Question
Basically, what is the cost of setting up a website where vendors can create accounts and either do work by the hour or sell parts. Additional add-ons would include a chat function between customers and vendors. Are their companies that have templates for these sites? How much might a custom one run?
Note: I am not looking to build something as large scale as any of those, but a micro version of one to begin that will serve a particular market. Also, what might the running costs be? As you can probably tell I'm new to this space and will be looking for mentors.
Thanks!
Answer
There are 3 best possible options to build a multi-vendor ecommerce marketplace:
From scratch - It will cost you very high and you need to have the sound technical understanding to managing the platform.
Plugins & extensions: With plugins or extensions like woocommerce, you can set up a multi-vendor marketplace at very less cost. However, the platform will not be scalable.
Turnkey Solutions - The best option is to choose ready to launch or turnkey solutions. Turnkey solutions are cost-effective & provide great flexibility.
As per your requirements, you can start with Yokart multi-vendor platform. Yokart is one of the best turnkey multi-vendor platforms that comes at a minimal price. For more details, you can visit here: https://www.yo-kart.com/