Artovnia – marketplace with a custom billing system, built for scale
Artovnia is a marketplace platform for artists, makers, and small brands — designed from the ground up as a system built around the real needs of sellers and e-commerce operations, not as a layer on top of a ready-made solution.
The project started as an MVP but quickly grew into a fully-fledged sales system with its own architecture, financial logic, and a complete toolset for sellers. The core assumption was to build a platform that wouldn't require refactoring as it scaled — just be ready for it from day one.
Custom payment and marketplace settlement system
One of the hardest and most important parts of the project was implementing a custom settlement system built on Stripe Connect Express.
The platform handles:
- custom split payment logic across multiple sellers within a single payment
- delayed payouts tied to the return policy (14 days)
- fully configurable commission logic — globally and per seller
- a loyalty points system where the platform covers the cost, not the seller
- a referral system that automatically reduces commissions for new and referring sellers for a period defined in config
Funds are managed through Stripe and don't reach a bank account until a transaction is fully settled — which simplifies the legal and operational side.
This isn't an off-the-shelf integration — it's a dedicated financial system designed around the marketplace model.
Marketplace architecture and sales logic
Artovnia operates as a multi-vendor platform with full seller separation:
- every seller has their own profile, catalog, and sales configuration
- individual pricing, promotions, shipping, and sales settings
- one customer cart, automatically split into per-seller orders
- one payment, multiple settlements in the background
Sellers can also build their own landing pages within the platform, giving them significantly more control over how they present their offer.
Advanced seller dashboard and automations
The platform offers a comprehensive seller panel that supports day-to-day sales and operations:
- product management (including rich text editor and SEO descriptions)
- order, customer, and return management
- promotion system (discounts, free shipping, per-customer offers)
- abandoned cart detection with the ability for sellers to act on it
- messaging system and support tickets
- vacation mode and seller availability
- sales and earnings analytics
- onboarding and process automations
This is a level of functionality that goes beyond what most standard marketplace solutions offer.
Performance and scaling — architecture built for high traffic
The platform was designed with scaling in mind from day one.
Key elements:
- aggressive caching strategies (Redis, layered cache)
- on-demand data revalidation triggered by system changes
- ISR for most pages (Next.js)
- Algolia integration for search and listings
- backend request optimization
Results:
- LCP ~1.4s (desktop)
- p99 for the heaviest storefront requests ~500ms
- most requests under 100ms
During development the backend went through significant optimization — from requests hanging at several seconds to a stable and predictable system.
AI in the CMS and seller panel
The platform uses AI in a practical way:
- content, SEO, and article generation in the CMS (Sanity)
- contextual support based on existing content
- product description generation and optimization in the seller panel
- content quality audits for SEO
It's not a throwaway feature — it's a tool that genuinely increases seller efficiency.
Integrations and supporting systems
The platform has been extended with a number of modules and integrations, including:
- Algolia (search and discovery)
- Baselinker (operational integrations)
- tracking systems (in progress)
- email automation (Resend)
- storage (AWS S3)
- notifications and event system
The architecture is based on Medusa.js, extended with dozens of dedicated modules handling specific business functions.
A product-first approach instead of "a platform for everyone"
Artovnia wasn't designed as a marketplace built to maximize ad revenue or satisfy investors.
It's a platform that is:
- focused on sellers and their control over sales
- transparent about costs
- compliant with EU requirements (GDPR, Omnibus, KYC/AML)
- free of ads and dark patterns
The goal was to build an environment that genuinely supports creators rather than holding them back.
Scope of responsibility
As the full-stack developer I was responsible for the entire implementation, including:
- backend architecture and marketplace system design
- design and implementation of the payment and settlement system
- sales logic and marketplace modules
- seller dashboard and user experience
- performance optimization and scalability
- external system integrations
- AI implementation in the CMS and seller panel
Summary
Artovnia is a project built iteratively — from MVP to a fully-fledged marketplace system — where every technical decision was driven by real constraints and business needs, not by convenience of implementation.
It's an example of building an e-commerce platform from scratch — with its own financial, operational, and product logic — designed with scale in mind.