Selling and marketing
The Flea Market Online: Where Your Bakes Fit and How to Get Paid
You will know what the flea market online is, where your bakes fit, and how to set up a shop that takes orders tonight.
On this page
If you have ever sold from a folding table, you already understand the online version in your gut. Someone walks past, likes what they see, asks the price, and pays. The only change is that the walking past happens on a phone screen, and the table is a shop you send people to.
What people mean when they search for the flea market online
Two different people type that phrase. One wants to browse and buy from small sellers without driving anywhere. The other is a seller, asking where a home baker can set up a table that never closes.
The second one is you. What you want is a place with your name on the front, your bakes listed with prices, and a way for someone to order a dozen rolls at nine at night while you are on the couch.
Where your bakes fit on the big selling sites
The big sites are the closest thing to a crowded market aisle. You are one seller among many, and people find you by searching.
They also charge for the space. Etsy charges 6.5% of the total order amount in your listing currency, and that percentage applies to the whole order, including shipping and gift wrap when you charge the customer for those. On a $40 order that is real money, and it comes out of the same pocket that bought the butter.
The tax side, in plain words
Money you take online is still money, and payment processors have reporting rules. Third party settlement organizations are required to report on Form 1099-K when total gross payments for goods or services exceed $20,000 and there are more than 200 transactions. Keep your own records either way, and ask a tax professional how it applies to you.
What a shop of your own looks like
This is the part that feels like your own table instead of someone else’s aisle. Brevl is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales, so a $40 order stays a $40 order. Card payments go through your own Stripe or Square account, and you can also take Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash.
The shop is yours to make yours, with your photos, your colors, and your own web address. There is a 14 day free trial, and when you get stuck a real person answers, usually within minutes.
Setting up your online booth
Pick the name on the door
Choose something you can say out loud in one breath and spell after hearing it once. If you already have a name for your market table, use the same one online so people can find you twice.
Start with six bakes, not twenty
List the things you can bake well on a normal week, not the showstoppers you make twice a year. Six solid items with clear prices beat a long list you cannot keep up with.
Price the box, not just the bake
Add up ingredients, the box, the label, and your time before you type a number. Then check it against what your market customers already pay.
Set up how you get paid before you announce
Decide on card payments and the cash apps you will accept, and write your pickup or delivery rules in one short paragraph. Do this first so the first order does not catch you flat.
Share one link everywhere
Put the link in your texts, on your market sign, and in your social posts. One link, same place every time, so nobody has to hunt for you.
It has to work on your phone
You will not be sitting at a desk when most orders come in. Brevl works on a computer and on a phone, so you can answer a question in the school pickup line and check your orders from the kitchen. If you want to see how this compares with the big sites, read best website to sell baked goods and online flea market website.
If you are still working out what the whole flea market world looks like, start with what is a flea market. And when you are ready to plan your first in person day alongside your online shop, sell at a flea market walks you through setup and getting paid.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check your own state's cottage food rules before you sell, and talk to a tax professional about your situation.