The San Francisco Onion Futures Company offers private, transferable contracts for the future physical delivery of yellow onions, with prices ranging from $3 to $12 per onion. Contracts are sold up to 6 months in advance, and pricing is recalculated daily at midnight San Francisco time using a proprietary algorithm, according to the company’s website.
Payments are accepted via Stripe. In the first week of each contract’s delivery month, a company representative contacts the registered owner to arrange delivery, typically offering a list of possible times and locations for onion collection. The company’s primary delivery areas are San Francisco, Toronto, Seattle, and Chicago (via For Our Futures). If a contract owner is unavailable for listed options or located outside primary delivery areas, third-party delivery may be arranged at no extra charge.
Contracts are transferable through unique keys issued to each buyer. If a key is shared with another party, that person can update the registered contact and delivery information, which voids the original key and reissues the contract under a new one. This structure prevents previous owners from changing registration details after transfer. There is no way to view registered delivery information for a given key, according to the company.
Regarding legality, the company states it operates within the law. U.S. Code § 13-1 prohibits “contract[s] for the sale of […] onions for future delivery […] on or subject to the rules of any board of trade in the United States.” The San Francisco Onion Futures Company notes it is not a board of trade, which is defined as an “organized exchange or other trading facility.” The company sells contracts privately to individual buyers and does not operate any exchange or secondary market.
Contract owners cannot resell contracts for cash settlement and are unable to receive refunds. They may resell contract keys until the start of their delivery months. The company offers no refunds even in cases of failed delivery, though it states it will do its best to contact buyers and deliver onions. The business is owned and managed by Sophia Vysparov.
Key facts
- Contracts priced from $3 to $12 per yellow onion
- Contracts available up to 6 months in advance
- Prices recalculated daily using proprietary algorithm
- Primary delivery areas: San Francisco, Toronto, Seattle, and Chicago
- Contracts are transferable and non-refundable
- Company operates as a private seller, not a board of trade