The one thing that must work perfectly
A buyer finding a listing and completing a transaction with a seller, end to end — everything else in an MVP exists to support this one path, not to add breadth.
What belongs in the MVP
- Basic listings with search/filter
- Buyer and seller accounts
- One payment method via a standard processor
- Manual moderation (a person reviews listings, not an automated system)
- Basic messaging between buyer and seller
What waits until after validation
Automated matching, AI qualification, multi-currency support, sophisticated dispute-flow automation, and reviews/ratings — valuable, but not needed to validate whether the core transaction actually works for real users.
Why manual moderation first is the right call, not a shortcut
Manual review at low volume tells you what automated moderation rules should actually be, before you build them — automating moderation before you've seen real listings risks building the wrong rules.
Questions
Should payments be automated from day one?+
Yes — payment collection via a standard processor is core even in an MVP; what's deferred is complexity like multi-currency or split payments, not payments entirely.
Is manual moderation sustainable long-term?+
No, and it's not meant to be — it's a deliberate MVP-stage choice to learn real moderation patterns before automating them.
What if we already know we'll need multiple payment methods?+
That's fine to plan for architecturally, but starting with one still validates the core transaction faster.