Marketplace launch checklist: money, suppliers, trust and the rules that apply

1 Money

• Record every sale, refund, commission and payout as linked ledger entries that must sum to zero, and run a reconciliation that lists any group that does not.

  Marketplaces fail quietly on money: without a ledger nobody can say what a supplier is owed or what the platform has earned.

• Keep supplier earnings pending until a settlement date, so a refund in that window reverses cleanly.

  Paying out the moment a customer pays leaves you funding refunds from your own pocket.

• Send withdrawals through an approval queue, and record a failed payout as a new ledger entry rather than losing it.

  Payout rails fail for ordinary reasons, such as a wrong bank account; the money has to come back somewhere visible.

• On every payment confirmation, read the amount, plan and user from the payment gateway's order on the server, never from the app's request.

  A confirm endpoint that trusts figures sent by the phone lets anyone pay less than the price.

• If you plan to split payments with Razorpay Route, check your eligibility before building on it.

  Razorpay says that under RBI's September 2025 payment aggregator guidelines, Route needs a minimum turnover (above ₹40 lakh domestic or ₹5 lakh export in FY25 or FY26).

  Official source

• If you use Stripe Connect, choose how connected accounts are controlled before launch and collect the KYC details Stripe asks for.

  Stripe says the choice decides the platform's liability for fraud, negative balances and identity checks, and it pauses charges or payouts when required information is missing.

  Official source

• Work out the third-party cost of one transaction, such as maps, SMS and payment fees, before you set the commission.

  On low-value orders a few rupees of API calls decide whether the platform makes money.

2 Suppliers

• Review each supplier's documents one by one, and offer an unapproved supplier no work.

  An approval gate that can be skipped is not a gate; the first bad supplier becomes the platform's problem.

• If you sell to consumers in India, show each seller's business name, geographic address, customer care number and ratings to buyers.

  Rule 5(3)(a) of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020. From 1 January 2027 the 2026 amendment also requires the seller's website and email.

  Official source

3 Trust and safety

• Ship reviews, reporting, blocking, moderation and disputes in the first release.

  Both sides need a way to deal with a bad actor from the first day, and Apple's guideline 1.2 requires filtering, reporting, blocking and contact details in apps with user content or chat.

  Official source

• Write down the dispute window and who answers first, and hold the disputed share of the supplier's payout until it is settled.

  A dispute process that exists only in the support team's heads is applied differently every time.

4 India's e-commerce rules (if you sell to consumers in India)

• Check whether the rules apply to you even if your company is outside India.

  Rule 2(2) applies them to an e-commerce entity not established in India that systematically offers goods or services to consumers in India.

  Official source

• Display your legal name, headquarters and branch addresses, website details, and customer care and grievance officer contacts on the platform.

  Rule 4(2).

  Official source

• Appoint a grievance officer, publish their name, contact details and designation, acknowledge every complaint within 48 hours and resolve it within one month, with a ticket number.

  Rules 4(4), 4(5) and 5(3)(b). Sellers on a marketplace need their own grievance officer under Rule 6.

  Official source

• Appoint a nodal contact resident in India where the rules require one.

  Rule 4(1) asks for a nodal person of contact or senior designated functionary resident in India to ensure compliance. Confirm with your lawyer whether it applies to your structure.

  Official source

• Show return, refund, exchange, warranty, delivery, payment and grievance information, and never use pre-ticked boxes to record consent.

  Rules 5(3)(c) and 4(9).

  Official source

• Before 1 January 2027, prepare for the 2026 amendment: label sponsored listings, show the prior price (the lowest price in the previous 30 days) next to any discount, and run a yearly dark-pattern self-audit.

  The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Amendment Rules, 2026 come into force on 1 January 2027.

  Official source

5 The apps

• Take payment for physical services, such as deliveries, sessions and rentals, through your own gateway, and use store billing only for digital features sold in the app.

  Google Play's Payments policy and Apple's guideline 3.1.3(e) both send physical goods and services to your own payment method.

  Official source

• Give both sides in-app account deletion and a web deletion page before submitting to the stores.

  Both stores require it for apps that allow account creation; see the Google Play and App Store checklists.

  Official source

What did these checks catch in our own builds?

Questions about this checklist