow process.

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sharemywin
Check out these:

[https://opensource.com/article/16/11/4-open-source-
solutions...](https://opensource.com/article/16/11/4-open-source-solutions-
peer-marketplace)

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sharemywin
Stripe supports paying out sellers:

[https://stripe.com/connect](https://stripe.com/connect)

