If you already run a marketplace on another platform or a custom-built system, you can migrate your marketplace data to Sharetribe without manually recreating every user and listing.

The exact migration depends on how your current marketplace stores its data, but the overall process is the same: your existing marketplace data is extracted and transformed into Sharetribe’s migration format, Sharetribe validates it, and we import it into your marketplace.

Sharetribe’s migration process can be used to import:

Relationships between your marketplace data can also be preserved. For example, listings can remain associated with the users or providers who created them, and reviews can remain connected to the relevant users and listings.

Some parts of an existing marketplace do not transfer directly. In particular:

Other historical or platform-specific data is not automatically transferred unless it is supported by Sharetribe’s migration format. Migrated users will need to set a new password when they first access the Sharetribe marketplace.

Migrating your data is only one part of moving your marketplace.

Your marketplace setup needs to be configured in Sharetribe, including things like your listing structure, categories, custom fields, transaction process, and marketplace design.

Your existing platform or custom application is not copied directly. Instead, you create the marketplace experience you need in Sharetribe and then map your existing data into that structure.

Many parts of your marketplace can be configured without coding using Sharetribe Console. If your current marketplace includes custom functionality or a highly customized user experience, you can also customize Sharetribe with code.

It is therefore useful to have started configuring or building your Sharetribe marketplace before preparing the migration.

The amount of work depends mainly on how your existing marketplace has been built and how easy it is to access its data.

Some platforms provide straightforward exports of users, listings, and other marketplace information. In other cases, the data may be spread across several systems, plugins, integrations, or a custom database.

The relevant data needs to be extracted from your existing system and transformed into Sharetribe’s migration format. The migration then happens in four main steps:

Preparing the migration file is the main technical part of the process. If you are comfortable working with data and code, you can do this yourself, and AI coding tools can help with the transformation.

If you are not technical or would prefer someone else to handle the migration, you can hire a developer. You can also work with a Sharetribe Expert, which is a developer or agency vetted by Sharetribe.

Sharetribe handles the validation and import itself and works with you or your developer to resolve issues found during testing.

A live migration is performed as a one-time import. Sharetribe does not currently support repeatedly updating the Live environment with additional migration files, so the production file should contain the data you want to bring over when you are ready to migrate.

You can test the migration first using anonymized data. Sharetribe recommends testing with only a representative subset of your data rather than your entire marketplace. Production data containing real customer information is transferred using a secure temporary upload link.

The important thing is that you do not need to manually recreate your existing users, providers, listings, reviews, and other supported marketplace data in Sharetribe.

If you are considering moving an existing marketplace to Sharetribe, contact the Sharetribe team. We can answer questions about your current setup, help you understand what can be migrated, and start the test migration process with you.

For developers preparing the migration data, see our developer documentation on migrating from outside Sharetribe.