Using EBT Cards as a Payment Method on GrownBy for Customers
There are two potential ways to use your EBT card to shop from farms on GrownBy.
EBT as an Offline Payment
The first is as an offline payment from farms who have 1) enabled offline payments in their GrownBy shop, and 2) indicated that using your EBT card in-person is an acceptable offline payment option. When checking out from any GrownBy shop, you will be asked for a payment method:
If the farm accepts EBT cards as a form of offline payment, they will indicate so in the custom message below the 'Pay Offline' option in their checkout. If there is no 'Pay Offline' message and/or no custom message about using EBT cards in-person, then this farm may not accept EBT as a payment method. Please reach out directly to the farm you'd like to order from to confirm whether they can accept EBT cards as a payment method in-person.
SNAP Online
Some farms on GrownBy are certified to accept SNAP benefits as an online payment using your EBT card. If a farm is certified for online SNAP, you will see SNAP-eligible products indicated in their shop by a carrot icon:
If you are shopping from a farm certified to accept SNAP online, you will have the option to add your EBT card as a payment method during checkout.
At any time, you can save your EBT card details to your account using the 'Payments' option in your Account menu. Even if you have an EBT card saved to your account, you will be required to enter your PIN every time you use your EBT card to make an online SNAP purchase.
SNAP Online FAQs
What can I buy with SNAP online?
Just like at brick-and-mortar retailers, you can use SNAP benefits from eligible retailers to purchase food items. See this article from USDA for a full description.
Non-food charges on EBT cards
Only food can be purchased using SNAP benefits. Any products in your purchase that are not SNAP-eligible, and any other fees—such as delivery fees or membership fees—must be purchased with an alternate payment method.
Refund for weighed items
If you use SNAP to purchase items priced by weight from a farm on GrownBy—for example, cuts of beef priced by the pound—it is possible that the farm will need to adjust the purchase price after your order is processed, due to any discrepancies between the weight of product you purchased versus the weight of the particular item being distributed to you. The farm can adjust the difference through their GrownBy dashboard, and GrownBy will notify you if an adjustment is made.
Checking my SNAP balance
If you make a purchase using your EBT card online, your receipt from GrownBy will include your current SNAP balance. You can also use the tool embedded into the checkout process to look up your SNAP balance before making a purchase.
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