Question
My wife wants to start selling baked goods on Ebay. Are there any regulations or license requirements involved? Thanks!
Answer
Here is eBay's policy on food items:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/food.html
Answer
Be sure to click on the SHOW link button on the eBay page displayed for the link in the post above which expands that eBay page which eBay initially shows. It looks short and sweet until you expand the page and the details jump out and drown you...
Note closely the requirements of Federal regulations and State licensing. You may have to deal with multiple States too, as some may regulate import of items into their State. There is also a possibility that the local Health Department would get involved too.
Answer
of course you could try listing them on here's
OCM marketplace, there is enough of us here that need feeding
any free samples available
need a test kitchen set up
let us know, we will certainly try to help any way we can
Answer
fictionman,
First and foremost, does your wife have access to a commercial kitchen? If not, she will have to get her own kitchen inspected and licensed, assuming your state allows the sale of food products made in a home kitchen. Generally this means following certain safety procedures, maintaining a pet-free environment, and possibly maintaining separate appliances for the business. She will probably also need some kind of food safety certification.
(I started up in a state that didn't allow sale of home-made food products, so I subleased a small portion of a commercial kitchen... and paid my rent in chocolate.)
Once she figures which government body (city, county, state) licenses her as a commercial food establishment, she can set up a meeting with the appropriate food safety inspector. That person should be able to give her more information or point her in the right direction on labeling and other regulations. As a small volume food producer she may request an exemption from some of the federal labeling requirements.
(BTW, I spoke with several caterers during my hunt for a kitchen to sublease. Many of them cooked out of their homes in the early days, in spite of the law in that state. Nevertheless, I think anyone who sells unlicensed food on eBay is taking a risk, since the listings create a nice trail of evidence, and licensed competitors may squeal on you.)
Please lt your wife know she can contact me by email if she wishes, since as a candy-maker I've dealt with similar issues starting up.
Ms. C.
Answer
My wife wants to start selling baked goods on eBay
Make a change from the many half baked goods on eBay