How to sell baked goods online from home
To sell baked goods online from home, first check you're allowed to (in the UK you register with your council, free, at least 28 days before you start; in the US each state has its own cottage food law). Then bake to order: a short menu, an order cut-off, payment when people order, a pickup time they choose, and local delivery if you do it. Show allergen information before people order and again with the food. Below is each step, with an example shop.
We make Ginta. The example, Pane Bakehouse, is a made-up sourdough bakery in Ghent built as a demo with Ginta's Shop. Nothing here is legal advice; check the official rules where you bake.
1. Check the rules where you bake
United Kingdom. The government's guidance says that "if you supply food regularly to the public (for free or otherwise), you need to register as a food business", and that includes selling online or through social media. You register with your local authority at least 28 days before you start trading; registration "is free and can't be refused" (Starting a food business, GOV.UK). The same page links to the online registration and to guidance on running a food business from home.
Allergens when you sell at a distance. The Food Standards Agency's best-practice guidance says written allergen information should be available before the food is ordered, and "should also be provided upon delivery so the consumer can review it before eating the food" (Allergen information for non-prepacked foods). On a website, that means allergens on each product's page, and a note with every order.
United States. Home baking for sale falls under cottage food laws, and they are made by each state: what you may bake at home, where you may sell it, whether you may take orders online or ship them, and what the label must say all vary. Check with your state's department of agriculture or health before you start.
Elsewhere. Ask your local or national food safety authority what applies to baking at home and selling online.
2. Bake to order, with a cut-off
Selling from home works best when you know what to bake before you start. Pick a short menu, a weekly cut-off and the days people collect. Pane Bakehouse says it plainly at the top of its page: "Bread for the weekend, ordered by Thursday", and "Orders placed by Thursday 18:00 are ready from Friday morning."
Set a stock count on each item: it's the most you can bake that week. When it runs out, the item shows as sold out (Pane's Christmas stollen does) and nobody can order one you can't make. Seasonal bakes fit the same pattern; our Christmas pre-orders post walks through a full example.
3. Take payment when people order
Payment up front means no chasing transfers and fewer no-shows. With Ginta, buyers pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay on Stripe's checkout and the money goes to your own Stripe account; Ginta takes 0% and Stripe charges its card fee, for example 1.5% + €0.25 for a standard EEA card or 1.5% + 20p for a standard UK card (Stripe Ireland, Stripe UK). More on card payments with Stripe.
Some customers will still phone or message you. You can write the order yourself in Ginta and send them a payment link, or mark it as paid when they pay in cash.
4. Let people pick a pickup time
A pickup day and time chosen in the cart beats a free-text "when can you collect?". In Ginta's pickup with time slots you set the days and hours, slots every 15 to 120 minutes, how much notice you need, how many days ahead people can order, and how many orders fit one time. The buyer picks a day and time in the cart.
Pane Bakehouse collects Wednesday to Saturday, 7:30 to 14:00. Other tools do pickup too, with differences: Square's online ordering lets customers schedule pickup days ahead (Square help), while Squarespace's help centre says its customers "can't schedule a pickup time" (Squarespace help).
5. Local delivery, if you do it
Keep it simple: one delivery option for your area, a price, and an amount from which it's free. Pane delivers by bike courier anywhere in Ghent for €4, free on orders from €30, and the cart shows how much more the buyer needs for free delivery. In Ginta delivery options are set per country or group of countries, so name the area in the option ("Bike courier in Ghent") and say on the page where you deliver.
6. Cakes with names, boxes and gift cards
- Personal cakes. A product can ask the buyer for their own text, such as the name to pipe on a cake, and the text goes into the order.
- Boxes and sets. A weekend bread box at its own price. In Ginta a set uses each item's stock.
- Gift cards. Bread for someone else, emailed to the person the buyer names (gift cards).
7. Receipts and VAT
If you're registered for VAT, say whether prices include it. Ginta shows "Prices include VAT" (or "No VAT is charged") under prices and in the cart, and makes a numbered PDF receipt for every paid order with your seller details and the VAT part at your rate; Pane's demo uses 6% (receipts and VAT).
What it costs to start
Ginta's free plan includes the whole Shop: up to 25 products per website, pickup times, delivery,
receipts and card payments through your own Stripe, at a name.ginta.page address with a small "Made with Ginta"
badge. Your own domain starts at €5 a month (if you build with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or
€19 a month on Light with Ginta's AI (pricing). All of the Shop's features are on
Ginta Commerce, and bakery-specific ideas on websites for bakeries.
What Ginta doesn't do for a bakery: repeat deliveries or subscriptions (each order is a new order), or a till for the counter.
Questions
Do I need to register to sell cakes from home in the UK?
Yes, if you supply food to the public regularly, including online or through social media. GOV.UK says to register with your local authority at least 28 days before you start trading; it's free and can't be refused.
Can I sell baked goods online from home in the US?
Usually, within limits set by your state's cottage food law: which foods, where you sell, whether online orders or shipping are allowed, and the label. Check your state's department of agriculture or health.
How do I show allergens when selling online?
Put the allergens on each product's page so people see them before ordering, and include written allergen information with the order when it's collected or delivered, as the Food Standards Agency's guidance recommends.
Can customers choose a pickup time?
Yes, in shops that support time slots. In Ginta you set the days, hours, slot length, notice and how many orders fit one time, and buyers pick in the cart.
Written with AI help for Ginta, which Povilas runs; he also teaches a website-building course. The screenshots are from the real Ginta on the date above, and prices come from our pricing page.