Build a B2B Marketplace

Why "sexy" marketplace ideas fail (0:00)

Many marketplace founders are chasing sexy ideas - the next Airbnb, the next Fiverr, the next Etsy. But the sexier the idea, the harder it usually is to win. Right now, the best marketplace opportunities out there might actually be the boring, unsexy B2B ones. In this video I'll show you how a B2B marketplace actually works, where the hidden opportunities are, and how to quickly build one on Prometora.

If an idea sounds exciting at a startup meetup, it's probably already overcrowded. But if it sounds kind of boring to explain at a dinner party, that might actually be a gold mine.

Why B2B is quietly exploding (1:00)

For decades, B2B transactions happened offline - through emails, phone calls, spreadsheets, and personal relationships. What's happening now isn't hype, it's pressure: businesses are being forced to move these workflows online because it's simply too inefficient not to.

The key difference compared to B2C: in B2B, you don't need a million users. You need a small number of high-value, repeat customers. That's why B2B might look boring, but it compounds massively. In B2C, one customer doesn't matter much. In B2B, one customer can be worth hundreds or even thousands of consumer customers.

A lot of founders get B2B wrong because they apply B2C thinking. In B2C, success comes from volume, polish, and viral growth. In B2B, success comes from trust, repeat transactions, and respecting the workflows these businesses actually use.

The B2B spectrum - start simple, then scale (2:06)

Here's a simple framework: start simple, and only add complexity when real demand requires it. You usually start at level one and end up at level three.

• Level 1 - Start simple: simple pricing, card and bank transfer payments, manual onboarding, seller approval flow.
• Level 2 - Scaling: business verification, recurring orders, API integrations, more involved approval flows, tiered or volume pricing.
• Level 3 - Mature: net 30 / net 60 day terms, ERP integrations, purchase orders, custom invoicing, compliance.

Hidden B2B opportunities (3:36)

Here are six B2B niches where money already moves offline. They sound boring at a dinner party - that's usually a good sign.

• Wholesale food & beverage - connect restaurants, cafes, and retailers with wholesale food suppliers and distributors.
• Industrial parts & equipment - spare parts, components, and industrial suppliers for manufacturers, maintenance teams, and contractors.
• Business equipment rentals - e.g. an office supplies marketplace where companies buy and sell used office furniture when moving in or out.
• Trade-specific suppliers - go super niche (plumbing, electrical, HVAC). Tradespeople source equipment somewhere today; a focused marketplace can be a very good business.

Drop other ideas in the comments - always fun to explore.

Live build - Serv Supply (5:57)

Instead of keeping this theoretical, let me build it now. We're building a B2B marketplace called Serv Supply - a wholesale marketplace for restaurant suppliers. Hero, featured listings component, legal page, listing fields like business type and minimum order quantity, seller approval flow, listing approval flow, Stripe Connect (test keys), and a real listing - organic coffee beans wholesale, MOQ 50 kg.

On Prometora I take the "Custom with AI" route, name it Serv Supply, describe it as a marketplace for restaurant suppliers, and pick a professional design. A few seconds later: "Restaurant-grade supplies at wholesale prices." I swap the hero image, clean up the navigation, drop the tagline, remove the quick search chips, and publish.

Featured listings and legal pages (7:30)

I remove the two default components on the front page and add the Featured Listings component instead - it pulls in any listing types you tell it to. Then I add a Terms page and drag in one of the legal page templates.

Listing form, types, and MOQ field (8:30)

In the listing form I create two listing types: Coffee Wholesale and Soap Wholesale. Both one-time purchases. The form already asks for title, description, and price. I add one custom field - Minimum Order Quantity, placeholder "Add your MOQ", set as a number - so a coffee supplier could require orders of 500+, for example.

Approval flows and Stripe Connect (10:00)

Over to Sellers - toggle on both the seller approval flow and the listing approval flow. Every new seller and every new listing now needs approval from the marketplace owner. Then payments: open my Stripe test environment, copy the publishable and secret keys into Stripe Connect on Prometora, save.

Creating the first listing (11:30)

I sign up as a seller (Rasmus 1, magic link). Status: Application pending. As marketplace owner I head to the seller area, find the pending seller, and approve. Refresh - I can create a listing.

Coffee Wholesale listing: "Organic coffee beans wholesale", MOQ 50, price $400, two images, primary picked, publish. Pending again because of listing approval - back to the sellers area, approve. Refresh - published.

Filters and featured listings tweak (13:30)

On the All Listings page I enable type-specific filters (we have two types now), untoggle the default category, add a Minimum Order Quantity filter, keep search on. Then I configure the Featured Listings component to show Coffee Wholesale only - three listings, two columns on mobile.

Test purchase and commission (15:00)

I sign up on a second account as a buyer (Rasmus 2). Buy Now → checkout. Marketplace fee shows $40 - let me adjust commission. In Store Settings → Payments, commission is at 10%. I bump it to 15%, which feels reasonable for B2B. Back to checkout: marketplace fee is now $60 on the $400 sale. The buyer still pays $400; the seller gets $340 and the marketplace earns $60.

I run the test transaction with a Stripe test card. Pay. Order confirmed - everything went through. We haven't set shipping up; that's for another video.

Outro (17:00)

About 15 minutes to a solid B2B marketplace: hero, featured listings, all-listings page with filters, two listing types, seller and listing approvals, payments, and a real test transaction.

B2B doesn't stop here - from here you'd add RFQs, purchase orders, net 30, net 60, and so on. For founders who want help setting everything up, we also offer a white-glove solution. If you have a B2B marketplace idea, just start building. Drop your ideas in the comments - see you in the next one.