Compralo Vendelo

CompraloVendelo was a full-scale automotive marketplace built to modernize how vehicles are bought and sold in Puerto Rico. The platform connected dealerships, independent sellers, and buyers through a unified digital experience focused on inventory discovery, lead generation, communication, financing, and appointment scheduling.

The entire ecosystem was designed, developed, and launched within a four-month timeline while maintaining a strong focus on scalability, usability, and operational efficiency.

The Vision

The goal was to build more than a listing website.

CompraloVendelo was conceived as a complete marketplace ecosystem where users could publish inventory, promote listings, generate leads, schedule appointments, manage subscriptions, and streamline dealership operations through a single platform.

Every interaction was designed to reduce friction between discovery and conversion.

Search & Discovery Experience

The marketplace was built around a search-first experience allowing users to browse inventory through advanced filtering systems.

Buyers could search vehicles by:

• Brand and model
• Price range
• Mileage
• Condition
• Year
• Geographic location

Performance and responsiveness were prioritized to ensure a seamless experience across desktop and mobile devices.

Vehicle Detail & Lead Generation

Vehicle pages were designed to maximize engagement and conversion.

Each listing combined technical specifications, seller information, financing tools, image galleries, contact forms, and appointment scheduling into a single experience.

Features included:

• Complete vehicle specifications
• Financing calculators
• Seller profiles
• Lead capture workflows
• Appointment scheduling
• Favorites and listing tracking
• Contact and communication tools

Inventory Management System

One of the most advanced areas of the platform was the Inventory Management System, designed for dealerships, agents, and professional sellers managing large portfolios of vehicles and properties.

The system provided a powerful administrative workspace focused on speed, operational efficiency, and inventory control.

Interactive Inventory Dashboard

At the core of the experience was a dynamic inventory dashboard that allowed users to manage listings without leaving the page.

The interface included:

• Listing thumbnails and previews
• VIN tracking
• Creation dates
• Price management
• Publication status indicators
• Real-time view counters
• Instant search and filtering

Users could quickly locate listings by title, VIN, make, model, or status.

Listing Lifecycle Management

The platform supported a complete publication workflow through multiple states:

• Draft
• Published
• Sold

Users could:

• Publish draft listings
• Move active listings back to draft mode
• Mark vehicles or properties as sold
• Permanently delete listings

These workflows allowed dealerships and sellers to maintain accurate inventory while reducing operational overhead.

Quick Editing Tools

To avoid opening large editing forms for simple updates, the platform included inline editing tools that allowed users to:

• Update prices
• Modify descriptions
• Replace images
• Reorder galleries
• Remove outdated photos

This significantly reduced the time required to maintain active inventory.

QR Code Generation

Each listing could automatically generate a downloadable QR code linked directly to its public page.

Dealerships and property agents could print these QR codes and place them on vehicles or physical signage, allowing potential buyers to instantly access the complete listing from their phones.

VIN Automation

One of the most valuable operational features was VIN-based automation.

Through integrations with CarAPI and VinAudit, users could enter a vehicle identification number and automatically populate large portions of the listing with manufacturer data.

This reduced publication time, minimized human error, and improved inventory quality.

Dealership Integrations

The platform integrated directly with TEKION Dealer Management Systems.

Dealerships could synchronize inventory from their DMS environments and automatically import large catalogs of vehicles into CompraloVendelo.

Additional synchronization tools allowed users to refresh VIN information and correct inventory inconsistencies after bulk imports.

Subscription Controls

The marketplace included subscription-aware publishing restrictions.

Free accounts were limited to a specific number of active listings, while premium memberships unlocked additional inventory capacity and promotional tools.

The system automatically enforced plan limits and integrated with Stripe billing workflows to manage upgrades and subscriptions.

Technical Architecture

The platform was built using a distributed microservice architecture powered by Laravel and AWS.

Business domains were separated into dedicated services responsible for:

• Listings and inventory management
• User management
• Payments and subscriptions
• Notifications and messaging
• Background processing and synchronization

The ecosystem included:

• AWS Cognito authentication
• Stripe subscription billing
• Mapbox geolocation services
• CarAPI and VinAudit integrations
• TinyPNG image optimization
• TEKION inventory synchronization
• RoadRunner background processing

The frontend was built using Nuxt 3, Vue 3, TypeScript, Pinia, Tailwind CSS, Quasar, and ShadCN components, providing a highly responsive experience across desktop and mobile devices.

My Role

As Software Director and Product Lead, I was responsible for both technical and product leadership throughout the project lifecycle.

My responsibilities included:

• Product strategy and planning
• Technical architecture design
• Frontend leadership
• Backend coordination
• Infrastructure planning
• Team collaboration
• Delivery management
• Production launch

My involvement extended beyond software development into business workflows, marketplace operations, product decisions, and long-term scalability planning.

Outcome

CompraloVendelo was successfully launched as a complete marketplace platform serving dealerships, independent sellers, and buyers across Puerto Rico.

The platform supported inventory management, lead generation, subscription billing, dealership integrations, communication workflows, appointment scheduling, and large-scale catalog administration within a unified ecosystem.

Although the business was later discontinued and the platform is no longer available, the project represented one of the most ambitious product launches of my career. It combined software architecture, product strategy, user experience design, infrastructure planning, and technical leadership within an aggressive four-month delivery timeline.

The experience provided valuable lessons in marketplace operations, distributed systems, product execution, and cross-functional leadership that continue to influence how I approach software projects today.