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“Buy, Sell, and Trade Sneakers”

GOAT is one of the most powerful sneaker marketplaces where users can sell and buy branded sneakers with full authenticity and verification. Now tell me, have you ever thought about how the GOAT marketplace started and built a multi-billion dollar platform? If not, then we explore it in this blog.

From rare Air Jordan to luxury watches and bags, all are available on apps like GOAT with proper authenticity.

With deep research, we found that global marketplace apps were valued at around $93.07 billion in 2024. This is projected to grow around $283.75 billion by the end of 2033.

Showing the above data, most entrepreneurs want to build an app like GOAT to grow their sneakers-buying and selling business.

Let’s explore how to build an app like GOAT, including premium features, development costs, money-making techniques, and benefits.

What is GOAT App?

GOAT is a renowned online marketplace for purchasing, selling, and authenticating shoes, streetwear, and clothes. Founded in 2015, it offers a platform for customers to trade new and old things with trust, thanks to its rigorous authentication process.

GOAT app sneakers leverage a network of specialists to check the authenticity of products, providing a secure environment for consumers and sellers. Virtual marketplace apps have now expanded their offerings and become a global brand.

A Brief History of GOAT

Founded: 2015 by Eddy Lu and Daishin Sugano.
Purpose: A marketplace for buying, selling, and authenticating sneakers.
Growth: Quickly gained popularity due to a focus on authenticity and transparency.
Technology: Uses a proprietary authentication system with real sneaker experts.
Acquisition: Acquired by Foot Locker in 2021 for $1.1 billion.
Expansion: Now includes streetwear, apparel, and accessories.

Market Analysis of Global Marketplace Applications

After conducting extensive study, we discovered that the estimated value of worldwide marketplace apps in 2024 was $93.07 billion. By the end of 2033, this is expected to increase by almost $283.75 billion.
The North American region dominates the market for marketplace apps because of the rising demand from consumers.
The market for marketplace apps is driven by a number of factors, including the growing number of consumers in the ecommerce industry and increased internet penetration and use.

According to a recent study, global sneaker trading apps are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 13.6% from 2025 to 2033.
The market segmentation of marketplace apps that you should be aware of consists of The marketplace apps market being categorized as either cloud-based or on-premises based on the kind.

10 Best Apps Like GOAT

Below is a table with information about 10 online marketplace platforms similar to GOAT that let users purchase and sell sneakers, along with download counts, ratings, launch year, and platform availability:

App Name	Downloads	Stores Ratings	Apps Launched On	Platform Accessibility
StockX	10M+	4.8	2015	Android, iOS
Flight Club	500K+	4.3	2005	Android, iOS
eBay	100M+	4.7	1995	Android, iOS, Web
Kixify	500K+	4.2	2014	Android, iOS
Poshmark	100M+	4.6	2011	Android, iOS
Depop	50M+	4.7	2011	Android, iOS
Nike SNKRS	10M+	4.4	2015	Android, iOS
Sneaker App	1M+	4.6	2016	Android, iOS
Grailed	5M+	4.6	2013	Android, iOS
Bump	1M+	4.5	2020	Android, iOS

Why do Most Businesses Build an App Like GOAT?

Businesses frequently choose to build a GOAT app style marketplace for a variety of strategic reasons. Here are five main motivators:

Rising Demand for Online Marketplaces
Authentication and Trust
Increased Customer Reach
Monetization Opportunities
Data & Analytics

1. Rising Demand for Online Marketplaces

The service marketplace development, particularly in niche areas such as shoes and streetwear, has created a tremendous need for platforms that allow customers to quickly buy and sell products.

Building an apparel website like Goat capitalizes on the constantly rising trend of online marketplaces, providing a secure platform for consumers to trade.

2. Authentication and Trust

GOAT alternatives provides authentication process ensures that buyers are buying genuine merchandise. Many organizations create comparable apps to capitalize on the need for trust and security in the resale marketplace.

With the enormous volume of counterfeit goods in industries such as shoes, authentication solutions provide a significant competitive advantage by instilling client trust and loyalty.

3. Increased Customer Reach

Businesses that build a dedicated app can reach a worldwide audience. A sneaker retail app provides a more smooth and personalized buying experience, particularly for millennial and Gen Z consumers who prefer mobile to desktop.

The flexibility to access the marketplace at any time and from any location enhances engagement, resulting in increased customer retention and sales volumes.

4. Monetization Opportunities

If you build an app like Vinted, you can make money through transaction fees, featured listings, and other monetization methods. These sneaker auction apps enable businesses to diversify their revenue streams while profiting from a thriving secondary market, particularly for premium commodities such as limited-edition sneakers.

5. Data & Analytics

Shoe apps like GOAT acquire useful information about user behavior, preferences, and purchasing trends. This data may be utilized to fine-tune marketing campaigns, improve user experiences, and make sound business decisions. Understanding client wants through data allows firms to improve product offerings and increase overall profitability.

7 Basic Steps to Build an App Like GOAT

To create an app like GOAT, you need to observe the basic development steps that can easily clear all the misunderstandings and implementation phases. We start the development process from the initial stage to post-launch maintenance services. So, here we provide the marketplace app development process:

Identify Requirements and Goals
Features and Functions
Select Tech Stacks
Design UI/UX
App Development
Testing and QA
Publishing and Maintenance

1. Identify Requirements and Goals

Define your app’s objectives, target audience, and key selling points. Understand the market for buying and selling sneakers to craft a clear vision that aligns with users’ needs and solves existing pain points.

What are your app’s basic or core requirements?

Clear your app’s future goals.

Which buy and sell apps are more successful and trending in this competitive market?

2. Features and Functions

You can hire experienced developers from ecommerce app development company to List essential features like user accounts, product listings, search filters, payment processing, ratings, and real-time notifications. Prioritize user-friendly functions that streamline the buying and selling process while ensuring secure transactions.

What are your app’s basic or premium features and functions?

Observe the existing ecommerce apps for the best features.

Make an organized sheet of features and functions to reduce data redundancy.

3. Select Tech Stacks

Let’s move to the third stage of sneaker app development, choose technologies that align with your app’s requirements, scalability, and performance. For example, use React Native for cross-platform development, Node.js for the backend, and PostgreSQL for database management, ensuring security and efficiency.

Which type of tech stacks are used in your GOAT clone app development?

Define your scalability requirements.

Choose advanced or basic tech stacks.

4. Design UI/UX

In the fourth stage of ecommerce app development, create intuitive, attractive, and easy-to-navigate designs. Focus on user experience by offering smooth navigation, clear product photos, and seamless checkout. The interface should cater to both casual buyers and professional sneaker sellers.

What are wireframes in UX design?

What tools do you use for prototyping?

How do you ensure a responsive design?

5. App Development

In the fith stage of sneaker app development, develop the app based on the chosen tech stack. Ensure the backend can handle large-scale transactions, while the frontend is responsive. Implement secure payment gateways, notifications, and database management to ensure smooth user interactions.

Do you want to create hybrid or native apps?

Choose highly talented mobile app developers.

Integrate a high number of features and functions.

6. Testing and QA

Conduct comprehensive testing, including functional, usability, performance, and security testing. Hire mobile app developers to identify bugs or glitches and ensure the app performs well under load. Testing should be done across different devices and OS versions to guarantee quality.

Make sure that all features and functions are working properly

Use various testing methods, such as functional and usability testing.

Check the app’s security measurements.

7. Publishing and Maintenance

Hire an Android app development company to submit the app to app stores (Google Play, Apple App Store). Once launched, continue monitoring performance, fix bugs, and introduce updates or new features. Regular maintenance ensures the app remains secure, relevant, and user-friendly.

Publish your app on selected platforms like Android and iOS.

Use the best marketing techniques.

Assign the post-maintenance phases to maintain the app’s performance.

10 Basic and Premium Features of Apps Like GOAT

Sneaker apps like GOAT, which focus on buying and selling sneakers, have several distinguishing qualities that appeal to sneakerheads. Here are some important aspects of these apps:

i. Authenticity Verification

One of the most significant characteristics is the assurance of product authenticity. Each item sold is checked by professionals to confirm its authenticity.

ii. Wide Selection

An app like thredUP provides a diverse selection of sneakers, including rare, limited edition, and hard-to-find releases, appealing to both collectors and casual customers.

iii. User Reviews and Ratings

Apps similar to GOAT allow buyers and sellers to submit evaluations to provide vital insights and establish trust in the community.

iv. Easy to Use Interface

GOAT clone apps are designed to be user-friendly, with simple navigation and sensible search filters to help users discover what they’re looking for quickly.

v. Price Tracking

If you develop an app like Shpock, it allows users to monitor shoe pricing over time, making it easier to identify trends and find great offers.

vi. Sales Platform

GOAT alternatives allow individuals to sell their own sneakers by listing them or sending them to the platform for authentication before reselling.

vii. Secure Payment System

Sneaker resale apps offer various payment methods such as credit cards, PayPal, and other reputable payment ways.

viii. Auction Features

Shopping apps like Temu allow users to bid on sneakers, which creates an intriguing dynamic for people looking for unique items.

ix. Sneaker News & Updates

Sneaker news and updates keep users informed about upcoming releases, trends, collaborations, and exclusive drops.

x. Mobile Notifications

GOAT Android app allows users to create alerts for specific footwear or bargains to ensure they don’t miss out on popular goods.

The Cost to Build an App Like GOAT

The cost to develop an app like GOAT varies greatly depending on aspects such as features, complexity, and development location. On average, cost to build an online marketplace website or app between $8,000 and $25,000. This estimate includes the costs of design, development, testing, and deployment.

Advanced features such as authentication, real-time tracking, payment integration, and authentication systems may raise the cost. Ongoing maintenance and updates also increase the overall cost over time.

Cost to develop an App Like GOAT

Marketplace App Development	Estimated Cost	Time Frame
Basic App Development	$8000 – $12000	2 to 6 Months
Mid-Premium App Development	$14000 – $19000	6 to 8 Months
High-Premium App Development	$25000+	9+ Months

5 Major Factors That Affect Marketplace App Development Cost

The cost of marketplace custom mobile app development is influenced by factors like the development team’s expertise, app design complexity, back-end infrastructure, features (basic vs. premium), and ongoing support and maintenance.

Each factor, such as custom designs or advanced functionality, can significantly increase the overall sneaker app development cost.

1. Back End Development

The backend of the app includes server infrastructure, database administration, and API connections. A experienced development team is required to build a comprehensive, scalable backend that includes secure authentication, payment processing, and data storage.

Complexity and the need for extra integrations raise expenses, particularly when cloud services or custom solutions are required.

Backend Development	Cost Estimation
Basic Backend Process	$10,000 – $18,000
Premium Backend Process	$20,000 – $28,000

2. Application Design

A well-designed software with an intuitive user interface (UI) and a smooth user experience (UX) necessitates significant time and work. Custom designs, animations, and complicated layouts can increase prices. Furthermore, the app’s responsiveness and device compatibility drive up design costs, making it a significant influence in final cost to build an app like Poshmark.

Design Quality	Cost Estimation
Basic Design	$8,000 – $12,000
Complex Design	$15,000 – $22,000

3. Basic and Premium Features

Basic functionality like as user accounts, browsing, and search capabilities have cheaper development costs. Premium features, such as live chat, product verification, real-time tracking, and push alerts, demand additional resources, increasing the app’s cost. The GOAT app development cost increases as the features become more complicated and sophisticated.

Features	Cost Estimation
Core Features(Authenticity Guarantee and Wide Selection)	$8,000 – $10,000
Advanced Features(Pricing & Market Insights and Sneaker Marketplace Filters)	$13,000 – $19,000

4. Development Team

The size and expertise of the development team have a direct impact on costs. Highly qualified engineers, project managers, designers, and testers are more expensive, particularly when outsourced to nations with higher labor prices. A larger or specialized team raises the overall shopping app development cost.

Developer’s Experience Level	Cost Estimation
Entry-Level Developer	$15 – $18/ Per Hour
Mid-Level Developer	$18 – $22/ Per Hour
Senior-Level Developer	$25+ / Per Hour

5. Support and Maintenance

Post-launch support and regular upgrades are critical to app performance and customer satisfaction. Bug fixes, security patches, server monitoring, and updates to support new operating system versions are all part of maintenance.

Continuous support maintains the app’s longevity but incurs continuing expenditures, which are usually determined as a proportion of the initial GOAT clothing app development cost.

Maintenance Phase	Cost Estimation
Simple Maintenance Phase	$2,000 – $4,000/year
Complex Maintenance Phase	$7,000 – $9,000/year

How do You Make Money From an App Like GOAT?

Making money with an app like GOAT, a marketplace for buying and selling sneakers, may be done through a variety of revenue streams. Here are five basic approaches:

Transaction Fees
Authentication Fees
Featured Listings and Promotions
Seller Subscription Plans
Advertising

1. Transaction Fees

Transaction fees are a major source of revenue for sneakers marketplace app like GOAT. Every time a buyer makes a purchase, the platform charges a fee, which is usually a percentage of the sale price.

Footwear marketplace apps charge a cost that can range between 5% and 15%, depending on the platform’s policies. GOAT shoe app charges a fee to both the buyer and the seller to ensure consistent revenue production with each transaction.

2. Authentication Fees

Because the GOAT shoes app guarantees that every shoe sold is authentic, they can charge sellers a premium for this service. The authentication procedure entails validating the validity of footwear, which necessitates the use of specific resources.

As we discussed earlier with the auction app development company, sellers must send their shoes to GOAT for verification, for which the site charges a fee.

3. Featured Listings and Promotions

Sellers can pay to have their listings promoted or featured within the app, which increases their visibility to potential buyers. This “pay-to-play” concept enables retailers to increase exposure for their products in exchange for a charge. This revenue source benefits both the platform and merchants who want to improve their sales.

4. Seller Subscription Plans

GOAT mobile app provides vendors with membership options that include services such as decreased transaction fees, prioritized listings, and analytics.

According to the website development company, these subscriptions can generate a consistent revenue stream while attracting more professional merchants to the marketplace.

5. Advertising

GOAT simulator app offers another option to make money is through in-app adverts. Brands, shoe firms, and other businesses can pay to advertise their products or services directly in the app. These advertisements can be presented as banners, sponsored content, or pop-ups, generating additional revenue for the site.

Conclusion

We are standing at the last phase of this blog. In this blog, we will explored how to build an app like GOAT and what functionalities must be added. Building an app like GOAT involves creating a user-friendly platform with features like authentication, secure payments, and seamless transactions. Focus on trust, scalability, and offering a diverse range of sneakers.

Monetize through transaction fees, authentication services, and seller subscriptions. Ongoing maintenance and user engagement are key to success.

Do you want to create an app like GOAT? If yes, then connect with a marketplace app development company to offer robust applications with custom functionalities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How Much Does It Cost To Build an App Like GOAT?

The cost to build an app like GOAT typically ranges between $8,000 and $25,000, depending on features, platform, design, and development complexity. Ongoing maintenance and marketing add extra costs.

Q2. How Much Time Does It Take To Make an App Like GOAT?

To make an app like GOAT can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months, depending on complexity, features, platform choice, and testing. Ongoing updates and maintenance may extend the timeline after the initial launch.

Q3. How Do I Handle Product Authentication?

To handle product authentication, implement a multi-step verification process, including expert inspections, AI-powered image recognition, and user-generated photos. Partner with certified authentication services to ensure the legitimacy of every listed sneaker.

Q4. How Much Does GOAT Charge to Sell Sneakers?

GOAT sneaker app charges a 9.5% to 20% commission on each sale, depending on the seller’s account level and whether the sneakers are new or used. There are also additional shipping fees.

Q5. What Are the Essential Integrations for a Sneaker Marketplace App?

Essential integrations for a sneaker marketplace app include payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal), shipping services (FedEx, UPS), authentication systems (OAuth, SMS), image recognition tools for product verification, and customer support solutions (LiveChat, Zendesk).