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From custom cookies and garlic noodles to empanadas, Dubai chocolate strawberries and much more, Facebook Marketplace has emerged as a platform to connect buyers with sellers – including vendors of homemade food and drinks – since its launch a decade ago.
A quick local search of the Menlo Park company’s platform on any given day brings up many edible items for sale within an adjustable radius. Facebook Marketplace is free to use for sellers arranging local pickups and direct payments, making it appealing for those looking to reach potential buyers in their community, users say, although there are some risks involved.
We spoke with several Peninsula bakers about their experiences using the platform to sell their homemade food – and checked in with local public health departments about the official rules sellers are meant to follow.
In Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, people can legally sell certain foods made in home kitchens directly to the public if they have a cottage food operation (CFO) permit or a permit for a microenterprise home kitchen operation (MEHKO), as referenced in California Retail Food Code 113758(b)(4). Permitted cottage food operators may sell food products that are likely to be safe at room temperature, as determined by a list from the California Department of Public Health.
“Environmental Health encourages community members to be cautious when purchasing food from unverified sources, including online food sales through social media platforms,” a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said in an email. “Unpermitted food sales can pose serious health risks including food poisoning, especially when food is prepared in home kitchens that are not designed for major food production, and the food operator does not follow basic food safety practices.”
Redwood City baker Erin Kudrov, who cooks using the name K’s Sweet and Savory, got her cottage food operation permit about a year ago and has been selling baked goods, including pies, cakes, cookies and brownies, on Facebook Marketplace for about six months.
She spent 20 years in the corporate culinary world before embarking on her own home baking endeavor. She documents her culinary projects and processes on other social media sites, including YouTube and Instagram, and also sells via the online community platform Nextdoor.
Kudrov has also done some pop-up events and hopes to do more in the future. Peanut butter brownies, mint chocolate brownies, colorful cupcakes and other custom treats are among her most popular products, she said.
“The only obstacle I kind of find with selling online, or even from my home in general, is getting myself out there, because I don’t have a storefront so (I’m) trying to be the baker, the picture taker, all in one,” she said.
Most of Kudrov’s sales have come through word of mouth rather than social media, although there have been periods of Facebook Marketplace success, such as during Thanksgiving, when she received several pie orders through the platform.
Facebook provides an easy way to advertise her products, although she suspects that many food vendors using the site do not have the county permits to sell homemade food, which she finds frustrating.
“I’m finding a lot of people I’m 99% sure do not have a cottage license that are trying to sell, and there’s so many of them that it’s competition,” she said.
“One of the things that you have to advertise when you’re placing an ad is your permit number and the city or county you’re permitted through,” Kudrov added. “(But) it’s not like Facebook is vetting these people to make sure they’re obeying the laws; that’s not their job.”
Facebook Marketplace does review posts before approving them, and it has a list of restricted and prohibited items. Although there is not a “food” category, food and beverage posts are apparently allowed regularly. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, posts its commerce rules, which state that buyers and sellers must comply with the company’s terms and policies and “all applicable laws and regulations.”
(Meta did not reply to requests from this news organization for more information on policies or oversight regarding food and beverages for sale on Facebook Marketplace.)
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department spokesperson said that “CFOs and MEHKO operators must include their permit number on social media profiles or posts.” And according to an emailed statement from San Mateo County Health Communications Officer Preston Merchant, “Environmental Health Services periodically checks online food sales platforms for unpermitted vendors and pursues enforcement if they are identified.”
Kudrov, who said she’s never purchased food from Facebook Marketplace herself, joined a cottage food business group on Facebook, where she can interact with other home cooks and bakers and learn about various regulations and rules in different parts of the country.
When it comes to Facebook Marketplace (and any online sales), “I’m trying to focus on myself and how to get my business known and out there, and I make it known that I’m a licensed baker. That’s one of the first things I put in my ads,” she said.
She hopes to eventually apply for a MEHKO permit so she can legally sell a greater variety of food types, including smoked meats.
“I have to do research on that and get more information before I even think about jumping into that part of it,” she said. “I figure baby steps; one step at a time.”
Palo Alto home baker Nina Taylor did not yet have a cottage food permit at the time of her interview with this news organization, and she’s not alone among Marketplace sellers.
“I sometimes am the kind of person that’s like, ‘Let’s leap, let’s go,’ then I realized, I should have actually looked some of these things up,” she said of posting her artisan sourdough bread for sale before getting county authorization.
While she’s confident in her knowledge of food safety because she’s had a food handler card for several years, she does plan on pursuing a cottage food permit.
“It’s something I’m considering doing because, of course, I don’t want to get in trouble; I don’t want folks to feel uncomfortable,” she said. The process, she said, is on her “list of 2026 goals to tackle.”
Taylor has always liked to cook, although it wasn’t until last year that she was given a sourdough starter and fell in love with baking fresh loaves and experimenting with flavors. Friends and family took enthusiastic notice, and soon she was baking multiple times a week and considering their suggestion that she should sell her bread. She wasn’t sure how to get started, but as she began pondering, her social media algorithm kicked into gear and she realized Facebook Marketplace was being used by other home chefs.
“This could be an entry point for me to get my loaves to market,” she realized. “Listing on Facebook is very intuitive, very easy.” She had bought food via Facebook in the past, and that positive interaction also helped inspire her.
“I have purchased custom sugar cookies from another at-home baker and they were phenomenal … I’ve returned to them a couple of times for different things,” Taylor said. “I figured, ‘Well, that seemed to be pretty successful.'”
At the time of this interview, Taylor had only been selling for a few weeks but had already completed over a dozen orders and was about to prepare more. She enjoys experimenting with flavors including Asiago cheese, cheddar and jalapeno, Hatch chile, lemon-blueberry, and a croissant loaf with a flaky cinnamon-sugar exterior.
“I’ve become really proud of the product I put out,” she said. “I’m hoping (customers) can really taste the love in the loaf.”
When posting on Facebook Marketplace, she typically chooses a 15-mile radius, keeping sales on the Midpeninsula. Customers can pick up their orders at her home or she will meet up with them or drop off loaves at an agreed-upon location. Taylor aims to make the process communicative and fun, offering each customer photos and notes on their loaf’s “journey.”
“Everyone’s always been really excited about the communications along the way,” she said, noting that the updates “pressure test” buyers’ follow-through to complete the orders. She doesn’t require deposits or advance payments, and so far she said all customers have been responsive.
“I don’t really have anything to lose from that perspective. If someone backs out, then guess what? I have a delicious sourdough loaf I can give to someone or make a delicious sandwich for my husband,” she said.
One home baker in Sunnyvale, who asked that their name not be used because they have applied for a cottage food permit but not yet received it, said the casual nature of Facebook Marketplace means that transactions do sometimes fall through.
“I have had instances where people will message me and then I bake fresh for them and then they never show up and completely ghost me,” they said. “Since I’m just starting, I don’t have a big operation or anything. I don’t have a big volume of orders; I’m treading lightly until I get my license.” They now ask for a deposit since they bake on demand for each order.
Los Altos teen and Castilleja School student Chloe Chiang has been baking for five years and selling her products on Facebook Marketplace and Instagram for the past four under the name flourbored. Her specialty is Japanese milk bread, a sweet and fluffy bread made with the Tangzhong method, using a roux that helps the bread stay fresher longer than other types.
“My special twist is, I add special flavors and swirl them inside,” said Chiang, who has offered options such as matcha, black sesame, pumpkin chai and lemon. A current bestseller is matcha pineapple milk bread, inspired by the popular Hong Kong pineapple bun dessert.
When she got started, she and her parents knew of other youth bakers selling baked goods without permits, “so I thought it would be OK, but the idea was I did want to scale my business … and to become more reputable,” she said.
Last year, she obtained her cottage food license, which she said was a smooth process, and has now created a website for flourbored, adding new products such as hojicha cookie bark.
Building connections with your customers, she said, is key for small operations like hers. She arranges order pickups at a nearby public park and appreciates the opportunity to meet customers in person.
“If you want to start local it makes sense to have that pickup option; you get to have your face out there more,” she said.
Chiang thinks it would be fun to open a brick-and-mortar bakery sometime in the future, but for now she’s happy with the side hustle, baking on Wednesdays and weekends. Her advice for selling on Facebook? Make sure to repost your listings every so often, and when potential customers reach out, “Respond quickly to people,” she said.
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