Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve put together a few answers to questions that are frequently asked. If you still have a question but don’t see an answer, please drop us a note.
Q. How do I get started with Food4All?
A. Sign Up as a Seller. Once you complete the form, we will send you a confirmation e-mail with a link to your next steps to set up your online store. We are always here to help at support@food4all.com.
Q. What are the fees associated with using Food4All?
A. Food4All does not charge Sellers to use the platform. However, we use Stripe to process credit cards. Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, plus a 0.5% fee on funds they deposit into your account. If you would like to avoid credit card fees, Food4All gives you the option to accept checks as a form of payment. There are no fees to Sellers for accepting checks.
Food4All adds 2.5% + $0.95, capped at $9.95 to the order total. This fee is paid by the Buyer directly to Food4All. When the Buyer checks out they see the fee as “Community Supported Software Fee.” We explain to Buyers that the Seller uses the technology at no cost. The community of Buyers support their local Seller by paying this small fee for each transaction.
If you are interested in a subscription instead of buyer paid fees, please inquire here.
Q. How do shoppers find me?
A. There are a multitude of ways a shopper can find your business and products within Food4All:
– Using the link we provide you in your account, you can set up a button on your website or social media to take shoppers directly to view and purchase your goods within Food4All. You may also send this link out in an e-mail or post on Facebook which will take any shopper directly to your goods.
– When you set up a business or pick-up location within Food4All, you create a radius around that circle. Any shopper signed into Food4All with an address within that radius will see you as a Seller and can review and purchase your goods.
Q. What opportunities do I have to market my business on Food4All?
A. We provide you the opportunity to upload your images from your business, a logo and a detailed description of your business. Shoppers entering through Food4All.com who live in your zip code radius see your logo, description and then click through to your shopping page.
We have partnered with MarketMaker, the leading food business directory, in order to promote and list your business and integrate it with your online Food4All store.
We are also onboarding new Marketplaces in Food4All that are set up by local farmers markets or food hubs that can collective market multiple sellers in one online store.
We also provide additional marketing resources to help you market directly to your customer base to drive sales through your online shopping page.
Q. Why do I need to enter my bank account information into Food4All? How is the information used and stored?
A. In order to accept credit cards you must enter your bank account information as it appears on your bank statement. This information is used by Stripe to set up your account for credit card processing. The information is stored on Stripe’s servers. Stripe has the highest levels of security in the payment industry and is a PCI Service Provider Level 1. You can read more about Stripe’s security measures here.
Q. How often do I receive payments from credit card orders placed through Food4All.
A. We make deposits one time per week into your bank account. The deposits occur on Thursdays. We will send you a complete deposit report with the order date, order number, credit card processing fees and final deposit.
Q. Is there a way for me to preview my shopping page?
A. Yes, once you are logged in to your Food4All account, navigate to your Online Store Settings. There is a preview shopping page button or you can copy and paste your shopping page link. We recommend using a different browser to preview your page so that you do not have to log out and log back into Food4All. It is recommended to take this step in order to ensure that you have input all of your product information correctly, as well as your fulfillment options.
Q. I am a meat producer, how am I able to sell cuts or packages of meat that vary in weight and are usually priced per pound?
A. You can input the different types and sizes of meat you have on hand, and then track stock for those cuts and sizes. From your seller dashboard, select Add/Edit Good. Then select Add Good with Option. On the second page, enter “weight” as the option. Then enter the weight or weight ranges for the product you have on hand. For meat cuts where the weight is not known until the product is actually butchered and packaged – we recommend you pad your estimated weights by 10%, then you can easily refund the customer the difference. Please contact support@food4all.com to help you set this up if needed.
Q. Am I able to offer delivery or shipping through Food4All?
A. You are able to offer and charge for a delivery option through your Food4All account, or integrate a third party delivery service. You have the ability to set different delivery radiuses as well as fees. We currently do not offer shipping as a fulfillment service, but some producers use a “flat rate” method to ship to customers. In order to do this with Food4All, you would need to set up a delivery service called “Shipping to the lower 48” and you could setup a flat shipping rate in the fee schedule.
Q. Am I able to sell alcohol online from my Food4All account?
A. Unfortunately, since we use Stripe to process our credit card payments we cannot allow alcohol to be sold on Food4All in order to be compliant with Stripe’s policies. Alcohol is difficult to regulate and enforce all of the industry-specific rules in an online environment.
Q. I would like to join a marketplace on Food4All as a vendor, do I need two accounts?
A. Nope! Within your Food4All account you can manage just one inventory and sell through multiple avenues such as a marketplace where the manager “invites” you, your own personal retail shopping page and your private wholesale page. *If you are going to manager a marketplace account, as well as sell through it, it is advised to have two separate accounts.
Q. My business is not registered as a separate tax entity, can I still use Food4All and process payments through Stripe?
A. Yes, you may still use Food4All even if your business does not have an EIN number. When you start the process to verify your identity in Stripe, please use your SSN in place of an EIN number.
Q. How does the wholesale store work? Do I need a separate account?
A. You do not need a separate account to sell wholesale. Once logged into your Food4All account, you may enable a private wholesale shopping page and set different prices for products you will sell via wholesale. Once you wholesale store in active, you may then send your private wholesale shopping page to potential buyers. Those buyers will be prompted to easily create their own Food4All buyer account and they may place an order.
Q. Is there a way to temporarily close my store during the off-season?
A. Yes, you may set all of your locations to “closed” when you do not have active products to sell. You will not lose any of your product or order data.
Q. Do you integrate with Quickbooks or Mailchimp?
A. You can easily download your customer list and then upload that list into your chosen email marketing service provider. Likewise, you can easily download sales and monthly receipts reports so the information can be transferred to your accounting system. We will be adding automated integrations to MailChimp and Quickbooks in 2022.