Short answer. A marketplace exists the day the money goes through it. The customer pays the platform, by CIB/Edahabia card, by QR or by recorded cash on delivery; the platform holds the money in escrow until delivery or the appointment and invoices its commission to the seller, with VAT; the seller delivers, the customer confirms; the platform pays out to the seller, commission deducted. One that lets the customer pay the seller directly has no commission, no data and no reason to exist. In 2027 the finance bill adds three obligations for platforms, local and foreign alike: register with the tax administration, declare their sellers' operations every year, and apply VAT to sales and commissions. One revenue model at launch, thirty sellers recruited by hand before the code, one city, one category.
This guide is the foundation of our series on models seen in France to build in Algeria, Doctolib, Uber Eats, Airbnb, Leboncoin and Vinted, Uber and BlaBlaCar: each is a marketplace, and all hit the same three questions, money, trust and the cold start.
What the 2027 finance bill imposes on platforms
The 2027 finance bill, as the business press detailed it in October 2026, creates for the first time a regime for marketplace platforms. It is a bill, amendable until the vote, and article numbers vary between sources; the three measures, however, are consistent.
- Registration. Any platform operator, resident or not, connecting sellers or providers with customers for operations carried out in Algeria would have to register with the tax administration through a dedicated procedure.
- Annual declaration. By 31 January each year, the platform would submit a declaration of the operations carried out by its sellers and providers. In other words: the platform becomes the tax administration's source on what its sellers sold.
- VAT. Sales of goods and services made through e-commerce platforms, local or foreign, as well as the commissions collected by operators, would be subject to VAT. Foreign platforms without an establishment in Algeria would have to register, declare their Algerian turnover and remit the tax. A fine is mentioned for breaches.
For an Algerian founder this is good news dressed as a constraint. Foreign platforms that sold to Algerians without VAT or declaration enter the same framework as you; and a platform that, from day one, invoices its commissions with VAT, keeps each seller's statement and can produce its January declaration in one click has an edge over the Facebook group that will do the same thing painfully. These obligations are built into the product, not into a spreadsheet in December.
How the money flows, step by step
The question “how do I get paid” has only one good answer: the money goes through you. Here is the circuit, and why each step exists.
The customer pays the platform. By CIB/Edahabia card thanks to your online-merchant status, by QR DZMobPay now interoperable between banks, or by cash on delivery; in the latter case the courier or seller records the collection in the app and cash on delivery stays traced. The platform holds the money until the service is done: that is escrow, and it is what gives the customer a reason to pay through the platform rather than hand to hand. The commission is invoiced to the seller on each transaction, with VAT, and appears on their statement. The seller delivers, the customer confirms in the app, or an automatic delay confirms on their behalf; an open dispute freezes the money. The platform pays out in batched transfers, at D+2 or D+7, commission deducted, with a monthly statement that will feed the January declaration.
Bypassing is risk number one: the customer and the seller meet on your platform and close on WhatsApp. It is fought with what only the platform offers, the escrow that protects the customer, the invoice and statement that protect the seller, the review that builds their reputation, and with a reasonable commission, because a commission that is too high is an invitation to bypass you.
«A marketplace exists the day the money goes through it.»
Revenue models, and which ones hold in Algeria
Six ways to make money with a marketplace. Three hold from launch, two sometimes, one never at the start.
Commission on transactions holds as soon as the money goes through the platform, and only then. Professional seller subscription holds with sellers who live off you: real-estate agencies, medical practices, shops; we detailed who pays a subscription in Algeria in 2027. Paid promotion is the model that built the big classifieds sites, Ouedkniss first, and it requires traffic above all. Paid leads work in B2B and high-value services, works, equipment, insurance, where a match is worth a quote. Customer-side fees are tolerated if low and visible; beyond that, the customer moves to WhatsApp. Advertising yields nothing before hundreds of thousands of visits a month.
The rule: one model at launch, the one that fits your category. A home-services platform lives off commission; a real-estate platform, off agency subscriptions; a classifieds platform between individuals, off promotion. All three on day one means none.
What is inside a marketplace platform
Two visible apps, three invisible layers. Sellers pay for the three invisible layers.
The two sides are the customer app, search, order or booking, payment, tracking, in Arabic and French, and the seller app or portal, listings, orders, calendar, statements and payouts. Trust is what makes a customer pay a stranger: seller verification with a first human check, reviews after transaction, disputes with frozen money. Money is the circuit described above, collection, escrow, invoiced commission, batched payouts. Operations are support in Arabic, French and darija, human at first then AI-assisted on your rules, and logistics if you sell goods, carriers, cash on delivery and returns; we detailed how to reduce orders refused at delivery. Compliance is the layer the 2027 finance bill makes mandatory: platform registered with the tax administration, annual declaration produced by the system, data hosted in compliance with Law 18-07.
A project of this scope, two apps, escrow and payouts, back-office, sits in category 3 of our price grid; it is scoped in writing with a total price before starting, and the seven decisions of a mobile app in 2027 apply to both sides.
Chicken and egg: one city, one category, thirty sellers before the code
Every marketplace has the same cold-start problem: no sellers, no customers; no customers, no sellers. The answer is not technical.
The first thirty sellers are recruited by hand, before any line of code, in one city and one category: plumbers in east Algiers, dental practices in Setif, furnished rentals in Oran. You meet them, you understand how they collect and what they lose, and you promise them customers, not an app. In parallel, the company, online-merchant status through the bank and GIE Monétique, and the platform's registration with the tax administration. March to June, development of both sides and the escrow. July-August, the pilot: thirty sellers, real transactions, real disputes, real payouts every week. September, the second category or second city, only if the pilot pays out money every week. A marketplace empty on launch day never fills up; a marketplace with thirty active sellers in one neighbourhood fills up by itself.
If you are building from France, recruiting sellers is precisely what requires being there; we placed those trips in the 2027 calendar of the diaspora founder.
«A marketplace empty on launch day never fills up; a marketplace with thirty active sellers in one neighbourhood fills up by itself.»
The mistakes we see in Algerian marketplaces
- Letting the customer pay the seller directly. No commission, no data, no platform. The money goes through you, with escrow.
- Launching with three revenue models. Commission, subscription and promotion on day one: sellers do not understand what they pay for. One model, the one of your category.
- Opening the whole country and every category. Ten sellers per wilaya, no customer served. One city, one category, thirty active sellers.
- A commission that is too high. It is an invitation to bypass you on WhatsApp. The commission is compared to what the seller earns thanks to you.
- Verifying nobody. The first fraudulent seller costs the trust of a hundred customers. Identity, register, first human check.
- Discovering the January declaration in December. Per-seller statements and commissions with VAT are built into the product from day one.
- Developing before recruiting sellers. The app is ready, it is empty. Thirty sellers first.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a marketplace make money in Algeria?
- Through commission on each transaction when the money goes through the platform, through subscriptions from professional sellers who live off it, or through paid promotion once it has traffic. One model at launch, the one of your category. Advertising yields nothing before hundreds of thousands of visits a month.
- How does escrow payment work?
- The customer pays the platform, by CIB/Edahabia card, QR DZMobPay or recorded cash on delivery. The platform holds the money until delivery or the appointment, invoices its commission to the seller with VAT, then pays out to the seller by transfer at D+2 or D+7. A dispute freezes the money.
- What does the 2027 finance bill change for a platform?
- The text, still a bill, plans that local and foreign platforms register with the tax administration, submit before 31 January an annual declaration of their sellers’ operations, and apply VAT to the sales made through them and to their commissions. These obligations are built into the product.
- How do I stop customers and sellers bypassing me on WhatsApp?
- With what only the platform offers: the escrow that protects the customer, the invoice and statement that protect the seller, the reviews that build reputation, and a reasonable commission. A commission that is too high is an invitation to bypass.
- Where do I start a marketplace?
- With thirty sellers recruited by hand in one city and one category, before any line of code. In parallel, the company, online-merchant status and the platform’s registration. Then development, the pilot in summer, and the second category only if the pilot pays out money every week.
- Do I have to handle delivery myself?
- If you sell goods, logistics is part of the platform: partner carriers, recorded cash on delivery, returns. If you connect services or appointments, there is no delivery, but there is customer confirmation and the dispute.