Starting a marketplace
-
Hi all,
I’m looking to start a marketplace for homemade goods. I came across this theme which apparently integrates with WordPress although I’m new to WP and I’m unsure if it’s legit. And, if it is legit, is it as simple as pluging-in/uploading that theme? I also can’t determine if it has a back-end/dashboard for the vendors. Can someone please help?
I currently run a gifting store on Shopify although WP seems to be more friendly for building a Marketplace.
Many thanks!
I don’t have a site with WordPress.com yet
-
-
Hi there,
WordPress is open source software, and as such, anyone can create themes or plugins for that software. So that makes the question “is it legit” very hard to answer.
There’s an official directory of WordPress plugins and themes on WordPress.org, that have been reviewed by the community who makes the WordPress software. But only free themes and plugins can be submitted there, and it’s the choice of the theme/plugin developers whether they want to do that or not – it’s not a requirement, and having your theme/plugin listed there doesn’t make it officially part of WordPress.
In other words, someone choosing not to submit their product there, or choosing to sell it as a premium product, doesn’t imply that it’s not legit, and there are thousands of WordPress themes out there on the web that aren’t listed in the official theme directory.
In this case, look at the ratings, reviews and comment about the theme on the theme homepage at https://themeforest.net/item/martfury-woocommerce-marketplace-wordpress-theme/21273233. Checking what other people are saying about the theme, and whether or not the theme author responds to questions about the theme, is the best way to determine whether it’s worth using (you can use those same criteria for any theme/plugin listed in the official WordPress.org directories as well).
From what I see people appear to be mostly positive about the theme, the theme developer is replying to comments there, and there’s a link to the theme author’s support page (and it works) on the ThemeForest page. So (personal opinion) based on that only, I’d say this theme looks safe to use :)
. And, if it is legit, is it as simple as pluging-in/uploading that theme?
When you buy that theme, you’ll be able to download it as a .zip folder. In your WordPress site’s dashboard, go to Appearance ->Themes and click the Add New button. There you’ll be able to upload that .zip folder to install the theme. Once it’s installed, activate it, and you’re good to go.
However, note that the theme only changes the appearance of a site. It won’t add the actual ecommerce functionality you want – for that you need an ecommerce plugin. In this case, the theme is specifically created to integrate with WooCommerce, so that’s the plugin you’ll want to install (similar process to installing a theme). You can find detailed information on how WooCommerce works at https://woocommerce.com/
I also can’t determine if it has a back-end/dashboard for the vendors. Can someone please help?
If you want a vendor marketplace, you’ll also need an add-on to WooCommerce to add that extra functionality. WooCommerce sells the premium add-on, https://woocommerce.com/products/product-vendors, for this.
I currently run a gifting store on Shopify although WP seems to be more friendly for building a Marketplace.
You’ll find that WordPress perhaps has a steeper learning curve than Shopify, so it might actually seem more complicated at first. But the biggest benefit WordPress and WooCommerce has over Shopify is that it’s infinitely extendible. There are thousands of plugins to extend the functionality of both WordPress and WooCommerce, and if you want to do something there doesn’t exist a plugin for yet, you can create your own custom integrations (or hire someone to create it for you) to add the functionality you want.
The forum you’re posting to now is for WordPress.com, one of many hosting providers for the WordPress software. If you decide to host your site with us specifically, a benefit we have over other hosts is that we take care of all the technical aspects of WordPress for you, so you don’t need to worry about site security, backups, software updates, spam protection, etc, but can just focus on setting up and managing your store.
WordPress.com is also owned by the same company that owns WooCommerce, so we can guarantee WooCommerce and all the add-ons in the WooCommerce.com marketplace works here, and for all sites hosted with us full support for WooCommerce is also included.
Note that to use WooCommerce, or any other plugin, or themes you bought/downloaded elsewhere, requires our Business or eCommerce plan, but both of those plans also come with live chat support.
https://wordpress.com/pricing/
That’s a lot of information, so let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any further questions.
-
Thanks Kokkieh
What a brilliant and thorough response. I really appreciate it. You’ve made WordPress in general much clearer to me.
As you mentioned, WordPress has a stronger learning curve than Shopify although I certainly see its exclusive benefits.
The only other question I have for now, does WordPress recommend a certain payment gateway? Particularly for a multi-vendor marketplace?
-
Can you/someone please help me clarify the costs to get started with a basic marketplace with minimal plug-ins?
I see:
WordPress E-Commerce – $78 per month
WCMP Plug-in – $0
WCVendors Plug-in – $199pa
WCMP Stripe Marketplace Plug-in – $73
Martfury theme – $59Is this correct and enough in order to start a multi-vendor product marketplace, allowing Vendors to upload products and access reports and orders via the back-end, receive and split payments and have an efficient front-end?
And, do you know if there is a plug-in that has the clear ability to separate products by region? At the home page?
If I decide to add services as well at some point, will this be able to done easily?
I promise I’m not in the business of asking a tonne of questions. I’m just trying to wrap my head around the requirements to build a WP Product Marketplace as I’m so used to Shopify.
Many many thanks
-
Hi there,
The only other question I have for now, does WordPress recommend a certain payment gateway? Particularly for a multi-vendor marketplace?
We would not have a specific recommendation for that, but you may want to consider WooCommerce as your ecommerce platform, in which case you could use this plugin here: https://woocommerce.com/products/product-vendors/
As well WooCommerce is an open platform (much like WordPress itself is) so there are 3rd party plugins created “to work with WooCommerce” so it’s worth searching Google to see if there are other options that we would not consider as “official WooCommerce extensions” but will of course work fine as long as the plugin is of good quality and well-supported by the developer.
https://www.google.com/search?q=woocommerce+multi+vendor+payments
Hope this helps!
- The topic ‘Starting a marketplace’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 