# PostBid

> A reverse marketplace where buyers post requests and sellers/service providers bid competitively.

## What is PostBid?

PostBid flips the traditional marketplace model. Instead of buyers browsing listings, **buyers post what they need** (with a budget and description), and **sellers or service providers submit bids**. The buyer reviews all bids and accepts the best one.

This model works for physical goods, services, real estate, vehicles, and more.

## How it works

1. **Post a request** — describe what you need, set a budget, choose a category and expiry.
2. **Receive bids** — verified sellers and service providers submit competitive offers.
3. **Accept a bid** — choose the offer that best fits your needs.
4. **Done** — contact details are exchanged and the transaction proceeds off-platform.

## Categories

- Real Estate (property for sale, rent, or lease)
- Vehicles (cars, motorcycles, trucks, commercial vehicles)
- Electronics (laptops, phones, cameras, components)
- Fashion (clothing, shoes, accessories)
- Consumables (groceries, bulk food, everyday supplies)
- Bulk Supplies (restaurant ingredients, disposables, pastry wholesale, retail shelf slots)
- Home & Garden (furniture, appliances, décor, garden tools)
- Health & Beauty (skincare, supplements, wellness products)
- Sports & Outdoors (fitness, camping, sporting goods)
- Activity (tours, experiences, events, leisure)
- Services (freelancers, contractors, agencies)
- Other (anything that doesn't fit above)

## Public pages

- `/` — browse all open posts, filterable by category, currency, country, budget, and sort order
- `/terms` — terms of service (prerendered)
- `/privacy` — privacy policy (prerendered)
- `/posts/[slug]` — individual post detail page (e.g. `/posts/looking-for-3br-apartment-dubai-1234`); SSR with full post content, bids, and review in HTML
- `/posts/[id]` — numeric post ID URLs 301-redirect to the slug URL above

## Key concepts

- **Post** — a buyer's request. Has a title, description, budget, category, currency, country, expiry date, and privacy settings.
- **Bid** — a seller's offer on a post. Has a title, description, asking price, optional validity period, and optional contact info.
- **Accepted bid** — when the buyer selects a bid, the post is closed and the bid is marked accepted.
- **Credits** — posting a request costs 1 credit; placing a bid costs 2 credits. Credits are purchased via Stripe.
- **Anonymous posts** — posters can hide their identity from the public.
- **Private bids** — posters can hide all bids from the public (only the poster and the individual bidder see each bid).

## API

The public REST API is available at `/api/`. Authentication uses session cookies (browser) or Bearer tokens (API clients).

Key public endpoints:
- `GET /api/posts/` — list open posts (supports category, currency, country, budget, search, sort, expiry filters)
- `GET /api/posts/{id}/` — get a single post by numeric ID
- `GET /api/posts/by-slug/{slug}/` — get a single post by slug (used by SSR post pages)
- `GET /api/posts/{id}/bids/` — list bids on a post (paginated; private posts restrict to own bid)

## Geographic coverage

PostBid is used globally, with active buyers and sellers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, and many more countries.

## Optional links

- [Browse live posts](https://postbid.app/)
- [Sitemap](https://postbid.app/sitemap.xml)
- [This summary (LLMs)](https://postbid.app/llms.txt)