Inspiration
Students constantly buy and sell textbooks, furniture, and electronics but existing platforms have no campus filter. We wanted a trusted BGSU-only marketplace — and asked, what if selling something felt as fun as posting on social media?
What it does
BGSU-only marketplace where students register with @bgsu.edu, browse and post listings by category, and generate AI video trailers for any listing using Magic Hour — shareable anywhere in one click.
How we built it
MERN stack — React frontend, Express backend, MongoDB Atlas for flexible document storage, and Magic Hour API for AI trailer generation. Built and deployed in one day.
Challenges we ran into
Coordinating frontend and backend without an API contract upfront caused mismatched field names mid build. Magic Hour's async job polling required building a status loop without blocking the UI.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Shipping a full stack app with real auth, live MongoDB data, and an AI integration in one day as a two person team.
What we learned
Define your API contract before writing a single line of code. MongoDB's flexible schema is a superpower for hackathon speed.
What's next for BGSU Marketplace
Real time messaging between buyers and sellers, Atlas Search for fuzzy listing search, ratings and reviews, and expanding to other university campuses beyond BGSU.
Built With
- mern
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