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How to Sell Your Farm Products Online

Every way to sell farm products online, from pre-orders and CSA shares to meat by weight, wholesale, and shipping, with tips on pricing, SNAP, and marketing.

Peony in bloom on a flower farm

Updated October 2026

The short answer: Most farms sell online in five ways: pre-orders for pickup or delivery, CSA subscriptions, meat and bulk orders by weight, wholesale to restaurants and stores, and shipping for shelf-stable goods. Choose the channels that fit your farm, use a platform built for farm sales, make ordering easy with clear cutoffs and pickup times, accept SNAP, and start by marketing to customers you already have.

The five ways farms sell online

Channel

Best for

How it works

Pre-orders for pickup or delivery

Produce, eggs, flowers, baked goods

Customers order during the week and pick up at your farm, stand, or market

CSA subscriptions

Vegetable, fruit, flower, meat, and egg farms

Members pay for a season of shares, up front or in installments

Meat and bulk orders by weight

Livestock farms

Customers reserve cuts or animals and pay the final price after weighing

Wholesale

Farms with steady volume

Restaurants, grocers, and schools order at wholesale prices with terms

Shipping

Honey, jam, wool, soap, and dried goods

Customers anywhere order and you ship

Step 1: Start with the customers you already have

Your market regulars, CSA members, and neighbors are your first online customers. Collect emails at your stand with a sign-up sheet or QR code, and tell people they can now order ahead.

Step 2: Choose a farm-specific platform

General ecommerce tools assume products ship from a warehouse. Farms need pickup days, harvest-based inventory, weights, CSA shares, and SNAP. Compare the real yearly cost, and ask who owns the platform you're building your business on. See our comparison of farm sales platforms.

Step 3: Make ordering easy

  • Set a clear order cutoff and pickup window.

  • Keep your product list current, and hide items as they sell out.

  • Use real photos and plain names.

  • Send pickup reminders automatically.

  • Offer a single customer account so repeat orders take seconds.

Step 4: Price for online sales

  • Include packing time and packaging in your prices.

  • Set a delivery fee or minimum order.

  • Use bundles, like a weekly veggie box or a grilling pack, to raise order size.

  • Let customers cover platform fees. On GrownBy, farms can make the co-op fee an optional or required customer contribution, and in 2024, 60% of customers chose to cover all fees.

Tractor cultivating vegetable rows

Step 5: Accept SNAP Online

Tens of millions of Americans use SNAP. Accepting it online lets those families pre-order from you and pick up like any other customer. GrownBy was the first farm platform approved by the USDA for SNAP Online, it's free for farms, and our team will guide you through certification.

Step 6: Market your farm store

  • Send a short weekly email listing what's available, with one photo.

  • Post on Instagram and Facebook on harvest day, with your store link in your profile.

  • Claim your Google Business Profile and add your store link.

  • Put a QR code on your market sign, egg cartons, and bags.

  • Partner with a workplace, school, or church as a pickup site.

  • Run targeted Meta or Google ads, and track the results in your farm dashboard.

Step 7: Add channels as you grow

Many farms start with pre-orders, add a CSA in their second season, then add wholesale accounts and a register for in-person sales. Choosing a platform that supports every channel from one inventory saves you from switching later.

How GrownBy helps farms sell online

GrownBy is the farmer-owned platform for selling online, at markets, and wholesale. More than 1,300 farms across the US and Canada use it to sell CSA shares, pre-orders, meat by weight, flowers, and wholesale orders. You can start on a $0/month plan with no setup fee, and every farm that sells on GrownBy can become a member-owner of the cooperative.

  • Online store with unlimited products, schedules, and customers

  • Pickup, delivery, and shipping

  • CSA shares, custom boxes, and installments

  • Variable weights and order editing

  • GrownBy Register for markets and farm stores, with SNAP/EBT

  • GrownBy Wholesale for restaurants and stores

  • Free SNAP Online

  • Meta and Google ads tracking for your farm store

  • A shopper app where customers discover local farms

Frequently asked questions

What's the best way for a small farm to sell online?

Pre-orders for pickup are the easiest start. Customers order during the week and pick up at your farm or market, so there's no shipping and little waste.

What's the best platform to sell farm products online?

Choose one built for farms with pickup schedules, weights, CSA tools, and SNAP. GrownBy offers all of these, starts at $0/month, and is owned by the farmers who use it.

Can I sell farm products online without a website?

Yes. A GrownBy store has its own link you can share on social media, in emails, and on QR codes.

Can I accept SNAP online?

Yes, if your farm is authorized by USDA FNS. GrownBy provides SNAP Online for free.

Book a demo to start selling online with GrownBy.

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