Sell jam online, one fruit season after another

1. 01

   Follow the fruit calendar

   Strawberry in early summer, plum in late summer, marmalade in winter. Add each flavor when it’s made, and keep sold-out flavors on the website so people know what to come back for next year.

2. 02

   Name the fruit and where it grew

   Say which farm or orchard the fruit came from and the variety if you know it. “Montmorency cherries from an orchard down the road” sells better than “cherry jam”.

3. 03

   Say how sweet and how set it is

   Some buyers want a classic firm set, others want a softer, less sweet spread. Describe both on each jar’s page, and be careful with the names you use, which have legal meanings in some countries.

4. 04

   Photograph a spoonful

   One jar with the label facing the camera, and one open jar with a spoon or on toast, in daylight. The color and the pieces of fruit are what make someone add it to the cart.

5. 05

   Make gift sets for the busy months

   Three small jars in a box sell well before the winter holidays and for teachers’ gifts in early summer. Add them a few weeks ahead with limited stock.

6. 06

   Pack jars to arrive whole

   Wrap each jar, use dividers and test-post a set to a friend. Set a fixed rate for your usual parcel with a delivery estimate, so buyers know the cost before they reach checkout.

• Cottage food and preserves

  High-sugar fruit jams and jellies are on most US cottage food lists, but low-sugar spreads, pepper jellies, chutneys and other acidified foods often aren’t, or need a tested recipe. Check your state’s list for each product.

• Names with legal meanings

  In the UK and EU, names like jam, extra jam, jelly and marmalade are tied to minimum fruit and sugar content, so a lower-sugar product may need to be sold as a fruit spread. Check the rules where you sell.

• Seals and shelf life

  Use new lids, process jars exactly as your tested recipe says, and put a best-before date on each label. A jar that ferments in the post costs you far more than one sale.

General information to help you get started, not legal advice. Rules differ by country, state and product, so check the ones that apply to you.