Shopping Cart & Bidding

The Shopping Cart and Bidding plugin turns a classifieds website into a fully functional marketplace or online store. It allows users to sell both physical and digital products, accept online payments, run auctions, calculate shipping costs, and process orders directly on the site. The plugin is designed for multi-vendor marketplaces and supports flexible payment distribution, including commissions for the site owner.

The plugin consists of two core modules: Shopping Cart and Auction. Each module can be enabled separately and applied to specific listing types, giving full control over how items are sold on the website.

Core functionality

Multi-vendor sales and payment distribution

The plugin supports direct sales from multiple sellers. Buyers can purchase items from different sellers in a single shopping session. Payments can be routed either to the site owner or directly to sellers’ accounts. When sellers receive payments, the site owner can automatically collect a commission on each sale, including auction transactions. Commission settings are available for payment systems that support split payments, such as Stripe.

Support for physical and digital products

Sellers can offer physical goods with shipping or digital products such as software, e-books, license keys, files, photos, discount coupons, codes, and other downloadable items. Digital products are delivered without shipping and are processed through the same order system.

Shopping Cart module

The Shopping Cart module allows buyers to add items to a cart and complete purchases directly on the site. Sellers define prices, quantities, availability, weight, and shipping options for each listing. Buyers can purchase multiple items, and the system manages stock levels, cart expiration rules, and order statuses.

Key Shopping Cart features include:

• Configurable cart item limits.
• Stock control and availability status.
• Limited or unlimited item reservation time in the cart.
• Cash payments option for offline transactions.
• Support for system currency or automatic currency conversion at checkout.
• Order management and transaction tracking in the admin panel.

Auction module

The Auction module enables sellers to list items for bidding and sell them to the highest bidder. Auctions are available to registered users only and include full notification support for all participants.

Auction features include:

• Starting price and reserve price.
• Buy Now option to end an auction instantly.
• Bid step configuration.
• Auction duration control.
• Automatic bids at defined intervals.
• Ability for sellers to remove bids.
• Ability for buyers to remove their last bid.
• Bidding history visible on the listing page.
• Dedicated Bids & Offers section in user accounts.

Shipping and delivery options

The plugin includes an advanced shipping system for physical goods. Shipping costs can be set manually or calculated dynamically using third-party shipping services.

Supported shipping options include:

• Flat rate shipping.
• Location-based shipping rates.
• Free shipping.
• Courier delivery.
• Pickup option.

Available shipping methods

Payment gateways and extensibility

The plugin works with payment gateways available in the Flynax ecosystem. Since payment systems are implemented as separate plugins, you can enable only the gateways you need or add region-specific providers from the payment gateway catalog.

Stripe is used for split payments and commission handling. Other gateways can be enabled for standard checkout flows, depending on your configuration.

Accepting offline payments for items

Offline payments are supported through the Offline Payments plugin. This option can be used both between sellers and the site administrator and between sellers and buyers. When offline payment is selected, sellers receive access to a dedicated Offline Payments page in their account area, where they can review and verify the buyer’s proof of payment, such as a receipt or confirmation, and manually activate the sale transaction after verification.

Safe Deal module (optional)

The Safe Deal module adds escrow-style protection to transactions. Funds are temporarily held by Stripe until the buyer confirms that the product has been received and matches the description. Only after confirmation are funds released to the seller.

Safe Deal benefits

• Reduced risk of fraud for buyers.
• Protection against misleading listings.
• Ability for buyers to cancel orders if conditions are not met.
• Seller payouts only after buyer confirmation.
• Site owner commission remains protected even if an order is canceled.

Flexible configuration and access control

The plugin can be enabled per listing type and restricted by account type or membership plan. You can decide:

• Which users can sell products.
• Which listing types support cart or auctions.
• Whether standard non-cart ads are allowed.
• Which payment methods are available.

Email notifications

All key actions trigger automatic email notifications for buyers, sellers, and administrators. Notifications cover bids, payments, order updates, auction events, and other important actions.

Summary

The Shopping Cart and Bidding plugin adds full e-commerce and auction functionality to a classifieds or marketplace website. With support for multi-vendor sales, split payments, digital products, dynamic shipping, auctions, and optional escrow protection, the plugin provides a scalable foundation for building a modern marketplace tailored to your business model.