about the business.

Home made, small batch fudge. No cream cheese used. No preservatives used. Made and shipped within 48 hours of order being placed. Online and via mail. Shipped ONLY Priority second Day mail via USPS.

Since the business is small and profit margin for at least the first year/season is not expected to be large. Purchasing or leasing a building with a kitchen(stove. storage) is not financially viable. would be looking to make fudge on homes(personal residence) kitchen stove and ship from town post office.

What are the town laws regarding the start of an online(orders being placed via website, with a shopping cart) business from a personal residence. Does it differ for those selling products through an EBay account? what special considerations since it is a food product are there? Can it be done at a personal residence? Does it have to be done in a commercially zoned area?
Would other "home based" business's (ie daycare) also fall under these laws?
No cars, or customers would be coming to the residence or the street for the product as there is no "store".

Dear MomTownie,

Good for you for starting a business!  As a small business owner in Massachusetts I can give some advice but you realy need to check with the town, a lawyer and accountant.

I would suggest you speak with someone at town hall quietly about what they may require from you.  Many people have such home businesses and sell items like gift baskets.  All you should might need to do is notify the town clerk you are a business in town and get a business certificate.  There should not be any zoning issue as you will not have any employees, cars, customers and you should not have issues with state regulation like those for daycare.

The Board of Health may need to inspect your kitchen for sanitation reasons since you are cooking.

You probably need to register with the state.  There should not be any sales tax issues as food is non-taxable.  Again, you will want an accountant to verify.  May depend on how much income you create and if you want to become incorporated as a business or LLC.

As far as I know, e-bay or any other web based business is the same.  If product is delivered by a third party (UPS, USPS, Fed Ex...) then it should be inter-state commerce and open to you without an sales taxes.

I hope this helps.  Good luck!  

Thank you Grete

I will try and get down to the town hall after the new year.I am not looking to make a "living" out of this. But I enjoy making the fudge and only need it to help pay for my other hobby and some extras around the house