Hi everyone!
I built an MVP for a small business similar to AirBnB (my country only) -- it is basically a two-sided marketplace where property owners list their houses and individuals can book, rent and pay online, on the platform. The platform will take 10% of each booking, as a service fee.
I plan to integrate Stripe as a payment method for end-users but also as a method for businesses (property owners) to collect payments.
Now, I have two options:
As this is the first time I'm building something like this, I would like you guys to help me and provide some feedback on pros and cons and possible drawbacks of using either of the methods.
Thank you very much and looking forward to your comments!
Sorry for the late reply.
I would go with Option 1 as it eases a lot. Have scheduled payments will help to avoid any payment gateway charges (if its per transaction) and also if the booking gets cancelled.
What did you settle with?
I went with option 2. Option 1 is indeed good because it's easier to manage refunds - if a person asks for a refund, you simply issue it from stripe, no need to reverse the whole process which would involve the bank as well.
But option 2 means instant money for sellers, which means constant runway for their businesses, which is something we advocated from the start of the platform - this is a key differentiator - get paid instantly. How we handle refunds is 1 we thoroughly vet sellers to keep the refunds number low and 2 the platform integrates deeply with Stripe so sellers can manage refunds through the platform.
Thanks for sharing! I see it valid as per your requirement.
How big is the userbase now?