📖 Virtual mela — the complete guide

1. What is a virtual mela?

Just like a mela in the park — one ground with many stalls (food, pitha, saree, mehndi, books…) and a stage with music or talks — but all on the phone. People walk the stalls from home, order, watch the stage live and chat.

Anyone can host — an organization, a masjid, a business or you. A mela can run from 1 day up to 4 months (a whole winter). You can also hold it in a park or hall at the same time.

2. Who does what

3. 🎪 Host guide

1. 1

   Open your mela (free, 5 minutes)

   On the mela page tap “Host a mela”. Fill in: name (Bangla/English), about, start and end dates, place (if it's also in a park/hall), your name and WhatsApp.

   • Stall prices: basic stalls are always free. You may charge for “Featured” and “Sponsor” stalls — the money comes straight to you (write your Zelle/Cash App).
   • Sisters-only: tick it and only verified sisters can open stalls; anyone can shop.
   • Prizes (optional): a free lucky draw for visitors and a “Best Entrepreneur” vote — every month.
   • Stage: write the programme (e.g. 7:00 PM - Songs).
2. 2

   Pick your ground

   Like a real mela — you earn from sellers and sponsors, and rent the ground. 🌱 Small ground free (10 stalls), 🏕️ Medium $29/month (50 stalls), 🎪 Large $79/month (unlimited stalls, and shown on Bengali360's home and mela page). When the ground is full, new sellers wait and you get an email; take a bigger ground and they can join. Choose or cancel under “Your mela ground” on the manage page.
3. 3

   Bring sellers

   On the manage page tap “Invite sellers on WhatsApp” and share the “For sellers” poster (with a QR code) in groups or print it. You get an email whenever someone opens a stall.
4. 4

   Bring visitors

   Share the “For visitors” poster and the mela link. Visitors who tap “I'm going” are emailed automatically the day before, when it opens and when the stage goes live. Optionally “Promote” for $49 — then it's shown on Bengali360's mela page and home page.
5. 5

   Manage stalls

   When a seller pays you for Featured/Sponsor, upgrade their stall on the manage page (shown first and at the gate). You can remove bad stalls. A stall reported by 3 different people hides by itself.
6. 6

   Go live on the stage

   Live from your own phone — no YouTube/Facebook, no ads. Buy a pass first: Small $15 (4 broadcast hours, 100 viewer-hours), Medium $39 (8 hours, 400), Large $129 (12 hours, 1,500). It stops by itself when the pass runs out — no surprise bills. During the show, “Spotlight on stage” shows a stall under the video for every viewer (for 2 hours).
7. 7

   Post notices

   “Send a notice to everyone” — it becomes a banner at the top of the mela page and is emailed to everyone who tapped “I'm going”. Up to 3 a day.
8. 8

   Watch the numbers

   On the manage page: visits, people going, stalls, orders, total sales, top stalls. Download the stall and order lists as an Excel file.
9. 9

   Monthly prizes — automatic

   You can run the draw yourself at month end; if you don't, early next month the app picks the winner by itself (by chance, nobody can change it) and the stall with the most votes becomes “Best Entrepreneur”. You get the winners' names and phones by email; the winners are emailed too. You or a sponsor give the prizes.
10. 10

    Run it again

    “Run it again” — a new mela with the same details on new dates, and this mela's sellers get an email invite. The easiest way to run a mela every month all winter.

4. 🏪 Seller guide

1. 1

   Open your free stall

   On the mela page tap “Open a free stall”. Add: stall name, section (food, pitha, saree…), WhatsApp, city, up to 4 photos, up to 12 items with prices, and a mela deal.
2. 2

   How buyers get it and pay you

   Tick pickup / delivery, write your delivery terms and how you take payment (Zelle / Cash App / cash). The money comes straight to you — Bengali360 never holds it.
3. 3

   Take orders

   New orders arrive by email and in the order list on your “My stall” page. One tap each: ✓ Confirm → 📦 Ready → ✅ Done — the buyer is emailed/notified every time. Tick “Sold out” next to anything that's finished. Keep “My stall” open on mela day — new orders appear by themselves.
4. 4

   Turn on phone alerts

   On “My stall” tap “Turn on phone alerts”. On iPhone, first install the app with Safari's Share → “Add to Home Screen”.
5. 5

   15 orders a month free

   Your stall gets 15 online orders a month free. After that buyers order on WhatsApp — or take Bengali360 Pro ($29/month) for unlimited orders and phone alerts at once. The meter is on your “My stall” page.
6. 6

   Get more buyers

   Pay the host to be Featured/Sponsor, get spotlighted on the live stage, and ask buyers to vote you “Best Entrepreneur” — the month's top stall wins a prize.

5. 🙋 Visitor guide

1. 1

   Tap “I'm going”

   You're emailed the day before, when it opens and when the stage goes live. “Add to calendar” puts it in your phone's calendar too.
2. 2

   Walk the mela

   See the tents in “Ground” view, or pick a section (food, pitha…) / search (e.g. “pitha”).
3. 3

   Order

   On a stall, pick quantities with − / +, choose pickup or delivery, add name and phone and “Send order”. You get an email at every step; all orders are on “My orders”. Pay the seller directly (their Zelle/Cash App is on the order). You can cancel a new order yourself.
4. 4

   Watch live

   Watch the stage, chat, and send a gift if you like (🌹 from $2).
5. 5

   Free draw and vote

   The lucky draw is always free — no purchase needed, once a month, 18+. And vote your favourite stall “Best Entrepreneur”.

6. 💵 Money — who pays what

7. 🗓️ The game plan in time (for hosts)

1. 12–3 weeks before: Open the mela, fix dates and programme, find a sponsor (for prizes), invite sellers.
2. 21–2 weeks before: Get at least 10–15 stalls (more than 10? take the medium or large ground). Share the visitor poster in WhatsApp/Facebook groups, print it for masjids and shops. Promote for $49 if you like.
3. 3The day before: Buy the live pass and do one test stream. Post a notice (“Starts tomorrow!”). Everyone who tapped “I'm going” gets a reminder automatically.
4. 4Opening day: Stream the opening, spotlight the sponsor and a few stalls. Remind sellers to confirm orders quickly.
5. 5During the mela: 1–2 live shows a week (music, cooking, Islamic talk, quiz), share deals in notices, use the numbers to put the best stalls forward.
6. 6End of each month: Lucky draw and Best Entrepreneur — run them yourself, or the app does it for you. Announce the winners live.
7. 7After the mela: Download the order list for your records, thank sellers and sponsors, and open next month's mela with “Run it again”.

8. 🛡️ Rules & safety

• No lotteries or paid raffles. The lucky draw is always free, no purchase needed, once a month, 18+.
• Money goes straight to the seller/host — don't pay strangers in advance; pay once your order is confirmed.
• If something's wrong, tap “Report” under the stall. A stall reported by 3 different people hides by itself.

9. ❓ FAQ