Questions, plainly answered.

Listing is free. Protein Outfitters adds 10% on top of your hanging-weight rate so the buyer sees one listed meat price. That 10% is not taken from your rate — you keep 100% of what you post. Kill, cut, and wrap are set by the locker you book and paid at the plant. We take no cut of those fees.

Funds settle after the animal is dropped off at the processor and accepted (the processor confirms via QR check-in, and the state machine flips the reservation to "in-process"). Payouts are routed via Stripe Connect to your bank account, typically within 2 business days of acceptance.

If a buyer’s reservation ends, we re-list the share. Refund rules are on the refund policy. If the animal does not pass inspection, the buyer is refunded what they paid.

No. The first purchaser locks the price for that animal — same for processor selection. This protects buyers who reserved early and protects you from the awkwardness of mixed prices on one animal. If demand is strong, that's pricing intel for your next listing.

The processor performs an ante-mortem inspection. If they refuse the animal (visible illness, condition, etc.), no kill fee is charged, the buyer is refunded from the pool, and the animal goes back home with you. We don't flag farmers for one-off events; only repeat ante-mortem rejections (3+ in 12 months) trigger a review.

Yes — a refundable dropoff deposit ($100 flat or 10% of processing, whichever is greater, capped at $300). It's refunded automatically when you check the animal in via QR scan at the processor. If you no-show, the deposit goes to the processor to compensate them for the locked slot.

If a fraction hasn't sold and drop-off is approaching, you can flip "Donate this fraction" and route it through the same processor pipeline as a paid sale. Program funds cover the processor's kill fee. We send a donation acknowledgment. Talk to your tax person about whether you can deduct it. The meat goes to a qualified institution — school, food bank, or government feeding program — through the Donation Depot.

Free — $0, marketplace listing, drop-off check-in, 1 staff seat (soft launch — no hard booking cap yet). Standard — $79/mo ($63/mo billed annually): up to 50 animals a month, full calendar, cut-sheet config, 20 automated lifecycle emails, 5 seats. Premium — $199/mo ($159/mo annually): unlimited animals, multi-location, API access, analytics + exports, 25 seats, dedicated CSM. 14-day trial on both paid tiers, cancel anytime. Full comparison at Plant plans.

Buyers pay you at the plant for kill, cut, and wrap — the fees you set. Protein Outfitters takes no cut of those plant fees. The 10% marketplace fee is on the farmer's hanging-weight meat line only. The only thing you pay Protein Outfitters is an optional plant software plan (Free, Standard $79/mo, or Premium $199/mo).

Every booking gets a 6-digit code. When the farmer arrives with the animal, you enter that code from your dashboard. That single check-in is the source of truth — it flips the reservation state to "in-process," releases the farmer's dropoff deposit, and starts the customer's countdown to "ready for pickup." This replaces farmer self-report and prevents the "I dropped it off / no you didn't" disputes. Camera QR scanning is on the roadmap for 2027 — the typed code does the same job today.

Yes. The Processor Config dashboard lets you set: species you process, available cuts, smoking offerings (and whether bacon is pork-only at your plant), grind ratios you offer, and any upcharges (vacuum seal, ground-in-chubs, stew meat, etc.). Customer cut sheets read your config — buyers only see options you actually offer.

If the animal does not pass inspection, the buyer is refunded what they paid. You receive your kill fee plus processing on any salvaged portion. Enter what was condemned; the rest is handled in the reservation.

Calendar view → select range → Block out. Existing reservations stay in place; new bookings can't land in the blocked period. We email any buyers attempting to book that range with the next available slot.

A live U.S. marketplace where member farms list real animals by the share, buyers pay a deposit by card, and inspected plants claim their profile for booked drop-offs. You get a single member link — no custom app — that routes producers to list inventory and processors to claim plants already on our national map (~2,300 plants from public registries).

One landing page covers both paths:

Everyone: proteinoutfitters.com/join
Producers only: /join?as=producer
Processors only: /join?as=processor
Map of plants: /map (tap a pin → Claim this plant)

Association one-pager: /for-associations

Live production marketplace. Real listings, magic-link auth, Stripe Checkout deposits, reservation inventory, plant claim for unowned FSIS/association rows, cut sheets, and lifecycle email. We do not show placeholder animals when inventory is empty.

Farms: free to list. Protein Outfitters adds 10% on the buyer’s listed meat price — not taken out of the farmer’s posted hanging-weight rate. Plants: free marketplace claim + check-in; optional paid plant software plans at /processor-saas for calendars, multi-seat ops, and higher volume. We take no cut of kill, cut, or wrap.

Yes. Email hello@proteinoutfitters.com with your association name, state(s), and member count. We’ll prioritize map claim for your plants and a short webinar walkthrough for producers.

Schools (K-12, child nutrition, Farm-to-School), government agencies (state-run feeding, tribal nations, veterans, corrections), food banks and food shelves (501(c)(3) and equivalents), and similar charitable feeding programs. The qualification step verifies tax-exempt status or government authorization, storage capacity, and recipient-eligibility compliance.

Visit /donation-flow and tap "Apply as institution." It's a one-time form: institution type, EIN or government auth, address, contact, weekly volume served, cold-storage capacity, accepted species, and pickup capability. Most applications are reviewed within 3 business days.

Three options on application: self-pickup from the processor (most common, fastest), delivery from program funds (cost shared, available where local courier coverage exists), or pickup at the central depot for high-volume institutions. We confirm the window after you request a specific donation.

Yes — every donation routes through a federally-inspected plant. The establishment number is on every package. This matters for school nutrition programs and government feeding programs that require USDA inspection.

You'll see real-time inventory of what's available within your service radius. Default cuts on donated animals are typically ground (most flexible for institutional use), but several donations are pre-portioned for school lunches or have specialty cuts. You request what fits your program; we match what's available.

Buyers can reserve named animals from verified farms where a listing is live. Pickup is local at a USDA, state-inspected, or equal-to plant. Custom-exempt is never sold. Hardware ships in the U.S. Donation Depot accepts institutions where a processor is on the map.

A CSA gives you a recurring assortment of cuts; a meat box gives you a curated package. Protein Outfitters lets you reserve a specific named animal, pick the processor, customize the cut sheet, and pay a hanging-weight price that already includes processing. You buy from the farm, not a re-seller.

Only with insulated cooler + dry ice from licensed shipping partners, when local pickup or delivery isn't viable. Most reservations are picked up at the processor.

For producers who want to process their own animals, we source mobile harvest units (MHU) and modular processing systems. Free 30-min discovery call → $40K consultation phase → 50% non-refundable down → balance prior to delivery. Full details and the de-risk thesis (10K → 2,300 processor gap) at /hardware.

General questions: hello@proteinoutfitters.com
Donation depot: depot@proteinoutfitters.com
Hardware sales: mychal@proteinoutfitters.com