Farmers market, CSA, or online? Choosing where to sell in Michigan

Short answer: pick channels by what you're short on. If you're short on cash before the season, a CSA brings it in. If you're short on customers, a farmers market finds them and pays full retail. If you're short on time, standing restaurant orders and online orders cost less of your week, in exchange for a fee or a lower price. Most Michigan farms do best with two or three channels.

The channels side by side

Farmers markets

Markets pay the best price per pound and are the fastest way to meet customers. The cost is your time: a Saturday market is often a 10-hour day once you count loading, driving, setup, selling, and teardown, on top of harvest and packing.

What stalls cost in Michigan. Most markets charge $15 to $60 per market day for a 10-by-10 space, and $275 to $800 for a season stall. Some 2026 examples from the markets' own vendor documents:

Busy markets often have waiting lists for season stalls, so apply in winter. The Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA) lists markets across the state.

SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks. Many Michigan markets accept SNAP centrally: shoppers swipe at the market booth and pay vendors in tokens, which the market reimburses. Double Up Food Bucks matches SNAP dollar for dollar on Michigan-grown fruits and vegetables, which brings customers to produce vendors in particular. Ask your market manager how its tokens work.

Make a market day pay:

• Keep a simple sales log by product. After four weeks you'll know what earns its table space.
• Take cards. Many shoppers carry little cash.
• Bring a sign-up sheet or QR code, so shoppers can order from you between market days.

CSA (community supported agriculture)

Members pay for a season of weekly shares before it starts, usually in winter or early spring. That cash arrives exactly when seed, soil amendments, and repairs are due, which is the biggest reason farms run a CSA.

The trade-off: you're committed to filling every box, every week, for 18 to 22 weeks. A hailstorm in July doesn't cancel the commitment, and members who get too much kale or too little variety don't renew.

• Start small. Sell fewer shares than you think you can fill, then grow once you know your yields.
• Price per week, then multiply. Work out what a box would cost at your market prices, then price the season close to that. Members are paying for the relationship as well as the produce.
• Offer choice if you can. Market-style or swap-an-item CSAs keep more members than fixed boxes.
• Track renewals. Your renewal rate tells you more than your sign-up numbers.

Farm stands

A stand on a busy road can sell whole, uncut produce you grew with no food license, and it costs you little time beyond restocking. Check your township's zoning and sign rules first, and decide how you'll take payment: an honor box, a card reader, or a phone payment code.

Restaurants and wholesale

Restaurants pay less than retail but order every week, and a few steady accounts can carry a good part of your season. See our guide to selling to restaurants in Michigan for the rules, pricing, and how to find your first accounts.

Online marketplaces and your own store

Selling online lets buyers order between market days and lets you pack to order instead of guessing what to bring. There are two main models:

• Your own online store: you pay monthly software fees and card processing, and you bring every customer yourself.
• A marketplace: buyers already shop there, and the marketplace takes a percentage of each sale.

Before you sign up for either, check:

• The total cost at your expected sales, including card processing.
• Who sets the price. You should.
• When you get paid, and whether there are invoices to chase.
• Exclusivity. You shouldn't have to give up your other channels.
• Delivery. Who delivers, and who pays for it.

What an hour of your time earns: a rough example

These numbers are illustrative, to show how to compare channels, not a forecast. Use your own.

The market wins on price per pound, and often on total sales on a good day. Online orders win on your time, because you pack only what's sold. That's why most farms combine them: the market for retail prices and new customers, online orders and standing restaurant orders for steady volume through the week.

Choosing your mix

• First season: one farmers market. Learn what sells, collect customer emails, and keep records.
• Second season: add a small CSA for cash flow, or one or two restaurants for weekly volume.
• Once you're steady: add online ordering so regular customers can buy between market days, and drop whatever earns the least per hour.

Review your mix every winter. Put sales, fees, and hours for each channel side by side, and keep the two or three that pay best for your time.

How Chivle fits in

Chivle is an online marketplace for Michigan farms. You set your prices and delivery options, sell to households and restaurants under your farm's name, and get paid at checkout through Stripe. Buyers can set up standing weekly orders. The fee is 10% of each sale, with card processing included, and there's no exclusivity: keep your market, CSA, and stand.

The first 50 Michigan farms join as Founding Growers, with zero platform fees on their first $50,000 in sales, for up to a year. See how selling on Chivle works, or read more about selling direct in Michigan.