Marketplace FAQ
Sharon Brakha avatar
Written by Sharon Brakha
Updated over a week ago

Read this FAQ to understand how our marketplace builder works. A question? Email us @ hello@blackbell.com

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Tutorial Video 

If you're building a marketplace with Blackbell, have a look at this 20 min video that summarizes the whole process. 

Prerequisites

  • Are there any prerequisites before building a marketplace with Blackbell? 

We require both the marketplace manager and the suppliers to connect their Stripe or Transferwise account to their Blackbell to get started.
So you would need to be located in a country that works with Stripe OR Transferwise to start your marketplace. 

Stripe available in the following countries
 Australia
 Austria
 Belgium
 Canada
 Denmark
 Finland
 France
 Germany
 Hong Kong
 Ireland
 Japan
 Luxembourg
 Netherlands
 New Zealand
 Norway
 Singapore
 Spain
 Sweden
 Switzerland
 United Kingdom
 United States
 Italy
 Portugal

In beta
 Brazil
 Mexico

Transferwise available in the following countries.

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Plan & Pricing

  • Which plan allows me to create a marketplace? 

To create a marketplace, you must go for the Marketplace plan

  • Are there any other fees besides the monthly fees? 

Setup fee: Setting up your marketplace with Blackbell is free. It is 100% do-it-yourself.
Ongoing transactions fees: Blackbell will charge 20% of the commissions you make from marketplace orders. This adds up to some payment processing fees.

To know more about fees, please refer to this article.

  • How much is it for suppliers to join my marketplace? 

There is no cost to join a marketplace as a supplier.
Suppliers can upgrade to paid plans to be able to add more services & products. 

  • Can I charge my suppliers some upfront / recurring fees to join my marketplace? 

Sure. You are free to enter into a separate agreement with your suppliers.
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You could sell for example some membership fees & setup fees, even from Blackbell! Simply create a dedicated service and share the link for payment.
As for recurring fees, you can't do it from Blackbell yet (as we don't allow yet to sell subscriptions) but you can charge them from a different tool.

  • Do I get a referral fee if one of my suppliers upgrades to a paid plan? 

Indeed. Your referral code will automatically applies to all of your suppliers' apps.
Learn more here.

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Content & Layout

  • Can you share an example of a marketplace? 

Here is a template so you get familiar with the layout and possibilities: https://templatemarketplace.blackbellapp.com/

Here is a services platform that was built to offer services to students in London: http://chapter-app.com/

  • Can I customize the look & feel of my marketplace: font, style...? 

You are free to edit the CSS of your platform. Learn more here

  • Can I manage the content of my suppliers? 

Sure. Simply invite yourself as a team member on their app. 

  • Can I add a search bar in my homepage header? 

No. Customers can search for suppliers from the "Marketplace page" accessible from your website topbar. 

  • Can my customers geolocate suppliers in a map? 

Suppliers are not automatically added to a map.
However, you are free to build a map and link to your suppliers' pages. 

Here is an example: 

  • Can I get a customer mobile app for iPhone & Android? 

Sure you can order white label mobile apps. Learn more here. 

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Suppliers Invitation & Onboarding

  • How do I invite suppliers to join my marketplace? 

From your Marketplace section: Marketplace > My marketplace > Invite Suppliers
You can also allow service providers to apply spontaneously from your marketplace website by adding a "Join marketplace" module.
Check out how it looks on this page: https://templatemarketplace.blackbellapp.com/en/join-marketplace

  • Am I limited in the number of suppliers I can invite / add to my marketplace? 

No. You are only limited in the number of internal pages & services you can manage (that you create from your Content section)

  • Do you have an example of supplier page? 

Sure. You can get inspiration from this page layout: https://onepagetemplate.blackbellapp.com/

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Communication

  • How do I communicate with my suppliers? Is there any chat system between the marketplace manager & the suppliers? 

At the moment there is no chat system inside Blackbell between you and your suppliers. So you should communicate via email with them or via any other communication tool of your choice

  • How do suppliers communicate with customers? 

Via Blackbell. Customers can chat about their orders through a dedicated chat section.

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Orders & Revenue 

  • How can I track my customers' marketplace orders?  

You can track suppliers' orders under: E-Commerce > Orders > My suppliers orders.
But bear in mind it is view only. You can only view the order and its status but cannot perform any action on the order. 

We also recommend you install Slack and connect your Blackbell to your Slack.
That way, you will see all of your marketplace orders in detail.

  • How can I track my commissions? 

We will soon add commissions logs under your Blackbell admin interface with a way to filter per supplier. 

  • How can my suppliers track their orders?

Your suppliers will have to setup their own alerts rules to be notified about new orders and messages.
They can be notified by email, Slack or push notifications on their mobile. 

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Payments

  • What is the payment flow? 

  • Do my customers receive invoices for marketplace orders? 

Customers will receive a payment receipt after an order is confirmed. To get an invoice, they must directly reach the supplier by email and request an invoice. 

  • Can I request less that 5% commission?

No. You must request at least 5% commission.

  • Can I refund customers for marketplace orders? 

No. Only suppliers can refund customers.
However, if one of your customers contacts you and complains about a service he's ordered, here is what you should do:
✓ Get in touch with supplier and to ask for resolution
✓ If you feel this supplier has provided bad service and has not honored his terms, email us at quality@blackbellapp.com so we can evaluate a forced refund 

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Legal

  • What if a user complains about the quality of an order delivered by a supplier?

At all time, you can withdraw a supplier from your marketplace if you feel he doesn't honor your standards of quality. 

  • Am I liable for accident, issues with suppliers?

No you are not. The final supplier delivering the service is always responsible for any incident or issue that might happen. Responsibility and liability are fully covered in our terms and services. 

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Ecosystem

  • Can a supplier join 2 marketplaces I have built? 

A supplier that you have invited will only be able to manage a single page and submit it to your marketplace. Think about it as if he manages a page of your website.
Only paid customers can sell via multiple marketplaces. 

So if you are a manager of multiple buildings / communities in a single area and want to recruit suppliers and add them into multiple Blackbell apps, here is a way to do it: 

✓ Build a 1st Blackbell (Marketplace Plan) that will be your "concierge platform" and recruit as many suppliers as you want
✓ Build a Blackbell (Marketplace Plan) per building / community
✓ Submit pages from your Blackbell concierge app into your Blackbell buildings apps

  • Do I "own" my suppliers? Or can they join other Blackbell marketplaces? 

✓ Technically speaking, they are not "your" suppliers. By agreeing to join your marketplace, they are becoming Blackbell (free) customers.
So at first, they will only own a page of your marketplace. But they can upgrade to a paid plan and sell their services via other Blackbell local marketplaces. 

✓ However, if you want exclusivity, you can separately enter into a contract with them to request exclusivity.

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Blackbell Support & Assistance

  • Do you offer 24/7 support? 

We offer chat support 8am-8pm, Central Europe time

  • Can you help setting up our marketplace? 

We have partners that can. Email us @ hello@blackbell.com and we will introduce you to one of our experts. 

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