Build a Job Board with Paid Listings

Tables: employers (name, email, company, subscription_credits), listings (employer_id, title, description, location, type, salary, tier, status, paystack_ref, published_at, expires_at), listing_tiers (name, price, duration_days, features).

var LISTING_TIERS = {
  standard: { price: 1500000, duration: 30, label: 'Standard 30-day listing' }, // NGN 15,000
  featured:  { price: 3000000, duration: 30, label: 'Featured listing — top placement' }, // NGN 30,000
  urgent:    { price: 2000000, duration: 14, label: 'Urgent — highlighted for 14 days' }, // NGN 20,000
};

async function createListing(employerEmail, employerId, listingData, tier) {
  var tierConfig = LISTING_TIERS[tier];
  if (!tierConfig) throw new Error('Invalid listing tier');

  // Check if employer has subscription credits
  var employer = await db.employers.findById(employerId);
  if (employer.subscription_credits > 0) {
    await db.employers.decrement(employerId, 'subscription_credits', 1);
    return await publishListing(employerId, listingData, tier, null); // no payment needed
  }

  // Create listing in draft
  var reference = 'LISTING-' + Date.now();
  var listing = await db.listings.create({
    employer_id: employerId, ...listingData,
    tier, status: 'draft', paystack_ref: reference,
  });

  // Initialize payment
  var res = await fetch('https://api.paystack.co/transaction/initialize', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      email: employerEmail, amount: tierConfig.price, currency: 'NGN', reference,
      metadata: { listing_id: listing.id, tier, duration_days: tierConfig.duration },
      label: tierConfig.label,
    }),
  });
  return { listing, authorizationUrl: (await res.json()).data.authorization_url };
}

// Webhook: publish listing on payment
if (event.event === 'charge.success') {
  var meta = event.data.metadata;
  var publishedAt = new Date();
  var expiresAt = new Date();
  expiresAt.setDate(expiresAt.getDate() + meta.duration_days);

  await db.listings.update(meta.listing_id, { status: 'published', published_at: publishedAt, expires_at: expiresAt });
  await scheduleExpiryReminder(meta.listing_id, expiresAt);
}

// Employer buys a posting bundle — e.g., 5 posts for the price of 4
async function purchasePostingBundle(employerEmail, employerId, bundleSize) {
  var BUNDLES = { 5: 6000000, 10: 10000000 }; // NGN 60k for 5, NGN 100k for 10
  var price = BUNDLES[bundleSize];
  if (!price) throw new Error('Invalid bundle size');

  var reference = 'BUNDLE-' + Date.now();
  var res = await fetch('https://api.paystack.co/transaction/initialize', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      email: employerEmail, amount: price, currency: 'NGN', reference,
      metadata: { employer_id: employerId, bundle_credits: bundleSize, purpose: 'bundle_purchase' },
    }),
  });
  return (await res.json()).data.authorization_url;
}

// Webhook: credit bundle
if (event.event === 'charge.success' && event.data.metadata.purpose === 'bundle_purchase') {
  await db.employers.increment(event.data.metadata.employer_id, 'subscription_credits', event.data.metadata.bundle_credits);
}

// Cron: expire listings and send renewal reminders
async function processExpiredListings() {
  var today = new Date();
  await db.listings.updateWhere({ status: 'published', expires_at_lt: today }, { status: 'expired' });

  var expiringSoon = await db.listings.findExpiringSoon(addDays(today, 5));
  for (var listing of expiringSoon) {
    await sendRenewalReminder(listing.employer_id, listing.id);
  }
}

See build a classifieds site with featured listing payments for the same paid listing model applied to a broader classifieds platform.

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