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Understanding transaction settings
Understanding Transaction settings can help you build your ideal marketplace. This article explains in detail how these settings work.
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Transaction settings are determined within each Listing type. These settings impact how providers create listings, how customers initiate transactions, and how those transactions happen.
What are the different Transaction Settings?
You can define 3 types of transactions: Calendar Booking; Buying and selling products; and Free messaging. These settings define what will be asked within the listing creation (and edit) form and the options when initiating a transaction.
Calendar booking
Calendar booking allows providers to set their availability. It allows buyers to book listings based on that set availability. The Booking unit, which you can set if you have selected "Calendar booking" as the transaction setting, defines the availability management system.
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Daily: Listings can be booked daily. If the start date is today and the end date is tomorrow, the customer is charged for two days. It covers the whole day in the calendar, so the booking dates cannot overlap on the same day.
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Nightly: Listings can be booked per night. If the start date is today and the end date is tomorrow, the customer is charged for one night. It doesn’t cover the whole date in the calendar. The end date of one booking and the start date of another booking can overlap on the same day.
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Hourly: Customer chooses a specific start time and end time within a specific date. Booking intervals are every hour.
Learn how calendar booking works for customers and providers in this article.
Buying and selling products
Buying and selling products allows listing providers to set a specific stock on the listing, allowing buyers to only purchase from that available stock. Buyers may purchase multiple items of the same listing if available, but they cannot purchase more than the specified quantity set in stock. You can select the type of stock management that you want to allow in the marketplace.
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One item: Stock quantity is always 1. If an item is sold, it is no longer available to be purchased by other buyers. Listing authors cannot re-open the listing with extra stock. This type of stock works well for marketplaces selling unique art or pre-owned goods.
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Multiple items: The listing author can determine the number of items that are in stock. Buyers can buy several of these items up to the specified stock quantity. The listing stays available for as long as there is stock. Listing authors can add more stock to their listings at any point. Works well for commercial product-selling marketplaces.
Learn how buying and selling products works for customers and providers in this article.
Free messaging
Free messaging allows providers to create listings that do not accept online payments. Providers can add a price to the listing or not. Buyers send an inquiry to the provider to start a transaction. Buyers and sellers use the transaction to message and decide on next steps.
Reasons why you may not have payments on your platform are varied. On one hand, items or services on your marketplace may be offered for free, so there is no need for payments. On the other hand, payments in your industry might be too complex, so you want those to happen off-platform and focus on providing value to buyers and sellers in the discovery phase.
Learn how free messaging works for customers and providers in this article.