Choosing tools
Online Platform to Sell Baked Goods: What Home Bakers Should Compare
You will know which kind of online shop fits how you bake and get paid, and what to check before you sign up.
On this page
If you sell cookies, cakes, or bread from your kitchen, you have probably noticed that “online platform” gets used for very different things. Some are full shops with photos and prices. Some are only the part that moves money. Here is a plain look at the choices, what each one is good at, and what to check before you sign up.
What to remember
- The three shapes are a shop of your own, a bakery-focused service, and a payment tool on its own.
- How you get paid matters more than how the shop looks. Brevl takes cards through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash.
- Brevl is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales.
- Cottage food rules are state by state, so check yours before you pick anything.
How you get paid is the first question
Two things happen when someone buys from you. They choose what they want, and they pay you. Plenty of home bakers already take orders through texts and messages and only need help with the paying part. Others want the whole thing in one place, with a menu, photos, and a checkout.
Brevl handles both ends. Buyers pay by card through your own Stripe or Square account, and you can also take Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. Square is one of those card options, and signing up for Square is free, with no commitments or long-term contracts required. Square offers custom pricing and processing fees for businesses processing over $250,000 per year, so if you ever grow past that mark, it is worth a conversation.
The three shapes, and what each one is good at
A shop of your own
This is the option that looks like a real bakery online. With Brevl you get one flat $20 a month and no cut of your sales, plus a 14 day free trial. The shop is yours to customize: your photos, your colors, and your own web address. It works on a computer and on a phone, with a full desktop workspace rather than a phone only app. You also get recipes with real costing, ingredient inventory, and a weekly planner, so pricing and planning live in the same place as your orders. We set it up with you, and we move your old shop over: products, photos, reviews, and dates. A real person answers, usually within minutes.
A bakery-focused service
You will run into bakery-focused services like Bakesy while you are searching. Rather than repeat numbers here that may have changed, our full breakdown is here: Bakesy pricing. Read it the way you would read any pricing page. What does it cost per month, what does it take per order, and what happens to your customer list if you decide to leave.
A payment tool on its own
If you already take orders by text, a payment tool is the smallest step you can take. Square is free to sign up for, with no commitments or long-term contracts required. Your setup stays light, and your order details stay wherever you already keep them.
Check your cottage food rules before you choose
Cottage food laws in the U.S. govern what home bakers may bake at home, plus required licenses, permits, and food safety considerations. In some states the rules are light. In Virginia, for example, you can sell baked goods from home with no permit or inspection.
How to pick in four steps
Write down how you want to get paid
List every way customers pay you now, cards, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, cash. A platform that cannot take cards through an account you control will send you back to chasing payments.
Compare a flat monthly fee against a cut of every sale
Run your own order totals through both. A flat fee stays the same in a busy month. A cut of every sale grows with you.
Try it on your phone before you commit
Most orders come in while you are standing in the kitchen. Add a product, change a price, and take a test order on your phone. If that feels clumsy, keep looking.
Move your menu, photos, and prices over
Set up your items, photos, prices, and pickup or delivery dates before you tell anyone. A half finished shop loses orders.
Why home bakers land on Brevl
Brevl is the one most home bakers pick when they want the setup to be simple, the shop to look like theirs, cards to go through their own Stripe or Square account, and the whole thing to work the same on a laptop and a phone. It is $20 a month flat, with no cut of your sales, and a 14 day free trial.
If you are weighing it against Bakesy, see Brevl vs Bakesy. If you are already somewhere else and just want to move, Switch walks through it.
Two more guides worth your time
Read how to price your bakes so your prices actually cover your ingredients and your hours. If you want to understand what running a shop of your own involves, how to make a website to sell baked goods walks through it step by step.
Common questions
What is an online platform to sell baked goods?
It is any place online where a customer picks what they want, places the order, and pays you, while you do the baking at home. That can be a full shop with your photos and prices, a service built for home bakers, or just a payment tool attached to orders you already take by text.
Do I need a website to sell baked goods from home?
No. Plenty of home bakers start by taking orders through messages and only add a shop when they want the menu and the payment in one place. A shop of your own helps most once you have repeat customers and want your photos, prices, and pickup dates somewhere people can find them.
How do I take card payments as a home baker?
You need a card payment account. Square is free to sign up for, with no commitments or long-term contracts required. Brevl lets you take cards through your own Stripe or Square account, and you can also accept Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash.
How much should an online platform for baked goods cost?
Look at two numbers, not one. The monthly fee is the easy one. The harder one is what the service takes out of each sale. Brevl is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales, so a busy month does not cost you more than a quiet one.
Sources
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Cottage food rules and payment terms vary, so confirm the details that apply to you before you rely on them.