Agora — Student Marketplace App

A student-focused marketplace designed for college communities, enabling safe and structured buying, selling, and service exchange.

Project Overview

Agora is a mobile marketplace application built to help college students buy, sell, rent, and exchange items and services within their academic communities. It replaces fragmented WhatsApp and Telegram groups with a structured, campus-aware platform focused on relevance, trust, and usability.

The app is designed with real-world moderation, access control, and scalability considerations, and is currently being prepared for a Google Play Store release.

Problem

Students commonly rely on informal channels like group chats to trade books, electronics, and services. These platforms lack:

• structured discovery
• moderation and safety controls
• reliable user accountability -relevance filtering by college or campus As a result, listings get buried, trust is low, and transactions are inefficient.

Solution

Agora provides a dedicated, student-focused marketplace where:

• users interact within college-based contexts
• listings are structured and discoverable
• communication happens inside the platform
• basic trust and moderation mechanisms are built in Rather than competing with general marketplaces, Agora narrows the audience to increase usefulness and reliability.

Core Features (MVP)

• User & Access Management
• Phone number–based authentication
• Mandatory college selection from an approved list
• Role-based access (student, admin/moderation)
• User profiles with listing history

Listings

• Item and service listings (books, electronics, furniture, tutoring, etc.)
• Multiple images, pricing, categories, and conditions
• College-scoped visibility to keep content relevant

Discovery

• Keyword search
• Category and price filters
• Sorting by recency and price

In-App Communication

• Direct buyer–seller chat linked to listings
• Push notifications for messages and listing activity

Trust & Safety

• User blocking
• Reporting of users and listings
• Admin moderation tools for enforcement actions

Trust & Safety Design

• Agora does not rely on heavy identity verification in its initial version. Instead, it combines:
• phone verification
• college-based access control
• scoped visibility
• community reporting
• moderation tooling Stronger verification layers (e.g., college email badges) are planned as the platform scales.

Technology Stack

• Backend: Spring Boot (Java)
• Database: PostgreSQL (Dockerized)
• Authentication: Firebase
• Image Storage: Cloudinary
• Notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging
• Mobile App: React Native (Expo)

Vision

To create a vibrant, safe, and efficient peer-to-peer marketplace that empowers college students to easily exchange goods and services, fostering a more connected and sustainable campus environment.