Running Your Own Marketplace (Operator Portal)
If you operate a marketplace on Iraca — a farmers market association, an export directory, or a specialty food hub — the Operator Portal lets you manage everything from within your Iraca account. You approve vendors, build custom profile fields, verify buyers, and control your marketplace settings without needing to contact Iraca support.
Becoming a marketplace operator
Marketplace operators are approved by the Iraca team. To apply:
- Go to Billing → Plans and select Marketplace Operator.
- You'll be taken to an application form — fill in your marketplace name, country, focus, contact email, and a brief description. Optionally include a proposed custom domain.
- Submit the application. The Iraca team reviews every application and responds within 2–3 business days.
- Once approved, your marketplace is created and you'll receive a confirmation email with a link to the Operator Portal.
Accessing the Operator Portal
After approval, go to Settings → Marketplaces. Your marketplace appears with a Manage Marketplace button. Click it to open the Operator Portal.
The portal has eight tabs: Members, Field Builder, Buyers, Buyer Plans, Monetization, Revenue, Domain, and Settings. This article covers the first three and Settings; for Buyer Plans, Monetization, Revenue, and Domain, see Monetization, Revenue & Custom Domains.
Members tab
The Members tab shows all vendors who have applied to join your marketplace.
- Pending — vendor has requested membership; review and click Approve or Suspend.
- Active — vendor is live on your storefront.
- Suspended — vendor is hidden from buyers.
You can also toggle the Featured flag to give a vendor top-of-page placement on your storefront.
Field Builder tab
Custom fields let you collect structured information from vendors beyond the default product fields. For example, an export-focused marketplace might add "Export Certifications," "HS Tariff Code," or "Annual Production Capacity."
Creating a field
- Click Add Field.
- Enter a name, choose a field type (text, number, select, file, etc.), and assign a section heading (e.g. "Export Details").
- Set the visibility — who can see this field on your storefront:
- 🟢 Public — visible to all visitors, no login required.
- 🔵 Registered — visible only to logged-in buyer accounts (optionally restrict to specific buyer roles).
- 🔒 Gated — visible only to buyers on a specific paid plan.
- Mark the field as Required if vendors must fill it in before their listing can go live.
Fields apply either to Vendor Profiles (company-level, filled in once per marketplace) or Listings (product-level, filled in per listing).
Reordering fields
Drag the handle on the left of each field row to reorder. The order here is the order vendors see when filling in their profile or listing.
Buyers tab
Buyer accounts are registered directly on your marketplace storefront. The Buyers tab lets you:
- See all registered buyers with their company, role, and join date.
- Verify a buyer — verified buyers can see wholesale prices and contact information on listings that require verification. Use this for B2B marketplaces where you want to confirm a buyer is a legitimate business.
- Unverify if needed.
Settings tab
The Settings tab lets you update:
- Marketplace name and description
- Contact email — shown to vendors and buyers for marketplace-level questions
- Mode — B2C (retail buyers), B2B (wholesale buyers), or Both
- Powered by Iraca badge — enabled by default; can be hidden if your agreement with Iraca allows it
Note: Slug and revenue share settings can only be changed by the Iraca admin team. Contact support if you need these updated.
Custom domain
You can set and verify your own custom domain (e.g. yourmarket.com) from the Domain tab — no support ticket needed. See Monetization, Revenue & Custom Domains for the step-by-step guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have multiple marketplaces? Yes. Each marketplace is a separate application and approval. Contact support if you need to manage more than one.
What happens to pending vendor applications if I'm slow to review them? Vendors remain in Pending status indefinitely. There's no automatic rejection. It's good practice to review applications within a few business days to keep vendors engaged.
Can I remove a vendor after approving them? Yes — set their membership to Suspended. Their listings are hidden from buyers immediately but nothing is deleted. You can reactivate them later.