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Muheet Yaqoob
Muheet Yaqoob

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I Built a Marketplace Where You Can List Any Project for $1 (No Commission)

#webdev #startup #showdev

Almost every developer has a graveyard of unfinished side projects, an app they outgrew, or a domain they bought on a whim and never used.

I have a few of those myself. And when I looked at selling them, I kept hitting the same wall: marketplaces built for big deals, with commissions, minimum fees and listing costs that make a small sale pointless.

So I built Trove.

What is Trove?

Trove is a marketplace where you can list your unused domains, websites, apps, brands and ideas for a flat $1 per project.

  • $1 flat fee per listing, one-time
  • 0% commission, you keep 100% of the sale
  • Direct contact, buyers reach you by email, X, Discord or Telegram
  • No middlemen, you set the price and control the deal
  • Sign in with Google or email and list in minutes

Try it here: get-trove.vercel.app
(Short link: tinyurl.com/trove12)

Why I built it

Good projects get abandoned all the time, not because they have no value, but because selling them is more hassle than it is worth.

The big marketplaces are great for six-figure deals. But if your project is worth $50 or $500, a commission and a listing fee can eat a large part of the sale. So the project just sits there.

I wanted a place where:

  1. Listing is so cheap it is a no-brainer
  2. Sellers keep everything they earn
  3. Buyers and sellers talk directly, with no gatekeeper

Every builder has something that could be someone else's launchpad. Good ideas deserve a new owner.

How it works

For sellers

  1. Sign in with Google or email
  2. Pay $1 through Whop checkout
  3. Add your project: title, type, description, asking price and how buyers can contact you
  4. Your listing goes live, and interested buyers contact you directly

Want to list another project? Each one is another $1.

For buyers

  1. Browse listings by type and price
  2. Sign in to see the seller's contact details
  3. Start the conversation and agree on the deal directly

The tech stack

I built Trove as a lightweight single-page app so it stays cheap to run:

  • Frontend: HTML, CSS and vanilla JavaScript (ES modules), hosted on Vercel
  • Authentication: Firebase Authentication (Google and email)
  • Database: Cloud Firestore for listings, seller contact details and listing credits
  • Payments: Whop checkout for the $1 listing fee
  • Credits: a Firebase Cloud Function verifies the Whop webhook signature and adds one listing credit to the buyer's account
  • Security: Firestore security rules ensure only the server can add credits, only owners can edit their listings, and seller contact details are visible to signed-in users only

A few things I learned along the way:

  • Never trust the client for payments. Credits can only be added by a verified webhook on the server. The client can only spend one credit when it creates a listing, and a Firestore batch write with security rules keeps that atomic.
  • Verify webhook signatures. Anyone can send a request to your endpoint, so check the signature before you trust it.
  • Keep secrets out of the frontend. Firebase config is public by design, but payment keys and webhook secrets belong in the server environment only.
  • Start without fake data. An empty marketplace with honest empty states beats a page full of invented listings.

What Trove is not

To be upfront: Trove is a listing platform. It does not hold funds or handle the transfer of ownership between buyer and seller. For larger deals I recommend using a reputable escrow service, and there is a safety page on the site with tips for both sides.

What is next

Trove is brand new, so I am focused on getting the first real listings and learning what sellers and buyers actually need. Ideas I am considering:

  • Seller verification
  • Featured listings
  • Better search and filters
  • Escrow partnerships as volume grows

I would love your feedback

If you have an unused project, list it. If you are looking for a domain, site or app to start from, have a look around. And if you have feedback on the idea, the UX or the security setup, I would really like to hear it in the comments.

Link: get-trove.vercel.app
Short link: tinyurl.com/trove12
Support: @devmuheet on X

Thanks for reading!

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