Vetted supplier matching for indie ecommerce hackers – reliable sourcing in clicks
Solo indie hackers building ecommerce stores struggle with poor product discovery and sourcing reliable suppliers for physical goods.
SupplierScout connects solo builders to pre-vetted suppliers for physical goods, rated by real indie users. It matches based on your niche, order volume, and shipping needs, with built-in reliability scores from order history. Skip the AliExpress roulette and source trusted partners fast.
Solo indie hackers building ecommerce stores selling physical goods
Community-driven ratings from indies only, with escrow for first orders
friendly
Searchable database of 1000+ vetted suppliers by niche
Recommends top 3 suppliers per product/niche
User-submitted scores from actual orders
Hold payment until sample delivery confirmed
In-app messaging with suppliers
Send requests for quotes to multiple suppliers
Submit ratings post-order
Estimate costs by location
Pull suppliers into Shopify apps
Supplier performance dashboards
AI auto-negotiates minimum orders
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| text | No | |
| store_url | text | Yes |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| name | text | No |
| niche | text | No |
| avg_rating | int | No |
| verified | bool | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| user_id | uuid | No |
| supplier_id | uuid | No |
| score | int | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| user_id | uuid | No |
| supplier_id | uuid | No |
| rating | int | No |
| comment | text | Yes |
Relationships:
/api/suppliersSearch suppliers by niche
/api/matchesGet user matches
/api/matchesGenerate new matches
/api/reviewsSubmit review
/api/chat/:supplierIdSend message
/api/escrow/:matchIdInitiate escrow
No chat/escrow
10 orders/month
None
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 200 | 1% | $50 | $600 |
| Month 6 | 1,500 | 2.5% | $937 | $11,244 |
SupplierScout matches you to vetted partners rated by fellow hackers, with escrow protection
Seed with 50 suppliers via outreach to indie communities, offer free Pro to first 10 Indie Hackers posters sharing supplier pains, cross-promote on r/dropship with landing page link.
US/EU suppliers
Enterprise-focused, no indie ratings
Indie community ratings + escrow
Automation
Limited vetting transparency
User-driven verification
Network effects from user reviews improving match quality
Rising scam complaints on AliExpress, indies demand trust post-supply chain disruptions
Supplier disputes over escrow
Clear TOS, partner with Stripe Connect
Supplier acquisition slow
Manual outreach + incentives
Realtime chat scaling
Supabase Realtime limits
Success: Consensus on ratings need
Success: 80% satisfaction
Success: 20% monthly growth
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