Build an Online Marketplace for Higher Education Students

We require an online market place to be built on our already-online Joomla-based website hosted with CloudAccess at [login to view URL], using a paid plugin, called Auction Factory (already installed), with minimal coding so that it would be easier for us to tweak the website in the future. This market place is intended to provide students in Malaysian universities and colleges a place where they can sell and buy pre-loved items. How users would use the marketplace: 1. Students register as users. Besides typical information etc, they need to upload scanned student ID, and passport or Malaysian identification card (if Malaysian); and choose which institution and branch they’re currently enrolled. Admin approves each registration manually. 2. Sellers enter info and photos of items they want to sell. The item could be stated as “as new” or “used”. They must specify one or more delivery method such as “buyer pick up”, “seller hand-deliver”, “by courier (buyer to pay)” and “by courier (cost borne by seller”. Seller needs to state general pick-up location if applicable. All items would be sold using auction method. Seller sets reserve and starting prices and optional buy-now price. Seller may choose auction start and end date and times. Admin approves and publishes auctions manually. 3. Buyers may save auctions in watchlist. Buyers bid for item. Buyers may set maximum auto-bid. Buyers will be reminded 24 hours before closing. 4. If there’s last minute bidding within 2 minutes an auction closes, the auction will auto-extend for another 2 minutes. 5. Once there is a winner for the auction, an auto email will be sent to the seller and buyer regarding the successful auction, giving out contact info of the other party. When the auction process is complete, the buyer and seller should give rating to the other party which accumulates for each user. Website charges the users: 1. The website charges sellers for each successful auction as soon as there is a winning bid. 2. The charge is 5% on the winning bid price, but admin may change this. For example there will be a promotional period for the first 6 months after the launch of the website where the charge will be 0%. 3. To start their first auctions, sellers must deposit MYR10. After each successful auction, the successful-auction charge is deducted from that deposit. Once the deposit becomes zero or negative, a reminder email is sent to the seller showing the deposit balance and asks the seller to deposit another MYR10 to post more auctions. But during the promotional 6 months period, no deposit is required. 4. The balance deposit would be returned to users when they finish their studies or close their user accounts. The following are general pages or items that should be in the website: 1. Contact Us page, using forms with pre-determined subjects and open subject. Submitted forms are emailed to admin. 2. About Us page (leave blank) which tells about the business that provides this online market place. 3. Profile page where users may update their profile such as change password, add deposit, close account. 4. The website should be secured with SSL, Recaptcha and others where appropriate. Additional nice-to-have aspects: 1. To make deposit, sellers also may choose to use credit card (including visa debit), PayPal, or through online banking payment gateways. 2. When buyer wins an auction, the website gives them the option to pay the seller via an online payment gateway as above, and a notification will be automatically sent to the seller regarding this and requesting the seller to arrange shipment as indicated during auction. 3. Pages with user guide or video tutorials for sellers and buyers. 4. Sellers need to electronically agree to terms and conditions before they submit their auction. One of the important conditions is that items sold are legally owned by them and not prohibited items. 5. Please change the Joomla theme to one that suits. See [login to view URL] as good example.