Selling on ShobShob: the details

How it works

1. 1

   Sign up in about 2 minutes

   Tell us your kitchen's name and where it is, and accept the Seller Agreement. No licence numbers or documents are needed. There is no application review.

2. 2

   Set up your kitchen

   Build your storefront and menu, set your pickup hours and delivery options, and connect your own Stripe account.

3. 3

   Accept the orders you want

   Neighbours send you order requests. You accept or decline each one, and the customer pays only after you accept.

Many home cooks take orders by message and get paid by e-transfer. Here is what changes when you sell from your own ShobShob storefront.

• Paid up front, by card

  A customer's card is charged only after you accept their request, and an order is confirmed only once it's paid. A request that isn't paid in time is cancelled automatically.

• Your address stays private

  Customers see only your approximate area. Your exact address is shared with a customer only after their pickup order is confirmed and paid.

• A real menu, one link

  Build your menu once, with photos, prices, ingredients, allergens and options like sizes and flavours. Every dish gets its own page, and your storefront shows your pickup times. Send one link instead of answering the same questions.

• You set the limits

  Choose your cooking days, how many of a dish you'll make a day and how many orders you'll take at each time. Accept only the requests you want.

• Found by people who don't have your number

  Neighbours can search ShobShob by dish and browse kitchens near them. No one can promise orders, but you are no longer limited to people who already know you.

• Nothing to pay ShobShob until you sell

  It's free to sign up. ShobShob's commission comes only out of food you sell: 0% for 30 days from your first paid order, then 10% of food sales. Stripe's card fees are separate.

Already selling to people you know? Keep them. Your storefront link is yours to share.

Tools for cooks

Your own storefront, and simple tools to run it from your phone. You decide the food, the prices and the hours.

• Your own storefront

  A kitchen page with your story, photos, pickup details and reviews. Every dish gets its own page you can share, and customers can follow your kitchen.

• A menu that fits how you cook

  Add photos, prices, ingredients and allergens, with options like sizes, flavours and add-ons. Sell food you make each day, or food made to order with the notice you need.

• Your hours, your days

  Set your weekly pickup hours, the days each dish is offered, how many you'll make a day and how many orders you'll take at each time. Block off dates, or pause your kitchen when you need a break.

• Quick changes, any time

  Mark a dish sold out for today, show food that's ready now, or offer an end-of-day deal on what's left. Copy a dish in one tap to start a new one.

• You choose your orders

  Customers send order requests, and you accept or decline each one. Their card is charged only after you accept. A sound alert and a countdown help you answer in time.

• Pickup or your own delivery

  Offer pickup, free delivery, or delivery with a fee you set by distance. ShobShob has no drivers: you deliver the orders yourself.

• Custom orders and quotes

  Customers can ask for something special, like a birthday cake. You reply with a price, and they pay when they accept it.

• Messages, reviews and updates

  Answer customers' questions before and after they order, reply to reviews, and post short updates for the people who follow your kitchen.

• Your day at a glance

  See what needs an answer, today's pickups and the dishes running low, plus how many times your kitchen page was viewed.

• Paid into your own Stripe account

  Every order shows what you receive. Payments go to your own Stripe account, and you can follow your payouts in ShobShob.

• Help in your language

  The seller tools and the seller guide come in English, Persian, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Chinese and Arabic. A person can help by call, text, WhatsApp or email (calls in English or Persian).

Once you've signed up, you can set up your storefront, menu, delivery options and Stripe account.

Free to sign up. The standard ShobShob commission is 10% of food sales, plus GST on the commission where it applies. Delivery fees you set and tips are 100% yours. Stripe's card fees are separate.

What would I keep from a sale?

A rounded example, before any GST: a $40 cake. Stripe's card fee is about $1.46 (approximately 2.9% + $0.30 per payment, set by Stripe). ShobShob's commission is $4.00 (10% of food sales). You keep about $34.54. ShobShob takes no commission on delivery fees you set or on tips; Stripe's card fee applies to the whole payment. During your first-month offer (the 30 days from your first paid order), ShobShob's commission is $0, so you'd keep about $38.54.

Selling food is regulated: the City of Calgary and Alberta Health Services (AHS) decide your path. We don't. After you sign up, we point you to their rules in plain language.

None of these is needed to sign up, but have them in order before you sell. ShobShob asks for two of them: the AHS permit (for higher-risk food, or for all your food if you cook in a commercial or shared kitchen) and your own Stripe account.

• Your City of Calgary business licence

  Calgary requires a business licence for a home-based food business. Getting and keeping it is your responsibility under the Seller Agreement. We don't ask for the number.

• An AHS Food Handling Permit, only for higher-risk food

  Many low-risk home foods don't need an AHS Food Handling Permit, but AHS confirms that for you, not us. Meals, curries, rice, meat and anything kept hot or cold need the permit before you list them.

• Your own Stripe account

  Customers pay into your own Stripe account. You set it up in a few minutes from your dashboard. Stripe handles your identity and bank details, not your licences.

Fees, steps and the official City and AHS pages are in the Calgary guide

You can sign up if you're 18 or older, live in Alberta, and cook in a home kitchen or a licensed commercial or shared kitchen in the City of Calgary. The kitchen is what must be inside the city. The person who cooks signs up in their own name and ticks the final agreement themselves — family can help fill in the rest. Signing up on its own doesn't make you eligible to sell food: the City of Calgary and Alberta Health Services (AHS) decide what your kitchen needs.

Your kitchen must be inside Calgary city limits. Kitchens in Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Okotoks and other nearby towns can't join yet. Live outside the city? You can still sign up if you cook in a licensed shared kitchen inside Calgary.

Selling on ShobShob is self-employment. Signing up doesn't start any sales: you only sell once you list food and accept an order. If you're on a work or study permit or have a refugee claim, check that your status allows selling before you start — for example with IRCC, your school's international office or a legal clinic. We can't advise on immigration.

ShobShob doesn't ask for your landlord's permission when you sign up, but selling from home may need it. Before your first order, check your lease or condo bylaws — many limit businesses run from home — and ask your landlord or condo board in writing. Their permission is separate from the City's approval; you may need both.

Questions before you sign up? Message us and a person from ShobShob will reply.

Want help signing up? Call, text, WhatsApp or email us and a person will go through the sign-up with you (calls in English or Persian). You'll tick the final agreement yourself.