How to Set Up Your Own Freelance Marketplace in WP Sell Services

How to set up your own freelance marketplace with WP Sell Services, step by step. Walk the Setup Wizard (Platform Basics, Create Pages, Service Categories, Vendor Settings, Your Marketplace is Ready), read Marketplace Health on the dashboard, check the page mapping under Settings, Pages, set the Platform Name, Currency and order limits under Settings, General, and add Service Categories with a Parent Category and a Category Image. Made for anyone searching for how to build a freelance marketplace on their own site.

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Transcript

Renting space on a big freelance site means they set the rules and take a cut. On your own site you set the rules and keep the sale. Here is how to get a marketplace ready in one sitting. You need the free WP Sell Services plugin, installed and active. It takes about four minutes. There are six steps. Run the Setup Wizard. Read your marketplace health. Check your pages and demo content. Set the name and currency. Add service categories and tags. Then see your marketplace. Step one. Run the Setup Wizard. The first card is Platform Basics, with a Marketplace Name, a Currency and a Commission rate. The commission rate is the percentage you keep from each sale. Skip moves on without saving. The second card, Create Pages, lists each page your marketplace needs, and whether it is Created. The third card, Service Categories, offers suggested categories, and a box to add your own. The fourth card, Vendor Settings, chooses whether anyone can register as a seller, or you approve each one. The last card says Your Marketplace is Ready, with buttons to create your first service and set up payment methods. Step two. Read your marketplace health. Open Sell Services, then Dashboard. Action items count what waits for you, such as sellers to approve and withdrawals. Marketplace Health shows total orders, orders in progress, completed orders and revenue. Step three. Check your pages and demo content. Open Settings, then Pages. Each row maps a job to a page on your site, such as the Services Page, the Vendors Directory and the dashboard. Pick a different page in any row to change where that job lives. To see it full, open Settings, System. Demo Content imports sample services, and can delete them again. Step four. Set the name and currency. General opens first. Platform Name is the name buyers see. Currency and Currency Symbol Position decide how every price is written. Minimum Order Amount and Maximum Order Amount keep every order between two limits. Then click Save General Settings. Step five. Add service categories and tags. Open Sell Services, then Categories. Buyers browse by these, so give each a clear Name. Parent Category turns one into a sub category. Graphics and Design holds Logo Design and Banner Design. Upload Image sets the picture on the category tile. Then click Add New Category. Sellers add Tags to their services too. Open Services, then Tags to manage them. Step six. See your marketplace. This is your home page as a visitor sees it. Browse by category lists the categories you made. Below them, featured services and the latest services fill in as sellers add their work. That is all six. The wizard seen, your marketplace health read, your pages checked, the name and currency set, categories added, and your marketplace on show. Your marketplace is ready for its first sellers. Next in this series: Choose your commission and keep what you earn.