Can You Sell Food on Etsy?

What Etsy's Prohibited Items Policy says about food

Etsy has no food ban. Food shows up in the policy's section on illegal and highly regulated items, in a list of items that may be subject to regulation, next to plants and seeds and children's products. Etsy's message to food sellers is short:

The same section adds that a listing may be unavailable in regions where the item is restricted, and that breaking the policy can cost a seller their selling privileges. Etsy doesn't check your food law for you. That part is yours.

Alcohol, herbs and health claims

Three parts of the policy matter for food:

• ✓Alcohol is prohibited. Baked goods containing alcohol are on Etsy's list of what is allowed, with a mini baba au rum cake as its example.
• ✓Drugs and certain herbal substances are prohibited, including substances used for recreational and medicinal purposes, regardless of their legality.
• ✓The policy covers any item that claims to treat, prevent, mitigate, cure or diagnose a disease or medical condition.

For a food seller, the claims rule lives in your listing text. A tea described as a cure for colds is no longer just a tea under this policy, so describe flavor, ingredients and how it's made, and leave health promises out.

Selling food on Etsy: what Etsy tells food sellers

The policy's link for food products leads to an Etsy Seller Handbook article on selling food online. Two lines in it are about labels:

The article also asks you to point out common allergens such as nuts and dairy. Under federal law, the major food allergens are milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame, and the label names the specific tree nut, fish or shellfish.

Can I sell food on Etsy from my home kitchen?

Etsy leaves the food law to you, and for home cooks that means the cottage food law. Three questions decide whether an Etsy shop works: can you sell online, can you ship, and can you sell to other states?

Plenty of states don't allow shipping at all. Texas, Washington and Connecticut require in-person delivery, which rules out a normal Etsy order unless the buyer is local and you hand the food over yourself.

Selling food on Etsy to every state

A shop that ships nationwide needs food made outside the cottage food rules. California sends sellers who want to sell out of state to a licensed food facility. Indiana requires a permitted food establishment for shipping to other states, and New York a licensed food processing facility for shipping across state lines.

With a license, the full federal label applies: statement of identity, net quantity, ingredient list, allergens, the name and address of the maker or distributor and, in most cases, a Nutrition Facts panel. Our tool builds that label from the recipe you already use, with help picking the serving size from FDA reference amounts and every number rounded the FDA way.

Your Etsy food label

An Etsy buyer sees your listing first and your label when the box arrives, so make them match. Type the recipe into our tool and check each USDA match. It returns the ingredient statement ordered by weight, with components in parentheses, and the Contains line. Copy the same ingredient wording into your listing description, add your state's home-kitchen statement to the label and print it: PDF at actual size, PNG at 600 dpi or Avery sheets on US Letter.

Official sources