The possibility to connect with a potential customer is a core value for providers in a marketplace. You can monetize this value by charging a lead fee. A lead fee is paid when a provider wants to connect with a potential customer interested in their service.
In this model, buyers post a request for a product or service on the marketplace. Providers are then charged the lead fee to connect with this buyer, thus creating an opportunity to potentially convert the lead into a paying customer.
This type of workflow and setup is known as a reverse marketplace. In this model, customers post listings, and providers reach out to customers through these listings. In a regular marketplace, the process is the opposite: providers create listings, and customers search for and purchase them.
This guide walks you through how to charge a lead fee in a reverse marketplace without coding.
1. Create a payment page to pay the lead fee via Stripe
First, you'll need to create a payment page where users pay the lead fee. There are many payment systems you can use. We recommend using Stripe Checkout and use this system in our guides and tutorials.
Sharetribe has a built-in payment system that enables customers to pay providers through your platform. However, lead fee payments work differently from payments between users on your marketplace. A marketplace payment involves three parties (provider, customer, and the marketplace itself), a one-time lead fee is something the provider purchases directly from your marketplace, with no intermediation. This is why the payment needs to happen on a separate page.
2. Turn on access control to transaction rights
You need to enable the "Restrict transaction rights" feature in Console → General → Access Control. This lets you control which registered users can start a transaction on your marketplace. Learn more restricting transaction rights.
3. Link your marketplace and payment system
Once you have set up the payment page and enabled "Restrict transaction rights", you need to communicate to your users which actions they need to take to get the right to start a transaction on the marketplace. You should give guidance in a couple of places:
When you restrict transaction rights in access control, you can include a CTA button to direct users to the necessary steps or instructions to receive transaction rights. Learn how to add a call to action.
In field for the CTA link URL, add the User_ID and Email Address as dynamic parameters:
?client_reference_id={userId}&prefilled_email={userEmail}. When a user clicks the link, their browser will automatically fill the user ID and email in the URL. Learn how to use dynamic parameters.
Note: The above step is essential if you plan to automate granting the transaction right after the lead fee is paid, using Zapier. Make sure to implement the correct dynamic parameters in your call to action. Learn more about using dynamic parameters.
You can also modify the default message shown to users when they try to start a transaction. You can do this in the marketplace text editor. The specific text keys you need to edit are:
"NoAccessPage.initiateTransactions.schemaTitle": "No transaction rights",
"NoAccessPage.initiateTransactions.heading": "You don't have transaction rights",
"NoAccessPage.initiateTransactions.content": "To start a transaction, you need to receive transaction rights from the {marketplaceName} team.",
4. Grant and revoke transaction rights
The final step is to grant transaction rights to the provider after they have paid the lead fee. You can do this manually after receiving and reviewing the payment in Stripe. You can update any user's transaction rights Console → Manage → Users.
You can also automate granting transaction rights using Zapier. Through Zapier, you can update a user's transaction rights automatically when they pay the lead fee. Follow our Zapier tutorial to automate granting a transaction right to a user.
If you charge a lead fee per initiated transaction, then you will want to revoke the provider's transaction rights after they've sent a message to a customer and used their paid-for transaction. You can manually revoke the transaction right in Console > Manage > Users.
You can also automate this revoking process using Zapier. Follow our Zapier tutorial to automate revoking transaction rights after a transaction is made.
More information on monetizing your marketplace
A lead fee is only a single example of the capabilities and value you can monetize. You can find more ideas on how to monetize your marketplace in the following articles: