Selling and marketing
How to Sell Sourdough: 5 Steps, Permit, and Pricing
The permit step, the label, and the price math, in the order you actually do them.
On this page
What to remember
- Read your state cottage food page before you bake a single loaf for sale.
- Plain sourdough is shelf stable and shows up on nearly every state approved list.
- A compliant label and your registration go with you to every sale.
- Price the loaf so flour, packaging, your time, and the stall fee all fit inside it.
Learning how to sell sourdough is less about baking and more about paperwork, labels, and price. Each of those has a cheap way to go wrong. Here is the order to do them in, so your first sale does not cost you money.
The five steps from your kitchen to a first sale
Check your state cottage food page
Confirm sourdough is allowed, find your annual sales cap, and see whether your state asks for a registration or a permit.
Register or get your permit
Do this before you advertise. Some states want a county filing, some want a state one, and some want nothing at all.
Print a compliant label
Match your state’s list and put a label on every loaf, including the ones you sell to a neighbor.
Cost one loaf and set a price
Add ingredients, packaging, your hands on time, and the stall fee. Divide by the loaves you actually sell.
Pick one place to sell and take preorders
A market table, a porch pickup window, or a standing order list. Preorders tell you how much to bake.
Check your state cottage food rules before you bake
Cottage food law is state law, so almost every question on this page starts with your own state’s page. According to Crumb Coach, sourdough sellers typically need to register or permit with their state or county. That filing is usually quick, but it has to happen before you take money.
The same guide states that each state sets an annual gross sales cap, from tens of thousands of dollars up to $250,000 in Florida, where it says no license, inspection, or training is required at all. Go over your cap and you generally need to move into a licensed commercial operation. Write your number on the fridge.
Start with the state page, not a group post. Rules change, and a thread from three years ago may describe a cap or a filing that no longer exists. Ten minutes on the official page saves a wasted bake.
What counts as sourdough you can sell
Plain sourdough is shelf stable, which is why it lands on approved food lists so often. A June 14, 2026 Crumb Coach guide says it appears on nearly every state’s cottage food approved foods list. Crosodo tracks sourdough as allowed under cottage food law in all 51 US jurisdictions it follows.
That covers the plain loaf. Anything you add to the dough is worth checking against your state list before you sell that version. Cheese, meat, and cream fillings are a different question from flour, water, salt, and starter.
If you sell a flavored loaf, keep the plain one on the table too. The plain loaf is the one your state list describes.
Label every loaf and carry your paperwork
Your state decides what a compliant label contains, and the rules are not identical across state lines. What does not change is that the label goes on before the loaf leaves your kitchen. Farmers markets usually ask for compliant labels and for your permit or registration on hand, according to the same state guide.
Keep your registration, your label file, and a running sales total in one folder on your phone. When a market manager asks, you can show it in seconds instead of promising to email it later.
A label also sells. Your shop name, the bake date, and a line telling people how to reorder do more for repeat business than a fancy font. Print more labels than you need, so you are never handwriting a bag mid market.
Price a loaf so your time is paid
Ingredient cost is the smallest number in the math, and it is where most sellers start and stop. Build the price from four parts: what went into the loaf, the bag and label, your hands on time, and a share of the table fee. The sourdough pricing walkthrough goes deeper on labor.
For example, say flour, water, salt, and starter come to $1.10 for one loaf, and the bag and printed label add $0.35. A market stall costs $25 and you bring 30 loaves, so the fee is about $0.83 a loaf. Twenty minutes of hands on work at $15 an hour adds $5.00. That is $7.28 a loaf before profit. At $12 a loaf you keep $4.72, a margin of about 39 percent, and the table clears $141.60.
If $12 will not sell where you are, do not cut your own pay first. Shrink the loaf, use a plain bag, or bring more loaves so the stall fee spreads thinner. Your time is the one cost that never goes away. Round to a number that is easy to make change for, because twelve dollars is simpler at a table than eleven seventy five.
Where to sell your first loaves
Farmers markets are one of the most commonly allowed venues under cottage food laws, and they put you in front of people already buying food. They also cost money before you sell anything. A porch pickup window and a standing order list cost nothing and let you test a price first.
If you want the market table, the farmers market guide covers setup, counts, and what to bring. If you would rather start at home, selling sourdough bread from home walks the same steps without a stall fee.
Pick one place at a time. Running a market table and a porch window in the same week is how a small baking business turns into a second job with no extra profit.
Mistakes that cost you money
The first is baking before you read your state page. A full bake of loaves you cannot legally sell is the most expensive mistake here, and the easiest to avoid.
The second is copying a label from a seller in another state. The third is pricing from ingredients alone, which leaves your time unpaid and makes a busy week feel like a loss. The fourth is ignoring your sales cap until you cross it.
The fifth is treating a loaf you would not buy as good enough. One customer who does not come back costs more than that loaf did. Sell the bake you are proud of and keep the rest for the house.
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- How much to sell homemade sourdough bread for
- How to price sourdough bread with labor and margin
- How to sell sourdough at a farmers market
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell sourdough in my state?
It depends on your state. Some require a registration or permit, and at least one state guide lists Florida as needing no license, inspection, or training at all. Check your own state's cottage food page before you bake for sale, because the answer changes at the state line.
Is sourdough allowed under cottage food law?
Crosodo lists sourdough as allowed under cottage food law in all 51 US jurisdictions it follows. A June 2026 state guide says plain sourdough is shelf stable and appears on nearly every state's approved foods list. Read your own state list for anything you add to the dough.
What has to be on my sourdough label?
Your state sets that, and the requirements differ across state lines. What matters is that the label is compliant before the loaf leaves your kitchen, because markets usually check. Print labels that match your state's list instead of copying a template from a seller in another state.
How many loaves should I bring to my first market?
Enough that the stall fee stays small per loaf. Divide the table fee by your loaf count before you bake, and take preorders so you are not guessing on the morning. A count you can repeat every week beats one big Saturday.
What happens if I go over my state's sales cap?
You generally have to move into a licensed commercial operation, according to the same state guide. Track your gross sales through the year so you see the cap coming. Crossing it without noticing is the expensive mistake, because it can undo the paperwork you already did.
Sources
General information, not legal or tax advice. Cottage food rules are set by your state, so confirm your own before you sell.