How is a company verified before it buys?

Through accreditation in the back office: before its first purchase the company has to be approved. Meanwhile it can look at the listings, which are public.

Can machine learning moderate listings on its own?

Partly. The software we wrote publishes on its own the listings that pass the check and blocks the others, with the analysis of what is wrong. For the blocked ones the platform has set percentages: based on those an operator steps in, or the listing is deleted.

Can hauliers take part in the marketplace too?

In the scrap marketplace, yes: they have a profile of their own, see the orders to be transported and quote for them, and the buyer chooses the offer. Once an order is closed they receive a review, like sellers.

Is the brand needed too, or just the platform?

It depends on where you start. The scrap marketplace was new, and the work began with the market study and the brand, with a landing page worked for organic search, before development.

How long does a marketplace project take?

Months. The scrap marketplace took fourteen months with a team of five people; the listing moderation sixteen months, with four.

With a call, free of charge. We write the scope, in phases with a date each, after understanding who will use the platform.

E-commerce and marketplaces

When sellers and listings have to be checked one by one

Two marketplaces: one for scrap metal, between companies that sell, buy and transport, and one for pre-owned luxury goods, where every listing has to be checked before it goes live.

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Projects in this sector

scrap metal trading company

New metal scrap marketplace

Scrap was traded on the phone and settled on a spreadsheet, with no way to know who you were dealing with.

Listing moderation software with machine learning

Every listing was read by a person before it could go live.

What software does a marketplace need to check sellers and listings?

An accreditation step that verifies companies before they buy, and an automatic check on what gets published. In the scrap marketplace we built only accredited companies can buy, and reviews rate sellers and hauliers; in a pre-owned luxury one, machine learning assesses the text, images and videos of the listings, and publishes or blocks them.

Recurring problems in this sector

Letting only verified companies buyIn a business-to-business market, like scrap metal, buying from someone you do not know is a risk. In the scrap marketplace we built, accreditation was a requirement from the start.
Listings read one by one before going liveOn the pre-owned luxury goods platform we worked for, a person checked the text, photographs and videos of every listing, and listings arrive in large numbers every day.
Content to stop before it goes onlineA listing can be misleading, fraudulent or against the platform’s rules, and it does damage as soon as it is published.
Several parties in the same orderIn a business-to-business marketplace, besides whoever sells and whoever buys, there is whoever transports. For the scrap company we worked with, before the platform, trading went through the phone and a spreadsheet.
Knowing whom to trust after the first orderThe reputation of a seller or a haulier builds up order after order, and has to stay visible to whoever comes next.

What we built

For a company that trades, recovers and disposes of ferrous and metal scrap, a new marketplace that started from the brand. First the market study, that is competitors, audience, positioning and channels, with interviews with the client; then the visual identity and a landing page worked for organic search, with previews of the listings, what each profile can do and the subscriptions by type of user.

Then the platform. Anyone can see the listings, and only accredited companies can buy: in the back office every company uploads the information and documents that show who it is. Traders and factories publish listings, hauliers quote for the orders to be transported and the buyer chooses the best offer. Every closed order ends with a review of the seller and the haulier. To build it we studied the certifications required of those who trade these materials. Fourteen months, with five people: a UX/UI designer, a PM, two backend developers and a frontend developer.

For a marketplace for pre-owned luxury goods, software that moderates listings with machine learning. When a listing arrives, it assesses the text, the images and the videos, and checks that it follows the platform’s rules. If it is fine it publishes it on its own; if it finds an anomaly it blocks it and sends the platform the analysis of what it found. Based on thresholds set by the platform, a blocked listing goes to a person for the final word or is deleted. Sixteen months, with two backend and two frontend developers.

The systems the software has to talk to

In a marketplace the software sits between the platform that publishes, the back office where companies are approved and whoever delivers. The moderation software we wrote receives the listing from the platform and returns a decision with its analysis: it sits inside the publishing flow, before the listing is visible.

What to ask a supplier

Five questions for whoever will build the marketplace, us included:

How is a company verified, and what can it do before it is accredited?
Who decides what gets published: a person, a model or both, and with what thresholds?
How do the parties that neither sell nor buy, like whoever transports, fit into the order?
What stays with sellers and buyers after each order?
Who takes care of the brand and of the page that brings in the first users?

How we work here

After a first call, free of charge, we look together at who enters your market and what each of them must be able to do. In the scrap marketplace there were three profiles, traders, factories and hauliers, each with its own subscription.

The work goes in phases, each with a date and what it delivers.

Frequently asked questions

How is a company verified before it buys?: Through accreditation in the back office: before its first purchase the company has to be approved. Meanwhile it can look at the listings, which are public.
Can machine learning moderate listings on its own?: Partly. The software we wrote publishes on its own the listings that pass the check and blocks the others, with the analysis of what is wrong. For the blocked ones the platform has set percentages: based on those an operator steps in, or the listing is deleted.
Can hauliers take part in the marketplace too?: In the scrap marketplace, yes: they have a profile of their own, see the orders to be transported and quote for them, and the buyer chooses the offer. Once an order is closed they receive a review, like sellers.
Is the brand needed too, or just the platform?: It depends on where you start. The scrap marketplace was new, and the work began with the market study and the brand, with a landing page worked for organic search, before development.
How long does a marketplace project take?: Months. The scrap marketplace took fourteen months with a team of five people; the listing moderation sixteen months, with four.
How does it start?: With a call, free of charge. We write the scope, in phases with a date each, after understanding who will use the platform.

Tell us about the project you have in mind.

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