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Run your CSA
without the spreadsheet.
Members sign up, pay and change their own weeks. You just pack the boxes — Local Pass charges the cards, sends the reminders and pays you every day.
What it is
CSA software for Island farms
Local Pass CSA lets a Vancouver Island farm run its subscription box online. Members sign up and pay on localpass.ca, box by box or for the whole season, and skip, swap or add extras themselves before each week’s cutoff. Each week’s boxes turn into orders in the farm’s Local Pass business app, and the money is paid out daily with the farm’s other sales. There is no monthly fee: Local Pass takes a fee on each box.
Built into Local Pass
Members find your box where they already shop
Your box isn’t a separate website you have to promote alone. It’s part of Local Pass, so it shows up in all of these places at once:
The Shop’s Farms tab
Where Local Pass shoppers browse food from Island farms.
The CSA page
Every box on Local Pass, in one place.
Your storefront
Next to everything else you sell.
Its own page
A page for your box that people can find on Google.
Your own website
A button that takes people straight to signing up.
- Box orders sit with your other orders
- Paid out with your daily payouts
- Members can add your other products as extras
- Reminders and receipts sent for you
How a season works
From your first member to your last box
For your members
They manage their box. You grow the food.
Skips, swaps and holidays are handled by your members before your cutoff, so the list you pack from is already right.
See how boxes look to members: CSA boxes on Local Pass
- Choose weekly or every two weeks, and a pickup site or home delivery
- Pay box by box, or for the season up front with a discount if you offer one
- Skip a week and pay nothing for it
- Swap items for the alternatives you allow, or add extras from your other products
- Donate a box to your food-bank partner — you still pack it and are still paid
- Pause, change pickup site or frequency, update their card or cancel, within your rules
- Join the waitlist when your box is full, and hear when a spot opens
For you
Everything a CSA needs, in one portal
Any kind of share
Vegetable, fruit, meat, egg, dairy, flower, bread or a mixed farm box — or one you name yourself.
Seasons and a box calendar
Several seasons a year, the days you pack, and weeks with no box.
Your rules
How many weeks a member may skip, how many boxes before they can cancel, and whether they can pause.
This week’s box
List what’s in it in plain words, or call it a surprise.
Your members in one place
Who’s paid, with notes and tags; skip a box for a member who phones; email one member or a whole group.
Bring your members over
Import them from a spreadsheet — there’s a template to download — as invitations with their spot held.
On your own website
Add your box to your farm’s site, with a button that leads to signing up.
Fair to members
A price rise reaches new members only; the people already in keep the price they joined at.
Payments
How the money works
- Members pay by card. Box-by-box members are charged at each week’s cutoff, so a skipped week costs them nothing.
- A season paid up front is paid out to you box by box, as each week is made.
- A delivery fee you charge is yours in full; the Local Pass fee is on the box only.
- GST on the box only if you turn it on — fresh produce is zero-rated.
- Payouts go to your bank every day, with statements to download.
Compare
How Local Pass compares for a CSA
| Feature | Local Pass | Local Line | Local Food Marketplace | CSAware | Farmigo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | No monthly fee — a fee on each box, nothing in the off-season | From $138 USD a month: the Core plan plus the $29 Subscriptions add-on ($1,322 a year billed annually) | From $228 a month, billed annually: the $129 Starter plan plus the $99 Subscriptions & Farm Shares module | 2% of delivery revenue, $100 a month minimum, only in months you deliver | 2% of delivery revenue, $150 a month minimum, only in months you deliver |
| Card processing | Included in the fee | 2.9% + $0.30 on Core | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site |
| Shown to shoppers already looking | On localpass.ca, where Island households already order food | Your own web store | Your own branded store | A listing in the LocalHarvest directory | Not stated on its site |
| Your own branded web store | Your box on Local Pass, with a button for your own website | Yes | Yes | Yes, white-label | Not stated on its site |
| Members skip or hold weeks themselves | Yes | Yes | Yes, holds | Yes, holds | Yes, holds |
| Swap items | Yes, for alternatives you allow | Yes | Yes | Customize contents, when enabled | Yes |
| Add extras to a box | Yes, from your other products | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| How members pay | Box by box, or the season up front — no instalments | Up front, instalments or recurring | Up front, a payment plan or weekly | Not stated on its site | Weekly, monthly or by the season |
| Donate a box to a food bank | Yes — you’re still paid | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site |
| Bring your current members over | Spreadsheet import, as invitations | Yes, import | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site | Not stated on its site |
| Based in | Victoria, BC | Not stated on its site | Eugene, Oregon | Santa Cruz, California | Not stated on its site |
Get started
Set up your CSA
Tell us about your box and we'll be in touch within one business day.
FAQ
Questions about running a CSA here
What does CSA software do?
It runs a farm’s subscription box: who has signed up, which week each member gets, what they paid, and who is skipping. On Local Pass it also charges members, turns each week’s boxes into orders to pack, and pays the farm.
What does it cost to run a CSA on Local Pass?
There is no monthly subscription and no add-on to buy: Local Pass takes a fee on each box. A farm with no boxes in the off-season pays nothing.
Do I have to sell anything else on Local Pass?
No. A farm can use Local Pass only for its CSA. Selling other products from the same storefront is optional, and members can add those products to their box as extras if you do.
How is Local Pass different from Local Line, Local Food Marketplace, CSAware or Farmigo?
Local Line and Local Food Marketplace charge a monthly plan plus a CSA add-on, and CSAware and Farmigo take a share of delivery revenue with a monthly minimum. Local Pass has no monthly fee or minimum — a fee on each box — and your box is listed on localpass.ca, where Island households already order food. They offer things Local Pass doesn’t, like instalment payments and a fully branded store.
Can I bring the members I already have?
Yes. Download the spreadsheet template, fill in your members, and import it. Each member gets a personal link to join, with their spot held for them.
What happens when a member skips a week?
A member who pays box by box isn’t charged for a week they skip. You decide how many weeks a season they may skip.
Can I deliver boxes?
Yes, to the towns you choose and for the fee you set, alongside or instead of pickup sites. You deliver them yourself.
What can a CSA share be?
Vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, dairy, flowers, bread, a mix — or something you name yourself, like a mushroom share.
Where do members sign up and manage their box?
On your box’s page on localpass.ca, or from the button on your own website. They manage their weeks from their Local Pass account.
Is it only for farms in Victoria?
It’s for farms anywhere on Vancouver Island. Local Pass is live in Greater Victoria, with Nanaimo, Duncan, Courtenay, Campbell River and Port Alberni rolling out.
Running a CSA on farmland in BC? The rules for farm stands, CSA boxes and agritourism on ALR land