“From cars to phones and more.”
In the modern era, people want to sell or buy their old things easily. Here, an app comes in OLX with endless choices for discovering new products daily. This is one of the most popular buy-and-sell apps. It allows users to sell their items at their selected price and buy the required items at negotiable prices.
According to a study, 75% of consumers use buy-and-sell apps to purchase items at cheap prices and sell their items at profit-making prices. This potential for profit is a key reason why these apps are so popular.
This collective data underscores the potential benefits of investing in buy-and-sell apps. It reveals that these apps can be a game-changer for entrepreneurs, offering a new avenue for business growth.
This blog will explore how to build an app like Olx and what factors can generate new revenue streams for businesses.
So, hang on!
Quick Summary: This blog will help you understand how to build an app like Olx and similar buy-and-sell apps. It will also explore the development stages, cost, features, benefits, and monetization techniques.
Table of Contents
What is the Olx App?
An Olx app is an online marketplace where users sell and list their items for sale and browse items for buying in their local area. These apps provide straight transactions between buyers and sellers. They offer various advanced features such as item listing, search or filter options, messaging services, peer-to-peer payment app, location-based browsing of items, and more.
- This platform sends messages when new listings are added, and new updates are available.
- It allows users to browse their required products in their comfort or flexible location.
- A buy or sell app like Olx allows users to communicate with their buyers or sellers.
- This platform allows users to post their selling items, including photos, price tags, specifications, and more.
Top 10 Buy and Sell Apps Like Olx
If you want to build a classified mobile app like OLX, observe the existing apps to understand their functionalities and workings of the app. So, here we provide the best classified applications:
App | Launch Year | Downloads | Ratings | Available Platforms |
eBay | 1995 | 100M+ | 4.5 | iOS, Android, Web |
Craigslist | 1995 | 10M+ | 4.4 | iOS, Android, Web |
Facebook Marketplace | 2016 | 1B+ | 4.2 | iOS, Android, Web |
Letgo | 2015 | 100M+ | 4.4 | iOS, Android |
OfferUp | 2011 | 50M+ | 4.5 | iOS, Android |
Poshmark | 2011 | 10M+ | 4.5 | iOS, Android, Web |
Depop | 2011 | 10M+ | 4.6 | iOS, Android, |
Mercari | 2013 | 10M+ | 4.7 | iOS, Android, |
Vinted | 2008 | 10M+ | 4.5 | iOS, Android, Web |
Carousell | 2012 | 10M+ | 4.5 | iOS, Android |
Why Do Businesses Invest In The Buy and Sell Apps?
In the past few decades, the demand for buy-and-sell apps has robustly increased, and the number of users has increased globally. So, investing in eBay like app development is a new revenue-generating opportunity for businesses and takes their growth to the next level. Here is the list of the benefits:
- Market Demand
- Monetization Opportunity
- Competitive Advantage
- Data Insights
- Increased Sales
1. Market Demand
This is the first benefit. As we discussed before, the demand for buy-and-sell apps has increased in the last few years. Every entrepreneur wants to invest in these apps and make an acceptable profit from them. With high demand, businesses can make a reputed position in this competitive market of the relevant industry.
2. Monetization Opportunity
Let’s move to the second benefit: Build an online marketplace apps like Letgo, with an increasing user base can generate monetization opportunities. These opportunities vary in different formats, such as a freemium model, subscription plans, delivery fees, in-app purchases, transaction fees, advertising, and collaborations. So, these can generate new revenue streams for businesses.
3. Competitive Advantage
In this third benefit, a well-designed or organized buy-and-sell app can help businesses gain an advantage over other popular apps. Make an app like Olx with unique functionalities can attract more users and motivate them to connect with the app. So, competitive advantage can help businesses increase their user base.
4. Data Insights
Let’s move to the fourth benefit: live shopping apps to use analysis to learn customers’ behaviors, demographics, habits, preferences, purchasing patterns, and favorite products or services. With the help of this collective data, businesses can search for new areas for improvement and offer exclusive deals or discounts.
5. Increased Sales
In this final benefit, a buy-and-sell app with highly automated operations and tasks can attract more users. Offering advanced features and functions can motivate users to link with the app. These can also reduce human or manual errors and enhance user performance, leading to increased sales and user base.
7 Key Steps to Build an App Like Olx
To develop online marketplace platform, you need to understand these steps in detail for a successful buy and sell app development. These development stages allow businesses to build apps with advanced automated operations and functions. So, here are the significant steps of buy and sell app development:
- Identify Requirements and Research
- Features and Functions
- Choose the Tech Stacks
- Design UI/UX
- Development of App
- Testing and QA
- Publishing And Marketing
1. Identify Requirements and Research
Let’s kick off the first development stage by researching the most competitive apps in this market. Understanding their functionalities will guide us in implementing our app. It’s crucial that we identify the basic requirements of our project and document them properly to avoid data breaches. Identify the primary or secondary users of the app.
2. Features and Functions
In the second stage of development, hire dedicated developers to prepare a sheet of the core or basic features of the app that must be installed. It includes many advanced features such as item listings, browse wide variety of products, secure payment options, location based, user profiles, and account management.
3. Choose the Tech Stacks
Let’s move to the third stage of development, make an online classified website like OLX, it includes many advanced tech stacks such as APIs, security measurements, testing services, cloud storage, and database. For a successful buy and sell app development, need to observe the best tech stacks and implement the impactful programming language.
4. Design UI/UX
In this fourth stage of development; Hire mobile app developers to design a user-friendly UI/UX that enables users to access full potential of the app with all extensive features and specifications. Designing can be a turning point for every app’s success. It includes premium design themes, inbuilt plugins, layouts, and dashboard.
5. Development of App
In this development stage, assemble a highly talented or skilled development team to develop a robust and high-quality buy-and-sell app. It includes many resources such as modules, models, objects, classes, integrated modes, functions, inbuilt features, and more. App development is one of the most crucial stages of overall development.
6. Testing and QA
In this sixth stage of development, hire Android app developers to test your buy-and-sell app under various circumstances. Search for the bugs or errors that could be automatically generated during the implementation phase. So, need to fix them to avoid data breaches and unwanted shutdowns. Also, check that the app’s quality has not decreased during the development.
7. Publishing And Marketing
At the last stage of development, it’s time to launch your buy-and-sell app on popular platforms such as iOS and Android. You must hire experienced developers to successfully release the app. After that, it’s time to promote your buy-and-sell app using marketing techniques such as email marketing, content marketing, and affiliate marketing.
10 Must-have Features To Add in Your Buy and Sell App
To build an app like Cashify or Olx with advanced features can attract more users and global reach. So, here we provide the list of the features:
Features | Description |
Listing Management | It allows users to create a list of their selling products and upload photos, videos, pricing tags, and detailed information about the product. |
User Registration | This platform allows users to create a free account via integrated social media platforms, email, and phone numbers. |
User Verification | A buy-and-sell app verifies the users’ identification via phone numbers and email to avoid fraud and unauthorized access. |
Wishlist | It provides a wishlist option for users to save their favorite products or items, which can enhance the user experience. |
Payment Gateway Integration | A buy and sell app offers various secure payment options such as bank transfers, credit or debit cards, and net banking. |
Social Media Sharing | This feature allows users to share products on social media platforms and send detailed information to their friends. |
Delivery Options | It also provides multiple delivery options, such as same-day delivery. To install this feature in your app, consult with an online shopping app development company. |
Notifications | This platform sends alerts or reminders for new updates, arrivals, message notifications, and items listed. |
Secure Transactions | A buy-and-sell app provides security measurements to ensure secure transactions, such as encryption and two-factor authentication. |
In-app Messaging | This platform allows users to contact customer care via messaging, call, and email if they face any problems in the app. |
The Cost to Build an App Like Olx
The cost to develop a mobile app like Olx depends on crucial factors, which can change the overall app development budget. These factors include infrastructure, security measurements, deployment platforms, features, functions, size, complexity, development team, and more. These factors play a major role in fluctuating the Olx app development cost.
So, here we provide the featured table of costs with the app’s complexity and estimated cost:
Buy and Sell App Development | Estimated Cost | Time Frame |
Simple App Development | $8000 – $12000 | 2 to 5 Months |
Medium-Complex App Development | $12000 – $20000 | 5 to 8 Months |
High-Complex App Development | $25000+ | 9+ Months |
The online marketplace app maintenance services cost is lies between 15% to 20% of the overall development cost. It mainly depends on the networking cost, hardware or software, user support, number of features updates, app’s complexity, and performance optimization.
Tech Stack to Build a Marketplace App Like OLX
To develop an app like Craigslist with highly automated operations, you just need to observe the robust tech stacks. So, here we provide the list of the robust tech stacks:
Category | Tech Stack | Description |
Frontend
| Javascript, Bootstrap, CSS, HTML | These powerful platforms build robust user interfaces. |
Backend | Python, Java, PHP, Flutter | Powerful backend frameworks build robust applications. |
Database | MYSQL, MongoDB, SQL, Postman | Securely stored massive data and organized structured data. |
APIs
| REST, GraphQL | Sharing data between applications, systems, and devices. |
Authentication
| OAuth, JWT | Verifies the user’s identity and access token from a trusted server. |
Cloud Services
| Microsoft Azure, AWS | Allowing apps to access resources in the cloud. |
How to Make Money From A Buy and Sell App?
While it’s great to build an app like Mercari with advanced features that can outperform other similar apps, the crucial question remains: How can you effectively monetize the buy-and-sell app and create new revenue streams for your business? So, no need to worry; here we provide the perfect monetization techniques:
- Advertising
- Freemium Model
- Subscription Plans
- Transaction Fees
- Collaborations
1. Advertising
Let’s begin with this monetization technique: These buy-and-sell apps allow popular businesses to display their items via your app. This can provide a profit-making opportunity by showing their product ads. It includes many popular formats, such as native ads, image ads, video ads, etc. So, build an app like Best Buy can lead the way to generate new revenue streams for businesses.
2. Freemium Model
Move to the second monetization technique. These apps have a basic version with limited access to the potential of the app. This can motivate users to purchase subscription plans or additional features to access the premium or rich services of the buy-and-sell app. So, build Olx like app can increase the company’s valuation and enhance users trust.
3. Subscription Plans
In this third monetization technique, users can unlock the full potential of the app by purchasing the paid subscriptions plans. According to the marketplace app development company, these plans offer access to a range of valuable features and services, with options that vary by tier such as basic, premium, and enterprise.
4. Transaction Fees
Let’s use the fourth monetization technique: charge transaction fees for every payment transaction done through your buy-and-sell app. This can be a turning point to charge small fees to increase the company’s valuation. For example, if users purchase a subscription plan, the transaction fee will be added at checkout.
5. Collaborations
In this final monetization technique, buy-and-sell apps partner or collaborate with related business vendors and merchants to sell their products via your app. This can generate a commission-based income from every sale of the products. So, make classified app like OLX can generate new revenue streams for businesses.
How Dev Technosys Will Help You?
At the end of this blog, we hope you understand how to develop a classified ads listings app like Olx and how it can be a turning point for businesses. With the help of this blog, you explored every useful information about how to develop an app like Olx and what type of features you need to install in it. It provides a way for people to sell their old things and buy old things at negotiable prices.
Book a free consultation with an e-commerce app development company to build a user-centric classified app like OLX within a business’s cost-effective budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How Much Does it Cost to Build an App Like Olx?
The marketplace app development cost is $8,000 to $25,000 or more. The cost to build an app like Olx mainly depends on the features, functions, infrastructure, deployment platforms, development team, size, and complexity.
Q2. How Long Does it Take to Build an App Like Olx?
To build an app like Olx with full functionality, the overall development usually takes 3 to 9 months. This time depends on the huge number of features or functions, the developer’s working hours, and the project’s requirements.
Q3. Which Technologies Are Used to Build an App Like Olx?
Powerful technologies are used to build an app like Olx, So there are various technologies that can integrate powerful tools and frameworks:
- Node js
- React js
- Java Script
- PHP
- Python
- Java
Q4. How Can I Monetize My Buy and Sell App?
To monetize the buy and sell app, here we provide the best monetization techniques that can easily generate new revenue streams for businesses.
- Subscription plans
- Freemium Model
- In-app purchase
- Collaboration and Partnership
- Delivery Fees
Q5. Why do Businesses Invest in Olx Like App Development?
Investing in the Olx app development provides a good return and makes a reputed position in this competitive market and relevant industry. So, here we provide the list of the benefits:
- Competitive Advantage
- Enhance User Engagement
- Globally Reached
- Brand Reputation
- User Data Insights