UniMart

UniMart is a university-only platform where students buy, sell, and donate furniture, reducing waste and promoting sustainability. It offers items with a focus on safety, community, and convenience.

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UniMart

Inspiration

The idea for UniMart came from seeing how much furniture and useful items were discarded by students at the end of each academic year. We wanted to create a platform to reduce waste, promote sustainability, and make it easier for students to buy, sell, or donate their items in a secure, university-verified marketplace.

What it does

UniMart is a university-exclusive marketplace where students can buy, sell, and donate furniture and other items. It connects students to find affordable second-hand goods, reduces waste, and simplifies the donation process—all while ensuring that transactions occur within a trusted, student-only community.

How we built it

We built UniMart using a combination of modern web technologies. The frontend is developed using React for a seamless user experience, styled with DaisyUI for a clean, responsive design. The backend is powered by Node.js and Firebase, handling user authentication and item listings, while the database is managed with Firebase Realtime DB to store user and product data efficiently. The website is currently hosted on Amplify.

In order to authenticate students per their university, we use AWS API Gateway in tandem with AWS Lambda functions and AWS Rekognition CV models to verify pictures of their university ID's. We use AWS DynamoDB NoSQL to store authentication information from the model, and we update user verification in Firebase.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was ensuring the security of the platform by restricting access to verified university students. We also had to manage a large volume of item listings, which required optimizing our database queries and ensuring the platform remained performant under load.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of building a platform that not only addresses a real issue—excess waste from discarded items—but also fosters community by helping students find affordable, second-hand furniture. Successfully integrating a secure authentication system and creating a smooth, user-friendly interface are also big wins for us.

What we learned

Throughout the process, we learned a lot about building secure, user-verified platforms and managing high volumes of data effectively. We also gained valuable experience in optimizing user experience and ensuring scalability for future growth.

What's next for UniMart

Next, we plan to expand UniMart to more universities and add new features, such as item delivery coordination and more robust filtering options. We also aim to introduce environmental impact tracking, so students can see the positive impact their transactions have on reducing waste.

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