Bkd Local, LLC
Founding Baker Agreement
Effective Date: July 17, 2026 | Governing Law: State of Tennessee
This Agreement is written to be consistent with the Bkd Local Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and reflects the payment flow in effect at launch: a $15 temporary card verification preauthorization at order request, a charge to the customer at Baker acceptance, a 24-hour acceptance window, and payout release at customer confirmation of receipt or two hours after the scheduled pickup time, whichever comes first. It reflects the fund-handling, arbitration and class-action-waiver, and content-license redlines delivered July 9-16, 2026, including the opt-out and no-retroactivity fixes needed to run the existing Founding Baker cohort through an in-app re-acceptance step; the Tennessee marketplace-facilitator sales tax language added July 17, 2026; and the finalized sales tax charge-line description added July 17, 2026 once live checkout tax collection went into effect. Baker verification tiers, business-license requirements, and insurance requirements remain planned for a future phase and are not included in this version.
This Founding Baker Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into between Bkd Local, LLC (“Bkd Local,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a Tennessee limited liability company, and the baker identified in the signature block below (“Baker,” “you,” or “your”). By signing this Agreement and listing your products on Bkd Local, you agree to the terms below. This Agreement works together with the Bkd Local Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which are incorporated by reference.
1. Who We Are and What This Is
Bkd Local is a two-sided marketplace that connects customers with independent local bakers. You are an independent baker and seller. You are not an employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer of Bkd Local. You set your own prices, menu, availability, and pickup terms. Bkd Local provides the marketplace, handles payment through Stripe, and helps customers find you. Bkd Local does not bake, prepare, or sell food products.
2. Your Responsibilities as a Baker
You represent, warrant, and agree that:
You will personally create and provide all baked goods listed on your profile.
You will comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations governing cottage food, home-based food production, food safety, labeling, and any required permits or licenses, including applicable Tennessee cottage food law.
All goods you list are food-safe, accurately described, and prepared in sanitary conditions.
You will keep your profile accurate and current, including pricing, availability, and menu items.
You will honor all confirmed orders at the agreed price, quantity, flavor, and pickup time.
You will respond to order requests promptly. Order requests expire if not accepted within twenty-four (24) hours, and the customer is not charged for an expired request.
You will communicate with customers professionally and resolve issues in good faith.
3. Food Safety, Pickup Location, and Liability
Pickup address. You must provide a pickup address before your profile can go live. Your pickup address is never displayed publicly on Bkd Local; it is shared with a customer only after you accept that customer’s order. By accepting an order, you consent to that disclosure. You are responsible for providing a safe and reasonable pickup environment for customers collecting their orders.
You are solely responsible for the safety, quality, labeling, and legal compliance of every product you make and sell through Bkd Local. You understand that your products may be prepared in a residential or small commercial kitchen that also handles common allergens, and you are responsible for accurately disclosing ingredients and allergen information. Customers are solely responsible for the care, transport, and storage of their order after pickup under the Terms of Service; you are not responsible for damage or spoilage caused after pickup, such as dropped or unsecured items, heat exposure, or failure to refrigerate. We strongly recommend photographing each completed order before pickup: if a customer files a complaint, your photos are your evidence, and Bkd Local may request them during complaint review. You agree to indemnify and hold Bkd Local harmless from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses arising out of or relating to your products or your pickup location, including but not limited to foodborne illness, allergic reactions, injury, property damage, or failure to comply with applicable food laws.
4. Tiers, Membership, and Platform Fees
Bkd Local charges a platform fee on the order subtotal (the price of your baked goods, excluding the customer service fee). Your fee depends on your tier:
Charter Baker: 5% of the order subtotal, locked in for the life of your account. Charter membership is a founding benefit purchased for $97, which covers your first six (6) months of Bkd Pro; beginning in month seven, Charter membership continues at $19.00 per month for the life of your account. The 5% rate does not increase over time, provided you remain in good standing under this Agreement.
Beta Baker: 0% of the order subtotal for the first ninety (90) days after your listing goes live, and 8% of the order subtotal thereafter. Beta has no upfront cost and no monthly fee.
Standard Baker: 8% of the order subtotal. Standard Bkd Pro is available as an optional subscription at $24.99 per month.
In addition, customers pay a flat $1.50 service fee per transaction, which Bkd Local retains in all cases. Bkd Local may modify platform fees with reasonable advance notice, except that the Charter lifetime 5% rate is locked and will not be increased for Bakers in good standing. Your applicable fee rate is recorded in your Bkd Local account.
5. Payments and Payouts
How customers pay. When a customer submits an order request, the customer’s payment method is saved and verified through Stripe with a temporary $15 preauthorization that is released promptly and never charged. The customer’s card is charged only when you accept the order, for the order subtotal (net of any applicable discount), the $1.50 customer service fee, and the applicable Tennessee sales tax calculated on that subtotal and fee. Sales tax is calculated in real time through Stripe on a destination basis, reflecting the Tennessee state rate and the local rate applicable to the order’s pickup location, and is shown as its own line at checkout and on the receipt. You have twenty-four (24) hours to accept an order request; if you do not accept within that window, the request expires and the customer is not charged. If the customer’s card is declined when you accept, the order is not complete; both you and the customer are notified, and the customer is given the opportunity to update their payment method and complete payment. Do not begin preparing an order until it shows as accepted and paid in the app.
How you get paid. Bkd Local directs your payout, as a separate Stripe Connect transfer, to be issued at the earlier of: (a) the customer confirming in the app that they received their order; or (b) two (2) hours after the scheduled pickup time. Your payout equals the order subtotal, net of any applicable discount, minus your applicable platform fee. If you issue a discount or promo code on an order, your payout is calculated on the discounted subtotal, so the cost of that discount reduces your payout rather than Bkd Local’s platform fee. The Tennessee sales tax collected on the order is withheld and remitted separately by Bkd Local as marketplace facilitator and does not affect your payout. If the customer files a complaint before your payout is released, your transfer is delayed pending resolution under the Terms of Service. When your payout is released, Bkd Local initiates the transfer to your connected Stripe account; standard bank processing typically adds one to three business days before the funds appear in your bank account. You are responsible for maintaining accurate Stripe and payout information. Payouts are processed through Stripe Connect, and your use of Stripe is subject to Stripe’s applicable terms.
If you cannot fulfill an accepted order, notify Bkd Local at hello@bkdlocal.com immediately. The customer will receive a full refund, issued from the held funds, and you will not receive a payout for that order. If you cancel within seven (7) days of the scheduled pickup, the customer may leave a public review of the experience, and repeated or late cancellations may affect your standing under Section 9. Customers may cancel for a full refund up to seven days before pickup; within seven days of pickup, customer cancellations are not permitted, so orders inside that window are committed work. If a customer does not pick up an accepted order at the scheduled time, your payout still releases as scheduled; whether to accommodate a late pickup is your call.
6. Payments Stay on the Platform
All transactions arranged through Bkd Local must be completed and paid through Bkd Local. You agree not to encourage or arrange payment outside the platform (for example, by directing a Bkd Local customer to pay you by cash, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, or other off-platform method) in order to avoid platform fees. You also agree not to include links to external ordering websites, online stores, or other order-taking platforms in your profile content, including your bio, FAQs, menu items, or messages. Sharing your social media handles is fine; directing customers to order or pay somewhere other than Bkd Local is not. We understand this can happen by habit, so we handle it in steps:
First, a friendly reminder. If we notice an off-platform payment request, you will receive an educational reminder explaining that keeping payments on Bkd Local protects you and keeps your orders counted toward your standing.
Next, human review. Repeated or deliberate circumvention is reviewed by a member of the Bkd Local team, who will reach out to you directly.
Finally, account action. Continued or egregious circumvention may result in suspension or removal from the platform, and for Charter Bakers, loss of Charter status and the locked-in rate.
Our goal is to keep this fair and human. Most bakers never get past the first step.
7. Taxes
Bkd Local is a marketplace facilitator under Tennessee law with respect to sales you make through the Platform. For each order fulfilled through the Platform, Bkd Local is responsible for collecting and remitting the applicable Tennessee sales tax on your sale, calculated on a destination basis according to the pickup location associated with that order; you are not required to remit sales tax on sales made through the Platform. You must maintain your own Tennessee sales tax registration as required by applicable law. You remain solely responsible for determining and paying all other applicable taxes arising from your sales, including income tax and self-employment tax, and for any sales tax obligations arising from sales you make outside the Platform. Nothing in this Agreement constitutes tax advice.
8. Your Content
You retain ownership of the photos and content you upload. By uploading content to your profile, you grant Bkd Local a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sublicensable license to use, reproduce, display, modify, and create derivative works of that content, and to promote that content, in connection with operating and marketing the platform. You represent that you own or have the right to share any content you upload, and you agree to indemnify and defend Bkd Local against any claim, loss, or expense, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from a claim that content you upload infringes or misappropriates a third party’s rights.
9. Suspension and Removal
Bkd Local may suspend or remove your profile for violation of this Agreement, the Terms of Service, inaccurate or misleading information, failure to fulfill orders, or conduct that harms customers or the platform. You may close your account at any time by contacting hello@bkdlocal.com. Outstanding obligations, including unfulfilled orders and pending payouts, will be resolved before closure is finalized.
10. Referral Rewards
At launch, the Bkd Local referral program works as follows: when you refer another baker using your referral link and that baker completes her first fulfilled order through Bkd Local, both you and the referred baker receive one free month of Bkd Pro. There is no cap on the number of referrals. Free Pro months accrue to your account as credit. Bkd Local may modify or end the referral program prospectively with reasonable notice; earned rewards will be honored.
11. Agreement to Arbitrate; Class Action Waiver
Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to file a lawsuit in court.
Agreement to arbitrate. Except as set forth below, you and Bkd Local agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement, your participation as a Baker, or your relationship with Bkd Local (a “Dispute”) will be resolved by binding arbitration on an individual basis, rather than in court. This agreement to arbitrate is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.
How arbitration works. Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator and may be conducted by telephone, videoconference, or based on written submissions, at the election of the party seeking arbitration, unless both parties agree otherwise. The arbitrator’s decision will be final and binding, subject to any limited right of appeal under the Federal Arbitration Act.
Class action waiver. You and Bkd Local agree that each may bring a Dispute only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a class, collective, or representative proceeding. If a court decides that this class action waiver is not enforceable as to a particular Dispute, that Dispute, and only that Dispute, may proceed in court rather than in arbitration; the rest of this section remains in effect.
What is not covered. This agreement to arbitrate does not apply to: a Dispute that qualifies for small claims court and is brought there on an individual basis while it remains in that court; a claim involving serious bodily injury or death, which either party may bring in court instead of arbitration; or a claim for injunctive relief to stop unauthorized use or infringement of either party’s intellectual property, which either party may bring in court; or a Dispute that arose, or that you had already raised with Bkd Local, before the date you accepted this Agreement to Arbitrate, including the date you accepted any updated version of this Agreement. Any Dispute described in this paragraph, and any Dispute where a party has timely opted out under the paragraph below, is subject to the courts identified in the General section below rather than to arbitration.
Right to opt out. You may opt out of this agreement to arbitrate by sending written notice to hello@bkdlocal.com within thirty (30) days of the date you sign this Agreement, including the date you accept any updated version of this Agreement, stating that you wish to opt out of arbitration and including your name and the business name on your account. If you opt out, neither you nor Bkd Local will be required to arbitrate Disputes with each other, but the class action waiver above continues to apply to the fullest extent permitted by law, and your Disputes will proceed under the General section below.
12. General
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee. Any Dispute that is not subject to arbitration under the Agreement to Arbitrate section above, including any Dispute described in that section as not covered by arbitration and any Dispute where a party has timely opted out of arbitration, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Gibson County, Tennessee. This Agreement, together with the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, is the entire agreement between you and Bkd Local regarding your participation as a Baker. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect. Bkd Local may update this Agreement with reasonable notice to Bakers.
Acknowledgement and Signature
By signing below, I confirm that I have read and agree to this Founding Baker Agreement, the Bkd Local Terms of Service, and the Privacy Policy, and that the information I provide is accurate.
My tier (select one): ☐ Charter Baker ☐ Beta Baker
_______________________________________
Baker name (print)
_______________________________________
Business name
_______________________________________ _______________
Signature Date
Bkd Local, LLC · bkdlocal.com · hello@bkdlocal.com · Medina, Tennessee
Also see: Terms of Service · Privacy Policy