Frequently asked questions

Lifetime Lock means your $19/mo never goes up — even if we raise prices for new bakers later. We cap it at the first 100 sign-ups so the offer stays sustainable for a bootstrapped company. There's no asterisk: same software, same support, just the price-lock guarantee.

No. Zero transaction fees. Stripe charges its standard ~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction directly — you keep your own Stripe account, and we never see the money. Your $19/mo subscription covers everything we do.

Update cottage_state in your dashboard. The platform adapts: label disclosures change, revenue caps update, and any state-specific permit prompts appear. Texas is permit-free; California Class B requires a county permit; each state is wired in.

Standard Stripe fees apply to your customer transactions — approximately 2.9% + $0.30 each. CottageOps does not add anything on top. The fees go straight from Stripe to Stripe.

Yes. CSV import is built in and accepts the Castiron schema as of 2026-04-25. Upload your Castiron export and we auto-detect the columns; menu items, prices, and customer lists land in one click.

We're bootstrapped — no VC pressure to grow at all costs. If we ever shut down, we commit to 90 days' notice and a full CSV export of every baker's data (menu, customers, orders). We are not a marketplace. You own your customer list.

Customers see your pickup window time, not your home address. The address only becomes visible after a customer has paid for a specific order. This is enforced at the API layer of the platform — not as a togglable setting — so a misconfiguration can't leak your address to the public storefront.

Depends on your state. Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, and California Class A do not require a state permit. California Class B does. CottageOps is software — we don't issue or substitute for permits. Check your state's cottage-food law before selling.

Allergens, the cottage-food disclosure required by your state, a batch number, and your baker info — all formatted to your state's rules and printable in 30 seconds. The platform regenerates the label whenever ingredients change so you don't ship out-of-date disclosures.

Yes. Monthly cancels at the end of the current billing period. Annual is non-refundable except for a material defect we caused. Lifetime-Lock is fully refundable within 30 days of purchase as a soft trial. See the refund policy for the full breakdown.

Yes. The first 100 bakers get a 30-minute Zoom call directly with the founder — menu walkthrough, pickup schedule, first state-compliant label generated together. After 100, onboarding moves to self-serve videos plus async email support.

Most bakers are live within an hour of the onboarding call. If you're importing from Castiron, the import takes a few minutes; the call covers the rest (label preview, pickup windows, first test order).