The Homegrown Vendor Blog

Facebook Marketplace is a free way to reach local buyers, but it works differently than a storefront. This guide covers what to list, how to handle inquiries and payment, cottage food compliance, and how to think about Marketplace as part of a broader sales approach.

Once you have more than a handful of pre-orders, managing them in your head stops working. This guide covers simple systems for tracking pre-orders, communicating with customers, preparing for pickup day, and avoiding the mistakes that frustrate regulars.

Packaging protects your product, communicates what it is, and can make or break a first impression at your booth. This guide covers practical packaging options by product type, label basics, and where to source everything affordably.

If people keep asking where to buy what you make, that's your market research. This guide covers what actually changes when you start selling, how to price your food for real profit, and the lowest-overhead ways to test demand before committing to a weekly market.

Community events are one of the most accessible ways to start selling food locally. This guide covers permits, product selection, pricing, booth setup, and how to use community events to build your local customer base.

Craft fairs and festivals bring higher foot traffic but require different preparation than a weekly market. This guide covers permits, product selection, booth setup, and how to turn one-time event buyers into long-term customers.

Repeat customers are more valuable than new ones — they cost nothing to bring back and send others your way. This guide covers the practical steps that turn a first-time buyer into a loyal regular.

Instagram is one of the most natural platforms for food vendors — your products are visual, your customers are local. This guide covers what to post, how to set up your bio, and how to use Instagram to drive more Saturday sales.

An email list lets you reach your regulars directly — no algorithm, no guesswork. This guide covers how to collect signups at your booth, which free tools to use, and what to actually send each week.