Problem

A closed community of event-goers had been swapping tickets through a spreadsheet and a group chat. Scalpers were skimming, double-allocations were embarrassing, and the admin time on every event was eating the organizer’s evenings.

Approach

A members-only swap platform with verified identity, locked-to-cost pricing, and a simple list / claim flow. Stripe Connect for the money path; SMS for the time-sensitive notifications. Strict eligibility rules enforced server-side so the spreadsheet era could not creep back in.

Stack

Next.js on Vercel, Postgres on Neon, Stripe Connect, Twilio for SMS. Auth via email + community-list cross-check.

What shipped

Live in six weeks, including the auth rewrite. Still running. Zero scalper incidents since launch; admin time on each event dropped to near zero.

What’s next

Owned by the client now. Occasional small-feature work on a retainer.