Note: This is a fictional first-person review written for creative purposes.
The idea I walked in with
I had a small, messy idea. A simple app for neighbors to buy, sell, or trade sports gear. Cleats, pads, that sort of stuff. Lots of folks in my area have closets full of it. I wanted clean photos, quick chat, and safe pay. Nothing fancy. Just fast and friendly.
That goal of hyper-local matchmaking for gear reminded me of how even the old-school personals section on Craigslist demonstrated the power of simple listings to connect nearby strangers — Craigslist Dating on JustBang — their deep-dive explains how those classifieds evolved and what today’s builders can learn about fostering trust and immediacy in local marketplaces.
And it’s not just broad classifieds; narrowly focused, city-specific hubs prove the same engagement power. Take Kenosha as an example—its adult nightlife bulletin showcases how a geographically tight lens can make content feel safer, more relevant, and more actionable; explore the local dynamics in the USA Sex Guide for that region here for granular intel on venues, etiquette, and community norms—insights that any marketplace founder can mine to understand why ultra-specific context drives repeat visits.
If you’re skimming and just want the spoiler, the full play-by-play lives in a longer write-up on Woopid.
I can sketch screens in Figma, but I needed real help. Code, tests, app store stuff. The whole build. So I reached out to Garage2Global.
Before that first call, I binge-watched a handful of stack-breakdown videos on Woopid to make sure I could speak their tech language without sounding lost.
You know what? I was nervous. Money’s real. Time is, too.
Why I picked them
Three things stood out on our first call:
- They spoke plain. No fluff. No buzzwords.
- They suggested Flutter and Firebase. Cross-platform. Quick builds. I knew I could test on my iPhone and my old Pixel.
- They gave a clear plan. Six sprints. Weekly demos. A TestFlight build by week four.
If you want a deeper dive into how Garage2Global’s engineering pods approach cross-platform architecture, Axis-Intelligence recently published an in-depth review of their process here.
The quote for MVP was $38,000. Timeline: 8 weeks. I took a breath and said yes. That decision mirrored what I'd learned while giving the eTrueSports iOS app a spin for three weeks—speed matters more than the flashiest tech stack when you’re racing to an MVP.
Kickoff felt steady
We set up tools fast:
- Figma for screens and a small design system.
- Jira for tickets. Epics, stories, points. The whole board.
- Slack for chat. Zoom on Tuesdays. 30 minutes tops.
- GitHub for code. I could see commits land. That felt good.
Their stack:
- Flutter for the app.
- Firebase Auth with Apple and Google sign-in.
- Firestore for data. Storage for images.
- Stripe for payments. They used test cards that actually worked.
- Firebase Cloud Messaging for push.
It sounded like a lot. But they kept it light. “One piece at a time,” the PM said.
Weeks 1–2: design, not drama
They turned my napkin notes into clear flows. Onboarding took three taps. Listing a pair of cleats took six. They set up:
- A color scale that wasn’t loud.
- Buttons that hit the thumb zone.
- Empty states with friendly text. Tiny thing, big feel.
I asked for dark mode. They warned it adds time. I still wanted it. They added it… later. More on that.
Weeks 3–6: stuff got real
We got our first TestFlight build in week four. I saw:
- Sign in with Apple and Google working.
- Camera uploads. They added a size cap so photos didn’t take forever.
- Location picker with a map. They used Mapbox. Looked smooth.
- Chat with message seen ticks. Not WhatsApp fast, but fine.
- Stripe test checkout. A fake card went through. Confetti popped. I smiled.
We hit one nasty bug on Android 12. Camera permissions crashed the app the first time it asked. They pushed a fix in 24 hours. Not gonna lie, I held my breath until the next build landed.
App Store: the little landmines
Apple pinged us on three things:
- Missing privacy labels. They fixed that form and used plain language. Thank you.
- “Sign in with Apple” required since we had Google. They already had it.
- Screenshots not showing the correct device. We swapped them. iPhone 14 Pro, 6.1 inch.
Google Play was easier. Internal test track went live in one day.
What went well
- The PM kept scope tight. “We can add later,” she said, and I needed that.
- Code handoff on GitHub was clean. Branch names made sense. PRs had short notes.
- They shipped a staging app so my testers didn’t mess up live data.
- Push alerts felt quick. I listed a glove. My friend got a ping in two seconds.
Real example: I asked for item tags. They added a simple chip list. “Soccer,” “Youth,” “Worn.” Search found them. Magic? No. Helpful? Very.
What tripped us up
- Time zones. My bug report at 6 PM got attention the next morning. Most days fine. One Friday, not so fine.
- Copy felt generic at first. “Welcome to your dashboard.” We tweaked to “Let’s find gear a kid will outgrow, not waste.”
- Firestore rules started too open. A tester could read more than needed. We locked it down with proper checks on user IDs and listing ownership. I asked for a security review earlier next time.
Also, that dark mode I begged for? It added a week and $2,400. I still love it. But yeah, that pushed us.
Money and time, straight up
- Original quote: $38,000.
- Final spend: $41,200. The difference was dark mode and a small referral code system.
- Planned timeline: 8 weeks.
- Actual timeline: 9 weeks. Apple’s screenshot fuss added days.
No surprise fees. Change orders were one page and clear.
Real numbers from the soft launch
I invited a small crowd. My kid’s soccer team. Some parents. A few local coaches.
- 150 testers on TestFlight and Play’s internal track.
- 620 downloads in month one after public release.
- 72 listings posted. Mostly cleats and shin guards.
- 31 sales. Average price was $18.
- Day-7 retention sat at 43%. Not amazing, not awful.
Support was solid. Average reply in 6 hours. One weekend waited till Monday. I survived.
Bugs they fixed that mattered
- Chat history stopped at 20 messages. They added pagination.
- Push sent duplicates on quiet hours. They added a throttle.
- Android app broke when the user had no Google Play Services. They showed a fallback message and let camera still work.
Each fix came with a short note in Jira. “Cause,” “Fix,” “How to test.” Felt pro. It reminded me of my deep-dive into Proveo’s mobile app, where transparent changelogs were the difference between confusion and confidence.
What I wish I knew sooner
- App Store privacy labels need time. Start that on day one.
- Stripe dispute webhooks matter. They set them up week eight. I’d ask for them earlier so refunds are smooth.
- Test on bad Wi-Fi. We found two painful loaders only when I stood in my garage with one bar. Funny, but not funny.
Tips if you hire them
- Lock your MVP. Truly. “Nice to have” will eat your lunch.
- Ask for a weekly burn chart. It helps you see spend vs plan.
- Get a design system. Buttons, type, spacing. Saves time later.
- Ask for unit tests on key stuff. Auth. Payment. Chat send.
- Set up a bug triage call. 15 minutes is enough.
- Clarify what’s not included. ASO, copy, marketing help? Don’t assume.
Who they fit
- Founders with a clear idea and a simple first version.
- Teams who need cross-platform fast and can live with Flutter.
- Budgets in the $30k–$80k range for a first build.
Not a match if you want custom 3D maps on day one. Or if you want it for $5k by next week. That’s a no.
My verdict
Would I use Garage2Global again? Yes—with a small checklist in hand. I’d keep scope tight, start privacy work early, and bring one extra QA brain for the last two weeks.
The app is live. Kids in our league found gear for cheap. Closets breathe again. That was the point