Marketplace (Marketing Place) – Product Specification - saayam-for-all/docs GitHub Wiki

Marketplace (Marketing Place) – Product Specification

1. Summary

  • Marketplace is a community listings feature inside Saayam For All.
  • It allows users (Beneficiaries, Volunteers, Organizations) to:
    • Post listings
    • Discover listings
    • Coordinate community-based exchanges
      (e.g., free items, services, resources).
  • This feature is NOT an e-commerce store.
  • Saayam For All is NOT responsible for transactions between users.
  • The Marketplace is intended to complement, not replace, existing Help Request workflows.
  • Privacy and safety are prioritized by default, with limited profile visibility, in-platform messaging, and clear reporting and moderation workflows to reduce risk and misuse.

Target Release: Post-1.0 MVP (Planned for Release 1)
Ownership: Separate specification & separate team
Status: Proposed – Pending approval

2. Goals

Primary Goals

  • Provide a community Marketplace experience inspired by neighborhood marketplace patterns (e.g., Facebook / Nextdoor).
  • Enable users to:
    • Browse listings
    • Search and filter by category and location
    • Post listings with images
    • Contact listing owners safely via platform messaging
    • Report abuse or scams
  • Improve engagement by enabling offers, not only requests.
  • Enable moderation workflows and safety controls from day one.

Engineering Goals

  • Build the module with:
    • High unit test coverage
    • Automated API tests integrated into CI/CD pipelines

3. Non-Goals

The Marketplace will NOT:

  • Process payments (no checkout, escrow, or money handling)
  • Handle shipping or logistics
  • Guarantee quality, safety, or legality of listings
  • Replace Help Request workflows
  • Support high-risk or illegal categories

4. Users & Roles

The Marketplace uses existing Saayam RBAC groups.

  • Beneficiary

    • View listings
    • Create listings (subject to product configuration)
    • Contact listing owners
    • Report listings or users

  • Volunteer

    • All Beneficiary actions
    • May flag or assist with moderation (optional)

  • Steward

    • Monitor and triage reported listings
    • Recommend takedowns or escalations

  • Admin / Super Admin

    • Manage categories and policies
    • Remove listings or users
    • Audit moderation actions and logs

5. Core Use Cases

5.1 Post Listing

  • User creates a listing with:
    • Title
    • Description
    • Category
    • Location
    • Photos

5.2 Discover Listings

  • Users browse a feed based on:
    • Approximate location
    • Category
    • Distance
    • Listing type

5.3 Search

  • Keyword search with filters:
    • Category
    • Location radius
    • Posted date

5.4 Contact Poster

  • In-platform messaging
  • No phone number or email exposed by default

5.5 Report Listing or User

  • Users can report suspicious or abusive content

5.6 Moderation

  • Stewards/Admins review reports
  • Actions include:
    • Remove
    • Warn
    • Suspend
    • Restore

6. Listing Types (Recommended)

  • Free / Give Away
  • Request / Looking For (optional; distinct from Help Requests)
  • Services / Volunteering
  • Community Resources
    • Local organization info
    • Events
    • Donation drives

Final enabled listing types will be controlled via Admin configuration.

7. Category Policy (Safety)

Disallowed Content (Examples)

  • Illegal items or services
  • Weapons, drugs, adult sexual content
  • Hate speech or extremist content
  • Financial scams, investment schemes, pyramid schemes
  • Medical claims without disclaimers or harmful advice

Allowed Content (Examples)

  • Clothing, furniture, school supplies, household items
  • Non-perishable food donation drives
  • Community services (e.g., tutoring, rides for appointments, with disclaimers)

8. UX Requirements (Marketplace MVP)

Pages

  • Marketplace Home (feed)
  • Listing Details
  • Create / Edit Listing
  • My Listings
  • Messaging / Contact Thread
  • Report / Flag Flow
  • Admin / Steward Moderation Queue (basic)

Feed & Filters

  • Default feed based on approximate user location (IP/device)
  • Filters include:
    • Category
    • Radius
    • Listing type
    • Newest
    • Keyword search

Listing Details

  • Title and image carousel
  • Description
  • Approximate location (no exact address by default)
  • Limited poster profile information
  • Contact button
  • Report button
  • Safety notice advising users not to share sensitive personal information publicly

9. Compliance & Legal

The following must be reflected in Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy:

  • Saayam For All does NOT verify listings
  • Saayam For All is NOT responsible for losses resulting from scams or fraudulent listings
  • Users must exercise caution and follow safety guidance
  • Saayam For All has no liability for third-party interactions initiated via Marketplace
  • Reporting and moderation are provided on a best-effort basis
  • Saayam For All is not responsible for losses from third-party ads, links, or interactions related to Marketplace listings

10. Release Positioning

  • Explicitly out of scope for 1.0 MVP
  • Planning for Post-1.0 MVP execution (Release 1)
  • Separate backlog and dedicated execution team
  • Designed for incremental expansion based on adoption and feedback