Nevada Cottage Food Sales Rules: Limits, Online Sales, Shipping, and Delivery

The $35,000 Annual Cap

Under current Nevada law (NRS 446.866), your cottage food operation's gross sales cannot exceed $35,000 per calendar year. That is gross revenue — total money collected, not profit after expenses. If you spend $15,000 on ingredients and packaging and collect $36,000 in sales, you have exceeded the cap even though your profit was only $21,000.

Exceeding the $35,000 limit immediately strips your cottage food exempt status. You would need to either stop selling from home or transition to a licensed commercial kitchen with a standard food establishment permit.

Assembly Bill 352 raises this cap to $100,000 per year with biennial inflation adjustments — but that change does not take effect until July 1, 2027. Until then, the $35,000 ceiling is the law.

Face-to-Face Sales Only (Until 2027)

This is the rule most new operators do not expect: under current law, every cottage food sale must be a direct, face-to-face, person-to-person transaction. The customer must be physically present when they receive the product.

That means these are legal:

• Selling at your front door when a customer picks up an order
• Selling at a farmers market booth
• Selling at a craft fair or community event
• Personally delivering to a customer's home (you hand them the product in person)

And these are currently illegal:

• Taking orders through a website and shipping them
• Processing online payments and mailing products
• Using third-party delivery services like DoorDash or UberEats
• Selling through Etsy, Amazon, or any e-commerce platform
• Shipping via USPS, UPS, or FedEx

You can use a website, Instagram, or Facebook to advertise your products. But current law does not authorize online ordering, internet sales, or telephone orders; the transaction must be completed directly, face-to-face, person-to-person.

No Wholesale, No Retail Stores, No Restaurants

Cottage food sales are restricted to the end consumer for personal consumption. You cannot sell to:

• Grocery stores or specialty food shops (wholesale)
• Restaurants or cafes (wholesale)
• Coffee shops that want to carry your cookies at the counter (consignment)
• Retail boutiques (consignment)

Any of these arrangements legally classifies you as a wholesale food manufacturer, which requires a licensed commercial kitchen, a plan review by your health authority, and a standard food establishment permit. The cottage food exemption simply does not cover business-to-business sales.

What Changes in July 2027

AB 352 opens up the sales channels significantly once it takes effect:

• Online ordering becomes legal — customers can place and pay for orders via website, phone, or social media
• Shipping is allowed — USPS, UPS, FedEx, and commercial carriers
• Third-party delivery platforms are authorized — DoorDash, UberEats, Grubhub
• The revenue cap jumps to $100,000 — with biennial inflation adjustments
• A uniform $30 state licensing fee replaces the current patchwork of county fees

However, even under AB 352, cottage food sales remain direct-to-consumer. Wholesale to retail stores, restaurants, and other food businesses is still outside the cottage food framework and still requires a commercial kitchen.

Operators who start selling online or shipping before July 1, 2027 are violating current law and risk enforcement action from their local health authority.

Interstate Shipping: A Federal Issue

Even after AB 352 takes effect and allows in-state shipping, shipping cottage food across state lines introduces a separate problem. Interstate commerce is regulated by the federal FDA, and federal regulations do not recognize state-level cottage food exemptions. Sending a box of cookies from Las Vegas to a customer in California crosses into federal jurisdiction.

This is an area where a food-law attorney's guidance is essential before you attempt any interstate sales. The legal risk is real and separate from Nevada state law.

Tracking Your Revenue

Keep detailed sales records from day one. Document every transaction with the date, customer, product, quantity, and amount collected. Your health district can request proof that you are under the $35,000 cap, and accurate records are your only defense if there is ever a question.

If you are approaching $35,000 mid-year and want to keep selling, the path is transitioning to a commercial kitchen — not hoping nobody notices. The consequences of operating over the cap without a permit are worse than the cost of renting commissary kitchen space.

For a complete breakdown of Nevada's sales rules, revenue tracking templates, and a transition planning guide for when your business outgrows the cottage food cap, the Nevada Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide covers all current rules plus the AB 352 changes.

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