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Short answers about buying homemade food, selling from a home kitchen, and your account.
Mesa is a marketplace for homemade food. Independent cottage-food makers list what they cook and bake at home, and you buy it straight from them. We run the site and the payments, and we keep track of each state's cottage-food rules so listings match them. We don't cook the food, and we don't inspect kitchens.
Usually not. Food here is made in home kitchens, which typically aren't inspected by a health authority. Every listing says so and shows its ingredients and allergens, so read them before you order.
Browse, search, or pick your city, add what you want to your basket, and check out. One basket can hold food from several kitchens. Each kitchen sets its own pickup times or delivery area, so one checkout can become more than one order.
It depends on the kitchen. Most orders are picked up from the maker or delivered by them nearby. Since most food is made after you order, the kitchen confirms the pickup or delivery time when it accepts.
You pay Mesa once for the whole basket, by card, and we pay each kitchen its share when the order is complete. Card details are handled by our payment provider, so we never see or store your full card number.
Message the maker from your order first; most things get sorted out quickly. If the food never arrived, arrived unsafe, or doesn't match the listing, contact us and we can cancel or refund it. Refunds go back to your card and can take several business days to show on your statement.
Once you've paid, you can't cancel it yourself. Most food is made to order, so message the maker from your order as soon as you can and ask; whether they can still cancel depends on how far along your food is. If a maker declines or cancels your order, or doesn't accept it in time, you're refunded in full automatically. A checkout you don't finish paying for is released after about 30 minutes, and you aren't charged. Once food has been handed over, refunds are for problems with the order, not a change of mind.
Read every listing: ingredients and allergens are required before anything goes live. Home kitchens also cook other foods, so cross-contact is possible. If a listing is unclear, message the maker before you buy. With a serious allergy, homemade food may not be a safe choice.
Home cooks in a state we've opened who finish that state's checklist. Opening a kitchen is free, and nothing is public until your checklist is done and you publish a listing.
Right now: Texas. We open a state only after our team has set up its rules, so we never copy one state's list onto another.
Cottage-food laws are written state by state. What you can sell, how it's labeled, and whether it can be delivered change at the border, and legislatures keep rewriting them. We keep a rulebook for each state we open, update it when the law changes, and check listings against the current version. It isn't legal advice, and it may not cover every rule that applies to you.
No, anyone can browse. You need a free account to check out, message a maker, leave a review, or save favorites. Anything in your basket before you sign in moves to your account when you do.
Choose "Forgot password?" on the sign-in page and we'll email you a link that works for one hour. Setting a new password signs you out on your other devices. If the email never arrives, or you can't use that inbox anymore, contact us and we'll help you back in.
Yes. Choose "Continue with Google" or "Continue with Facebook" when you sign in or create an account. If you already have an account with the same email, and you've confirmed that email with us, they're joined; otherwise sign in with your password first and connect Google or Facebook under Account, then Settings. We only ask them for your name and email, and never post anything.
No. We limit listings using the rules our team sets up for each state. That isn't legal advice and may not capture every requirement for your business. You're the food producer, and you're responsible for the food you make.
Yes, keep posting where people already follow you. Write this week's batch as a menu post (what you're making, how many, when orders close, and when pickup is), share the caption, and put the link in your bio. People pay through that link instead of in your messages, and it shows sold out on its own when the batch is gone.
8% + 30¢ on each completed order. There's no monthly fee and no listing fee, so you only pay when you sell. The fee comes out of the order before your payout.
After the order is marked complete, once the food has changed hands. If you haven't finished setting up payouts, the money waits for you until you do.
No. We don't inspect kitchens, and we don't act for any health authority. We ask for what your state's rules require, and we check each listing against those rules before it goes live.
A passkey signs you in with your fingerprint, face, or device PIN instead of a password. Your phone, computer, or password manager keeps it, it only works on Mesa, and it can't be guessed or phished. Add one under Account, then Settings, then Passkeys, and choose "Sign in with a passkey" next time.
Go to Account, then Settings, then Two-step sign-in. Choose an authenticator app on your phone, or a code we email you, and confirm with your password. After that, signing in takes your password and a code. With an app, save the recovery codes we show you: each one gets you in once if you lose your phone. Got a new phone, or rather get codes by email? Choose Change: your old codes keep working until the new way is set up. If you're stuck without a code, contact us.
Go to Account, then Settings, then Delete account, and confirm with your password. It removes your name, contact details, photo, saved addresses, favorites, and basket, and signs you out everywhere. Kitchens keep their records of orders you placed, and your reviews stay up as "Former customer." If you own a kitchen, have a paid order still in progress, or have admin access, the page tells you what to settle first.
There isn't a download button yet. Write to us from the contact page, using the email on your account so we can match the request. We keep order, payment, and compliance records for as long as we need them to run the marketplace and meet our obligations.
The terms of service explain how the marketplace works and who is responsible for what. The privacy policy explains what we collect and who we share it with. How eligibility works explains the rules that decide what can be listed. All three are linked at the bottom of every page.