marketplace-advisor

Marketplace Advisor

Strategic frameworks for two-sided and multi-sided marketplace founders, operators, and product leaders. Marketplaces have distinctive economics — most ecommerce / SaaS playbooks don't translate.

Keywords

marketplace, two-sided market, three-sided market, multi-sided market, supply, demand, liquidity, take rate, network effects, chicken and egg, GMV, repeat rate, fill rate, supply density

Quick Start

python scripts/marketplace_health_scorer.py metrics.json

Scores marketplace health across liquidity, supply/demand balance, take rate sustainability, repeat rate, and network-effect strength.

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Marketplace Health Diagnostic

1. Capture key metrics: GMV, take rate, supply, demand, fill rate, repeat rate
2. Run: python scripts/marketplace_health_scorer.py metrics.json
3. Identify which dimension is the constraint (usually one of: not enough supply, not enough demand, low repeat, weak liquidity, take rate too high or too low)
4. Plan one focused intervention; don't try to fix all five at once

Time Estimate: 2-4 weeks per diagnostic.

Workflow 2: Chicken-and-Egg Strategy

1. Read references/marketplace_dynamics.md
2. Identify your "constrained side" (usually supply for new marketplaces)
3. Pick a strategy: subsidize the constrained side, single-player mode, vertical wedge, geographic concentration
4. Measure liquidity in the smallest viable unit (one city, one category, one buyer segment)

Time Estimate: 6-12 months for first liquid segment.

Workflow 3: Take-Rate Decision

1. Read references/take_rate_design.md
2. Benchmark category norms (eBay 10-13%, Airbnb 14%, Uber 25-30%, Etsy 6.5%, vertical B2B varies)
3. Decide: high take rate (full-stack with lots of value-add) vs. low take rate (commodity matching)
4. Plan trajectory: most marketplaces raise take rate over time as value-adds compound

Time Estimate: 4-8 weeks for first take-rate decision.

Tools

marketplace_health_scorer.py

Scores marketplace health on five dimensions: liquidity, balance, take-rate sustainability, repeat-rate strength, and supply density.

python scripts/marketplace_health_scorer.py metrics.json
python scripts/marketplace_health_scorer.py metrics.json --json

Reference Guides

• references/marketplace_dynamics.md — Chicken-and-egg, liquidity, network effects, vertical / horizontal trade-offs
• references/take_rate_design.md — Take rate benchmarks, when to raise / lower, full-stack vs lean

Templates

• assets/marketplace_metrics_template.json — Input file for the health scorer with example values

Best Practices

• Liquidity over GMV. A marketplace with $10M GMV across 1,000 cities is mostly broken; the same GMV in 5 cities can be liquid and growing.
• Pick a wedge. New marketplaces almost always start narrow (single city, single category, single segment) and expand.
• Measure repeat early. Marketplaces without repeat are often serving as infrastructure for off-platform transactions (a leakage problem to fix or accept).
• Take rate ratchets up, rarely down. Start low to attract supply; add value-adds (payments, fulfillment, insurance, financing) that justify higher take rate.
• Single-side first when possible. Some categories let you build a tool for one side that becomes a marketplace once liquid (e.g., OpenTable started as restaurant software).
• Beware of weak network effects. Many "marketplaces" lack real network effects — supply on one platform doesn't make demand stickier on that platform. Examine carefully.

Integration Points

• Pairs with business-growth/pricing-strategy — take rate is essentially marketplace pricing
• Pairs with c-level-advisor/cs-fundraising-advisor — marketplace investor expectations differ from SaaS
• Pairs with marketing/landing-page-generator for supply / demand recruitment funnels