Cottage food rules
Do I Need a License to Sell Baked Goods Online?
Find out who to call, what to ask, and what to write down before you sell your first bake online.
On this page
You have a tray of cookies cooling and a friend who wants to pay you for a dozen. Before you post a menu, spend one afternoon on the paperwork question. It is boring. It is also the difference between a hobby that pays for itself and a letter you have to answer.
The question is about your kitchen, not your website
An order that arrives through a form on your phone is still an order that came out of your oven. So the useful question is not “can I sell online” but “can I sell this food, made in this kitchen, to this person.” Answer that one and the online part gets simple.
What to remember
- Your state sets the broad rules and your county often handles the details. - What you bake matters as much as where you bake it. - The words license, permit, and registration get used loosely, so ask what your office calls it. - Get the answer in writing and keep it with your recipes.
Three things that change the answer
Where you live. Two bakers in the same state can get different answers because their counties handle home kitchens differently. Start local, then go up.
What you bake. Some items are treated differently from others. Ask about your full list, not just your best seller. Our guide to the cottage food approved list shows how to check what you can sell.
Who buys it and how it reaches them. Pickup from your porch, delivery, and shipping are not the same thing. Ask about each one you plan to offer.
The words get used loosely
License, permit, registration, certification. When you call, say plainly: “I want to sell baked goods from my home kitchen. What do you call the paperwork, and what do I file?” If the person on the phone uses a word you do not recognize, ask them to spell it and tell you where it goes.
We have longer guides on both paths: do I need a license to sell baked goods from home and how to get a permit to sell baked goods from home. Read the one that matches the word your office used.
How to find out, step by step
Write down what you plan to sell
List every item, not just the one everyone asks for. You will read this list out loud, and the answer can change from item to item.
Call your local health department
Ask what is required for a home kitchen selling baked goods to the public, and ask what they call it. Write down the name of the person you speak to.
Call your state food safety office
Ask whether your state has a process for home bakers and whether it covers your list. If you are in California, our California license guide walks through the order of calls.
Ask about labels, delivery, and shipping
These are the details people forget. Get the answer before you print anything or promise a customer anything.
Get it in writing
Ask for an email confirming what you were told. Keep it in a folder with the date and the office name. When something changes, you have a record of what you were working from.
Use the waiting time well
Approval takes as long as it takes. While you wait, cost every recipe so you know what a batch really costs you and what you need to charge.
Set up your shop so the rules are easy to follow
Once you know what you are allowed to bake, put only those items in your shop. Write pickup and delivery details plainly on each listing, in the same words you used on the phone. That way no customer has to guess and you never promise something you are not covered for.
Getting paid once you are clear
Brevl is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales, and there is a 14 day free trial. You take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. We set it up with you and move your old shop over, products, photos, reviews, and dates included. A real person answers, usually within minutes.
The honest summary: nobody online can hand you your answer. One afternoon of phone calls can. Make them before the first paid order, write down what you hear, and then go bake.
This is general information for home bakers, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and county, and they change. Confirm what applies to you with your state food safety office and your local health department before you sell.