How to sell baked goods online in Michigan (2026)

Yes, you can now sell homemade baked goods online in Michigan. Since March 24, 2026, the cottage food law allows online, mail-order and delivery sales as long as every buyer is in Michigan, each item is packaged and labeled before it's sold, and the buyer gets a chance to talk with you, in person or on a live video call, before buying. Your gross sales can't go over $50,000 a year.

This guide covers what the law actually says, how to meet the "directly interact" rule without slowing every order down, how to take payment, how to get orders to buyers, and how to pick a place to sell. It ends with a launch checklist.

What changed for online sales in 2026?

Michigan's cottage food law is one section of the Food Law, MCL 289.4102. It was amended by 2025 Public Act 51 (House Bill 4122), which took effect on March 24, 2026. For online sellers, the amendment did three things:

• It spells out that online, mail-order and third-party delivery sales are allowed. They come with two conditions: you sell only to consumers in Michigan, and the buyer has a chance to directly interact with you before the sale.
• It set the annual sales cap at $50,000, or $75,000 if you sell products priced at $250 or more per unit (think tiered wedding cakes).
• It defined "directly interact." It includes a face-to-face meeting or a virtual meeting where both people can see and hear each other.

Everything else stayed the same. You still don't need a license, you still bake in your own home kitchen, and you still label every product. The Michigan cottage food law guide covers the whole law. This article sticks to selling online.

What rules does every online order have to meet?

Think of these as a checklist that every order runs through. If an order fails one of them, it's outside the cottage food exemption.

How do you meet the "directly interact" rule?

This is the rule most sellers ask about, because it's new and the wording is specific.

Two things stand out.

The law requires an opportunity, not a meeting. Nothing in the text says every buyer has to take you up on it. What matters is that the option is real and offered before the sale.

The definition points to in-person or live video. Two-way video, like FaceTime, Google Meet or Zoom, fits the definition exactly. Email, a contact form, or a text thread alone doesn't match it. The statute says "includes," so the list may not be complete, and MDARD's FAQ describes the rule as "an opportunity to speak to the cottage food operator." Until MDARD says otherwise, the safe choice is to always offer an in-person or live video option.

Practical ways to offer it

• Put a video-call booking link on your shop. A scheduling link where buyers can book a short video chat before they order. Put it next to your menu and in your order confirmation step, not buried in an "About" page.
• Say it in plain words at checkout. Something like: "Want to talk before you order? Book a quick video call or ask to meet at pickup." That shows the opportunity exists at the moment of sale.
• Offer a pre-order chat for custom work. For cakes and custom cookie sets, a short video consult is useful anyway. You confirm the design, the date and any allergy concerns.
• Use pickup as a face-to-face option for repeat buyers. A regular who picks up from your porch every week has met you. For new buyers, the video option still needs to be there before the first sale.

What can you sell online?

The same foods you can sell at a farmers market: shelf-stable foods that don't need refrigeration. MDARD's allowed categories include:

• Cakes & Cupcakes. Shelf-stable icings, fondant, or one of MDARD's two approved buttercream recipes — no cream cheese frosting, custard, or whipped cream.
• Cookies & Bars. Cookies, brownies, blondies, decorated sugar cookies.
• Breads. Sourdough, loaves, rolls, bagels, quick breads. Shredded hard cheese or dried vegetables in the dough are fine; fresh vegetables and soft cheese aren't.
• Pies & Pastries. Baked fruit pies, muffins, scones, hand pies — no pumpkin, custard, cream, or meringue pies.
• Candy & Chocolate. Fudge, caramels, brittle, hard candy, chocolate-covered treats, freeze-dried candy — no caramel apples or alcohol.
• Jams & Jellies. Full-sugar fruit jams and jellies only — no pepper jelly, low-sugar jam, fruit butters, or pickles.
• Granola & Snacks. Granola, popcorn, trail mix, coated nuts, nut butters, dry cereal.
• Dry Mixes & Pantry. Baking and soup mixes, dried herbs, spice blends, roasted coffee, dried pasta, dry tea.

Common online sellers that are not allowed: cheesecake, pumpkin pie, custard and cream pies, anything with cream cheese frosting, caramel apples, hot pepper jelly and other vegetable jams, low-sugar jams, fruit butters, and dried sourdough starter. Buttercream is only allowed if it's made exactly from one of MDARD's two lab-tested recipes.

Some items technically allowed are still a poor fit for shipping, like fully decorated celebration cakes. What you can sell under Michigan cottage food law has the full list with the edge cases.

How do buyers get their order?

The law allows pickup, delivery and shipping, all within Michigan. Most home bakers start with pickup and add the others later.

One rule catches people: MDARD says a farm stop or other retail market can't act as a pickup point for pre-sold cottage food. The food can't be held at a retail location for buyers to collect. Details, plus packing advice, are in Michigan cottage food shipping and delivery rules.

How do you label products sold online?

Labels work the same online as at a market. Every item must be labeled before it's sold, so the label goes on the package the buyer receives. A photo of the label on your website doesn't replace it.

Every label needs:

1. Your operation's name and physical address (no P.O. boxes), or your name, phone number and MSU registration number
2. The product name
3. All ingredients in descending order by weight, including sub-ingredients
4. Net weight or volume, with the metric equivalent (for example, "Net Wt. 12 oz (340 g)")
5. Allergens, using federal rules (the major allergens are milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, sesame)
6. This statement, in at least the equivalent of 11-point type: Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Custom cakes that can't carry a label can have all label information on the invoice, delivered with the cake. Michigan cottage food label requirements has examples and a template.

Listing ingredients and allergens on your online menu isn't required by the cottage food law, but it helps buyers with allergies decide before they order.

How should you take payment?

You have three common options, and you can mix them.

• Pay in person. Cash or a card reader at pickup. No online fees, but some buyers won't show up for orders they haven't paid for.
• Payment apps. Buyers send money through an app after messaging you. It works for a handful of orders but gets messy fast. Orders live in your DMs, and nothing ties a payment to an order.
• Card checkout on your own storefront. The buyer pays when they order. Card processing through a processor such as Stripe typically costs 2.9% + 30¢ per card payment. That fee comes from the processor, not from the storefront platform.

Whichever you use, keep a record of every sale. MDARD can ask for written documentation of your gross sales, and you need it to stay under the cap. Gross sales means everything you take in, before costs.

A note on taxes: payment platforms send a Form 1099-K once your payments exceed $20,000 across more than 200 transactions in a year, but your income is taxable whether you get one or not. Business income goes on Schedule C, and self-employment tax applies once net earnings reach $400. Typical bakery items sold packaged and without utensils are generally not subject to Michigan sales tax. Michigan cottage food sales tax explains the exceptions.

Where should you sell online?

There are three broad options. The biggest difference between them is how you pay: a percentage of every order or a flat monthly fee.

The math is simple. If a platform takes 5% of each order and you sell $20,000 in a year, that's $1,000 to the platform. A flat plan at $10 a month costs $120 a year, whatever you sell. Card processing costs about the same either way.

Some specifics, as of September 2026:

• Castiron, once a popular home-baker storefront, is no longer operating. If your shop was there, you'll need a new home for it. See Castiron alternatives for Michigan sellers.
• Hotplate has no monthly fee. Sellers pay card processing of 2.9% + $0.30, and customers see a 5% + $0.55 fee on their subtotal at checkout. It's built around scheduled "drops."
• MyPorch charges a flat monthly subscription and says it never takes a percentage. It's free for your first 10 orders.
• Ajinto charges $10 or $20 a month with no cut of orders. Its checkout only accepts Michigan addresses, every shop has a contact and optional video-chat link, and it includes a label maker and a sales-cap tracker.

Whatever you choose, check that it lets you:

• Limit delivery and shipping to Michigan
• Show a way to meet in person or by video before the sale
• Keep an order history you can use to track your cap

Example: a Grand Rapids sourdough baker goes online

Here's a made-up example of how the rules work for one seller.

A home baker in Grand Rapids sells sourdough loaves and cinnamon rolls at a Saturday market and wants weekday orders too. She sets up a storefront with a menu of six items, a Thursday pickup window on her porch, and local delivery within 10 miles for a flat fee.

Her shop shows a "Book a 5-minute video chat" link above the checkout button, and her pickup page invites buyers to say hello at the door. The frosted cinnamon rolls use a simple powdered sugar and water glaze, not cream cheese frosting. Every bag gets a printed label with her address, ingredients, allergens (wheat, milk, eggs), net weight in ounces and grams, and the home-kitchen statement.

She doesn't ship the bread, because it's best within a day or two. She does ship her dry pancake mix to buyers across Michigan. Her order history doubles as her sales record for the cap.

Your launch checklist

1. Confirm every product is allowed. Check each item against MDARD's list, paying close attention to frostings and fillings.
2. Check local rules. Ask your city or township about home-business zoning and your county clerk about a DBA if you're using a business name.
3. Decide on the MSU registration. It's optional and costs up to $50 once. It lets you put a phone number and registration number on labels instead of your home address.
4. Make your labels. Include all six required elements, with net weights in both US and metric units.
5. Pick your fulfillment methods. Start with pickup and add delivery or Michigan shipping once pickup runs smoothly.
6. Set up the interaction option. Add a video-call link and a line at checkout offering a chat or meeting before purchase.
7. Choose a platform and payment method. Compare the percentage cost at your expected sales to a flat fee.
8. Restrict sales to Michigan. Make sure your checkout refuses out-of-state delivery and shipping addresses.
9. Set up record-keeping. Track gross sales by month so you know where you stand against $50,000.
10. Price for profit. Include packaging, labels, fees and your time. How to price baked goods walks through it.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to sell baked goods online in Michigan?

Yes. Since March 24, 2026, Michigan's cottage food law allows online, mail-order and delivery sales to consumers in Michigan, as long as the buyer has a chance to interact with you in person or on live video before the sale.

Do I need a license to sell baked goods online in Michigan?

No. Cottage food operations are exempt from licensing and inspection, and MDARD has no application or registration. You still have to follow the labeling, product, sales cap and home-kitchen rules. See do you need a cottage food license in Michigan.

Can I ship baked goods to other states from Michigan?

Not under the cottage food exemption. Online, mail-order and delivery sales can only go to consumers in Michigan.

Does a contact form or email count as "directly interacting"?

Probably not on its own. The statute defines it as a face-to-face meeting or a virtual meeting where both people can see and hear each other. Offer an in-person or live video option to be safe, and ask MDARD at MDARD-CottageFood@michigan.gov if you want to rely on something else.

Can I sell homemade baked goods on Facebook Marketplace or Instagram?

Michigan's law doesn't ban any particular website or app. The same rules apply everywhere: Michigan buyers only, a chance to interact first, labeled products and allowed foods. Each platform also has its own policies on selling food, so check those.

How much can I sell online per year?

Up to $50,000 in gross sales a year, or $75,000 if you sell products priced at $250 or more per unit. That cap covers all your sales combined: online, markets and pickup. MDARD may adjust the caps for inflation starting October 1, 2026. The Michigan cottage food sales limit explains how it works.

Sources

• MCL 289.4102, Michigan Legislature
• MDARD: Cottage food
• MDARD: Getting started and FAQ
• MDARD: What can I make?
• MDARD: Labeling
• MSU Product Center: Cottage food voluntary registration
• Michigan Department of Treasury: Tax treatment of prepared food

This is general information, not legal advice.