WordPress Application Developer Needed to Build Custom Santa Booking & Matching System

Hi there, You're not building a marketplace. You're building a flow that stops right before it becomes one, and that distinction matters. Most developers will pitch you something overbuilt because the words "booking system" trigger marketplace instincts. What you actually need is a structured inquiry pipeline with role-based dashboards, geographic matching logic, and a clean handoff to your team before payment. I've spent 13+ years building WordPress applications, and I've done this exact type of work before. For Pink Robin Inc., I built a directory and MVP marketplace that handled member matching, inquiry collection, and admin review workflows without WooCommerce. It was a $6,500 build that stayed lightweight, used custom post types for members and inquiries, and gave the client full control over who got presented to customers. That project maps cleanly to what you're describing here. Here's how I'd structure this: 1. Custom post types for Santas (with profile data, service areas, availability calendar) and Bookings (with inquiry details, status tracking, response collection). No ecommerce plugins. Everything lives in WordPress natively. 2. Geographic matching using zip code radius calculation or state/region filters. When a customer submits an inquiry, the system queries Santas within range and sends email notifications with a private response link. 3. Santa dashboard where notified members log in, view inquiry details, mark availability, and submit their rate. All responses stored as post meta and visible only to admins. 4. Admin review panel where your team sees all Santa responses in one place, selects which ones to present, and generates a private customer-facing page. 5. Customer selection page with photos, bios, and submitted rates for approved Santas. Customer clicks their choice, system logs it, notifies your team, and the booking enters "manual processing" status. No checkout. No cart. No payment gateway. Just a structured funnel with clear handoffs. I'm at $85/hr for ongoing work like this. Based on scope, I'd estimate 40 to 55 hours depending on how complex the geographic logic and dashboard views need to be. What's your ideal range for the geographic matching? Zip-based radius or something simpler like state/metro filtering? Trust, Tai