Alodetach — Dubai Urban Exchange
Dark-premium marketplace for Dubai residents to resell, swap, rent, and exchange.
Overview
Full-stack marketplace web application for Dubai residents. Five listing types — resale, swap, service requests, idle object exchange, and apartment parking rentals — with a seller dashboard, admin panel, Google OAuth, PayPal payments, and i18n in 4 languages.
Role
Founding Engineer
Period
Jun 2026 – Present
Category
Marketplace Product
Status
Own Product
The Problem
Dubai has a high volume of transient residents and frequent movers, but no dedicated local platform for the P2P exchange this creates — second-hand goods, skill swaps, idle objects, and apartment parking slots. Existing global platforms lack the focused, premium experience the Dubai market expects.
Approach
Built as an intentionally monolithic Next.js app (API routes + pages) for fast solo development and simple Vercel deployment. Dark premium brand identity with a full admin review flow to maintain listing quality before anything goes live.
Architecture
Next.js 16 Pages Router (Monolith)
Monolithic architecture with all backend logic in API routes. Prisma ORM with Neon serverless PostgreSQL. Intentionally avoids microservices overhead for solo development velocity.
Auth System
Email/password signup with OTP verification. Google OAuth via google-auth-library. JWT in localStorage with refresh tokens stored in DB. Role-based access: user / admin / super_admin. withAuth middleware on all protected API routes.
Parking Map
Leaflet.js (React Leaflet) renders an interactive map with a slot grid UI for apartment parking listings. Slot approval flow managed through the admin panel before listings go public.
Payments
PayPal REST redirect integration for listing fees. Payment verification flow with status tracking and admin review queue.
Key Features
5 Listing Types
Resale (buy/sell second-hand goods), swap exchange (items, skills, tasks), service requests, idle object exchange (give/claim unwanted items), and apartment parking rentals with interactive Leaflet map and slot grid.
Seller Dashboard
4-step listing creation wizard: Type → Info → Details → Images. Drag-and-drop multi-image upload with preview and reorder. My Listings table with search, filter by type/status, sort, and paginate. Rejection reason visible after admin review.
Admin Panel
Approve / reject listings with reason. User management: suspend and reinstate accounts. Parking slot management and approval flow. Payment review queue. Split-panel admin review UI.
Internationalisation
English, Arabic, Chinese, and French via next-i18next. Arabic RTL layout handling throughout. Dynamic sitemap with approved listing URLs. OG and Twitter card meta tags per listing.
Technology Stack
Engineering Challenges
Listing Quality Control
A marketplace without quality gates fills with spam. Every listing passes an admin review before going live, with structured rejection reasons surfaced back to sellers so they can correct and resubmit.
Multi-type Listing Schema
Five fundamentally different listing types share a single Listing model. Conditional required fields (swapWant, coordinates, budget) are enforced per type at both the API and form validation layer.
Outcome
Built as a real product for the Dubai urban community — resale, swap, services, and parking in one dark-premium platform. Active development and deployment as Founding Engineer at Alodetach.