Seller FAQ

We pay you through Stripe — the payments platform behind companies like Shopify, Amazon, and Lyft. Before anyone can deposit money into your bank account, U.S. "Know Your Customer" law requires Stripe to verify your identity, so during onboarding it collects your legal name, date of birth, SSN (or just the last four), and bank details. That's a legal requirement to move money and prevent fraud — not Ovendrop being nosy. You enter all of it directly into Stripe's own encrypted forms: Ovendrop never sees or stores your SSN, full bank number, or government ID. We only ever see whether your account is verified and cleared for payouts. Stripe is PCI-certified and bank-level secure, trusted by millions of businesses — your sensitive information stays with them, not us.

No. Ovendrop operates under each state's cottage food law, which lets home bakers sell non-hazardous baked goods without a commercial kitchen, permit, or inspection. You'll register your address with us during onboarding and label your products with the required cottage food disclosure — we handle that part automatically on your listings. See our cottage food guide for the specifics in Florida and Minnesota.

Shelf-stable baked goods: cookies, brownies, breads, cakes without dairy-based frosting, candies, jams, and similar. Anything requiring refrigeration for food safety (cheesecakes, buttercream cakes, cream pies) is not allowed under cottage food law. If you're unsure about a specific product, check your state's approved list.

8% platform fee on each sale, deducted automatically before payout. During our launch, every new baker is enrolled as a founding baker and pays 4% (50% off) for the lifetime of their storefront — once the founding cohort fills, new signups will pay the standard 8%. There are no monthly fees, no listing fees, and no charge for unsold products. Buyers pay a small service fee at checkout on top of your price — that covers Stripe processing and our buyer-side costs and doesn't come out of your earnings.

Payouts run through Stripe Connect. Once you complete Stripe's quick onboarding (ID verification, bank account), earnings land in your bank on Stripe's rolling schedule — typically 2 business days after pickup confirmation. You can check your payout schedule and history in your dashboard.

Yes — sales tax on cottage food varies by state and locality, and you're responsible for collecting and remitting it if required in your jurisdiction. Ovendrop does not currently calculate tax at checkout. We recommend consulting your state's tax guidance or a local accountant.

Buyers come to you at a time you coordinate through the app. Your exact address stays private until you mark an order ready for pickup — buyers only see a general area (like "Near Orlando") beforehand. You can propose up to five pickup windows per order and finalize the exact time with the buyer in the order chat.

Buyers can cancel before you accept at no cost. After you accept, the buyer's 6.5% service fee is non-refundable, but the product total is refunded. If you need to cancel (e.g., you're out of an ingredient), the buyer is refunded in full and no platform fee is charged. We recommend communicating through the order chat before cancelling either way.

You'll tag each product with its major allergens (wheat, dairy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, soy, etc.) and list full ingredients. We display those prominently on your listings. Cottage food law requires accurate ingredient labeling — take this seriously; a missed allergen disclosure is one of the few things that can land a cottage food operator in real trouble.

Under cottage food law you can generally only sell to buyers in your own state, and often only within a limited distance. Ovendrop restricts your storefront to buyers in your registered state automatically. Interstate sale of cottage food is tightly regulated by the FDA and we don't support it.

Buyers can rate and review after pickup. If there's a problem — wrong order, something unsafe — buyers can flag the order and we'll mediate. Most issues resolve directly between baker and buyer in the order chat. Consistent serious issues can result in removal from the platform.