MVP Requirements

Overview

Talbino is a reverse marketplace where buyers post demand and sellers compete with offers. This document defines the strict MVP scope for Phase 1.

Target Market (MVP)

• Geography: Cairo & Giza, Egypt
• Vertical: Used phones + accessories only
• Language: Arabic (primary) + English
• Timeline: 6-8 weeks to launch

Personas

1. Buyer (Primary User)

Profile: Anyone looking to buy used phones or accessories in Cairo/Giza

Capabilities:

• Post buy requests with structured details
• Receive and compare competing offers
• Chat with sellers
• Accept offers and complete deals
• Rate sellers after deal completion
• Report problematic sellers

Access: Any registered user is a buyer by default

2. Seller (Supply Side)

Profile: Individuals or small businesses selling used phones/accessories

Capabilities:

• Browse active buy requests (filtered by category/location)
• Submit competitive offers
• Chat with buyers
• Manage deal status
• Build reputation via ratings

Access: Requires seller profile creation + admin approval

3. Admin (Platform Operator)

Profile: Talbino team members managing the platform

Capabilities:

• Approve/reject seller registrations
• Moderate content (requests, offers, reports)
• View marketplace analytics
• Manage system configuration

Access: Users with is_admin = true

Core User Flows

Flow 1: Buyer Posts Request

1. Buyer opens app → Taps "Post Request" CTA
2. Selects category: Used Phone or Accessory
3. Fills structured form:
   • Product details: Brand, model, condition preference
   • Budget range: Min/max price
   • Location: District (Cairo/Giza)
   • Additional notes: Optional text
4. Submits → Request goes live immediately with status active
5. Receives push notification when first offer arrives

Target: Complete in <30 seconds

Flow 2: Seller Submits Offer

1. Seller opens app → Browses active requests
2. Filters by category/location
3. Taps request → Views full details
4. Taps "Make Offer" → Fills form:
   • Price: Exact amount
   • Availability: "Immediate", "2 days", etc.
   • Condition notes: Product condition details
   • Warranty notes: Optional warranty info
5. Submits → Buyer receives push notification
6. Offer appears in buyer's offer list with status pending

Constraint: Can only offer on active requests if seller status is approved

Flow 3: Chat & Negotiation

1. Buyer views offers → Taps offer → "Chat with Seller"
2. Opens 1:1 chat conversation (unique per offer)
3. Real-time text messaging
4. Push notifications for new messages
5. Either party can share additional details

MVP Limitation: Text only, no media sharing

Flow 4: Accept Offer & Deal Completion

1. Buyer reviews offers → Selects best offer → "Accept Offer"
2. System automatically:
   • Creates deal with status accepted
   • Sets accepted offer status to accepted
   • Sets all other offers to rejected
   • Closes buy request (status → closed)
3. Both parties receive push notifications
4. Chat remains active for meetup coordination
5. Buyer manually marks deal as:
   • "Completed" → Triggers rating prompt
   • "Cancelled" → Optional cancellation reason

Flow 5: Rating & Trust

1. After deal marked completed, buyer sees rating prompt
2. Buyer rates seller:
   • Stars: 1-5 rating
   • Review text: Optional written feedback
3. Rating updates seller's profile:
   • rating_avg recalculated
   • rating_count incremented
4. Buyer can also report issues:
   • Reasons: Fake offer, no show, rude, scam, other
   • Description: Optional details
5. Admin reviews reports in admin panel

MVP Scope Boundaries

✅ IN SCOPE (Phase 1)

Authentication & Users

• Phone number + OTP registration/login
• User profiles (name, avatar, language preference)
• Seller profile creation + admin approval workflow
• Device token management for push notifications

Buy Requests

• Create request with structured form
• View my requests
• View request details
• Close request manually
• Auto-close when offer accepted

Seller Offers

• Browse active requests (list + filters)
• Create offer on request
• View my offers
• Withdraw offer (before acceptance)
• Auto-reject when another offer accepted

Deals

• Accept offer (creates deal)
• View my deals (buyer & seller views)
• Mark deal completed/cancelled
• View deal history

Chat

• 1:1 text chat per offer
• Real-time messaging
• Message history
• Unread indicators

Ratings & Reports

• Buyer rates seller (1-5 stars + text)
• Seller profile shows avg rating + count
• Buyer reports seller with reason
• Admin reviews reports

Notifications

• Push notifications for:
  • New offer received
  • Offer accepted
  • New chat message
  • Deal status changes
  • Seller approval status
• Device token management (iOS/Android/Flutter)

Admin Panel

• Approve/reject seller registrations
• View and moderate reports
• View basic marketplace metrics:
  • Active requests count
  • Offers per request avg
  • Deal completion rate
  • Seller approval queue

Localization

• Arabic (primary) + English
• RTL support for Arabic
• User can switch language in settings

Single Vertical

• Used phones + accessories only
• Hardcoded categories in MVP

❌ OUT OF SCOPE (Phase 2+)

Payments & Escrow

• No payment processing in MVP
• No escrow service
• Buyers and sellers handle payment offline

Delivery Integration

• No delivery/shipping integration
• Meetup coordination via chat only

Monetization

• No seller subscription tiers
• No offer limits
• No featured/promoted offers
• No commission on deals

Advanced Features

• Media sharing in chat (photos/videos)
• Voice/video calls
• In-app notification center (push only in MVP)
• Request expiration logic (manual close only)
• Seller-to-buyer ratings (one-way only in MVP)
• Seller verification badges
• Advanced search/filters
• Saved searches
• Favorite sellers
• Price history/analytics

Multi-Category

• Electronics, furniture, cars, etc. (Phase 2)

Geographic Expansion

• Alexandria, other Egypt cities (Phase 2)
• MENA countries (Phase 3)
• Global markets (Phase 4)

Success Metrics (MVP)

Marketplace Liquidity

• Requests per day: Target 50+ in first month
• Offers per request: Target 3+ average
• Time to first offer: Target <2 hours median
• Deal completion rate: Target 30%+ of accepted offers

User Engagement

• Buyer retention: 40%+ return to post 2nd request
• Seller response rate: 60%+ of sellers make ≥1 offer/week
• Chat engagement: 80%+ of offers result in chat

Trust & Quality

• Seller approval rate: 70%+ approved
• Average seller rating: 4.0+ stars
• Report rate: <5% of deals reported

Key Differentiation

1. Buyer posts demand → Sellers compete (reverse of traditional marketplace)
2. Speed to first offer → Push notifications + real-time chat
3. Structured requests → Clear product specs, budget, location
4. Competitive offers → Price + availability + warranty transparency
5. Trust-first → Seller approval, ratings, reporting

Non-Functional Requirements

Performance

• Request creation: <2s
• Offer submission: <2s
• Chat message delivery: <1s
• Push notification delivery: <5s

Availability

• 99.5% uptime target
• Graceful degradation if chat service down

Security

• OTP rate limiting (max 3 attempts per 10 min)
• Phone number verification required
• Seller approval before offering
• Report system for abuse

Scalability

• Support 10K users in first 3 months
• Support 1K concurrent users
• Support 100K requests in first year

Assumptions

1. Users have smartphones (iOS 15+ or Android 8+)
2. Users have reliable internet (3G minimum)
3. Users comfortable with phone number registration
4. Buyers and sellers handle meetup/payment offline
5. Cairo/Giza market has sufficient supply of used phones
6. Sellers willing to wait for admin approval (24-48h)

Risks & Mitigations

Risk	Impact	Mitigation
Low seller supply	High	Pre-launch seller recruitment, fast approval process
Spam/fake requests	Medium	Phone verification, report system, admin moderation
No-show deals	Medium	Rating system, report system, future: verification badges
Chat abuse	Low	Report system, admin moderation, future: auto-moderation
Slow offer response	High	Push notifications, seller engagement campaigns

Phase 2 Preview (Post-MVP)

• Monetization: Seller subscription tiers, offer limits, featured offers
• Escrow: Optional escrow for high-value deals
• Delivery: Integration with local delivery services
• Categories: Expand to electronics, furniture, cars
• Geography: Alexandria, other Egypt cities
• Advanced trust: Seller verification, badges, insurance
• Analytics: Price trends, demand heatmaps