Can Someone Point Me in the Right Direction?

Creating an Online Marketplace/Swap meet

[dresden87]

I'm looking to create an online marketplace where people can buy/sell/trade a certain type of collectible item (like baseball cards or comics, but only one specific type :) - I've been looking at a variety of scripts, all of which are a bit too robust for my needs (or would need to be substantially repurposed).

Does anyone know of a specific script that does this? Kind of a classifieds mixed with [vcoins.com...] or can you point me in the direction of how to figure out how to hack something together? I do know a little PHP but my core experience is in c++/html/css so I wouldn't really trust myself on security issues, just yet!

[rainborick]

My advice would be to pick one of the classifieds scripts and live with whatever limitations it presents until your skills improve. If you know C++, you know enough programming to tweak the PHP here and there, but if you've never built an online system like this, you're much better off with a pre-built script that's mature and well-supported. That way you avoid months of putting out fires as users find ways to use your site that never occurred to you (and they will), not to mention the actual security issues. Keep in mind that you'd not only have to build a robust front-end for users - you also need a back-end for administering the site. You could do it... eventually. But in the meantime, you could be creating a really good website with just a couple of things you wish worked differently. It's likely to be far easier to change a handful of items in an existing script than building one from scratch. I enjoy programming challenges as much as most programmers, but I think this is a "one step at a time" situation. Good luck!

[dresden87]

Thanks rainborick!