The best 6 choices and features to sell digital downloads online

Discover the top features to sell digital downloads on the internet. This guide covers what to be searching for as well as top websites to sell digital downloads.

TL;DR: The best ways to sell digital downloads to various types of creators

If you are deciding on where to offer your downloads make sure that you select an application with accessible, functional, support, marketing features as well as low fees as well as affordable costs.

• Shopify and Etsy are specifically designed for selling physical goods and allow for the sale of digital downloads too. The options for selling digital products may be less limiting.
• Gumroad provides robust capabilities It allows for the selling of a vast assortment of files with no annual costs. However, the catch is that Gumroad charges high transaction costs per transaction.
• Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin that allows you to sell products directly on your website. Even though it's totally free, you'll likely require more extensions or integrations.
• It's simple to set up and lets you make the sale of any document with no limitations. It has advanced marketing tools integrated into the platform, and we provide excellent support and speedy support - or at least that's what our customers are saying about us.

When I first launched the first of my digital goods, I thought the hardest part would be turning the contents of my brain into something people actually wanted to buy.

We would not like for this to happen to anyone else.

There are numerous places where digital downloads can be purchased these days, but deciding which software you should use for your business can be a timesink.

What are the reasons to offer digital downloads?

Digital downloads are files that are accessible via the web. If you are a designer, digital downloads may be a lucrative component of your portfolio.

There are many reasons selling digital downloads might work for you:

There is no need to be concerned about the logistics of stock and transportation. If your daily trip for the post office sounds similar to your worst nightmare, then digital solutions could be the ideal solution to consider.

There are six things you need to be aware of when you are deciding how to promote digital downloads

Some platforms, however, make it more advanced features, so it is important to consider which is the most compatible with what you want to achieve in the near future and into the near future.

Moving your items from one platform to the next can be as enjoyable as going to the dentist. Avoid your future self suffering with toothache by choosing the device that can be handled, but also provides space to expand.

For making the process a little easier, here are some features that you must look for

accessibilityFirst and most importantly your website on which sells digital downloads should be easy to use for you , as the creator.

Features:You're a multifaceted creator and could decide to offer different types of digital products later on. Be on the lookout for platforms that do not limit what kind of file you can upload.

Help DeskIf your scenario is similar to many customers who are looking for answers to questions regarding support in a matter of ten minutes after making contact with them. A company that has excellent support for customers can save you from a frustrating wait later.

Transaction fees:Transaction fees are a tiny percentage of every sale that the platform keeps. These fees are usually between 1-10% of the overall cost of the transaction. There are some platforms that include listing fees along with credit card processing charges and will quickly increase with every transaction.

Price:Finally, we have to analyze the numbers. While cheaper isn't necessarily better quality since systems with low costs usually have higher costs and cost-cutting features.

After we've identified the traits that we're after, let's look at some top choices to determine what features they share.

For instance, the author Emily Connell uses her website to give away free digital downloads , and also sell live cohorts, on-demand courses, and one-on-one coaching programs.

The best part is that it comes with an affordable plan. The site can be built and run your online community as well as make a purchase for one digital download and one coaching program at no cost.

Want to see for yourself? Sign up to get a no-cost account today.

Here are the advantages for the use of

The free plan lets you offer your first digital download without having to make an enormous upfront payment.

It is possible to sell any kind of digital download and sell unlimited files.

While we may think it's pretty awesome, no program is suitable for everyone. Below are the reasons why it may not be the right selection for you.

Digital technology is the standard and if you are looking to promote physical goods using a marketplace such as Shopify or Etsy could be a better choice.

Features

Accessibility: 5 out five. The creator-facing dashboard is clear and simple to operate. With our customized onboarding procedure and step-by-step tutorial videos that will allow you to make your list in just only a couple of seconds.

Performance: 5 out of five. It allows you to be capable of selling files in almost any format and there is no limit to the size of the files. It is possible to bundle your products, sell them as an upsell or charge according to your preferences.

Support Five stars from five. Have you had the pleasure of meeting our support team? If not, then you must! Visit the chat box on the bottom of the page and chat with us to say hi. Our chat support is the most efficient fast friendly, quick, and courteous chat support you can get.

Marketing 4.5 from 5. Our site was designed to serve as the one-stop-shop for all the needs of your company Marketing and advertising features make an important part of the piece of the puzzle. You can prelaunch and presell merchandise, give coupons away and create an affiliate program straight out of the box.

I've taken about half of a % off since we don't use a marketplace function, but this isn't necessary for every company We help you develop your own brand of audience using our lead capture tools.

Fees for transactions: 4.5 out of 5. With , there is no transaction fee for the paid plan. Users who are on free plans are charged an 8percent transaction fee to sell items.

This helps keep costs low even when you're only beginning out. And you'll have the ability to reduce and improve the quality for transactions , as your business expands.

In common with all platforms, there are fee for payment processing that are not associated with . Stripe and PayPal are both charged a typical transaction cost of 2.9 percent plus 30 centsor. Additionally, we provide immediate payouts to authors so that the money is available fast.

Pricing: 's free plan comes with a website, an online community as well as one download. It also includes one coaching program. Plans with a paid price vary from $39 to $199 per month.

Want to learn more about how to run your own online business with WordPress ? Come along to an actual demonstration to try the software:

Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce giant as well as a household name within the world of creators. More than 1.7 million businesses use Shopify for their own online stores and the creators of Shopify have generated more than 200 billion dollars in revenue.

Shopify is best known for selling physical goods However it is also possible to provide digital items. In recent times, Shopify has also added numerous international features to its e-commerce platform.

If you're an innovative person looking to sell digital and physical goods to consumers around the world, Shopify might be a excellent place to start.

Below are some of the Shopify advantages:

Shopify has powerful features to promote marketing, as well as integrations with social networks.

Shopify is an in-house payments processing solution called Shopify Payments. It's simple to use and comes with every plan, meaning you don't have to integrate with third-party processors if you do not want to.

Create beautiful web pages, shopfronts that are customisable and beautiful.

Here are the Shopify pros:

Its main focus is on physical retail sales of its products. The platform has features of premium quality that won't be required when your company is only selling digital items.

If you don't use Shopify Payments, there are an additional cost that are on top of your monthly membership.

The system of fees can be described as complicated.

Shopify comes with many features

Easy to use is 3/5. As Shopify was originally designed to serve as a marketplace for selling physical products it's necessary to follow extra steps to sell digital downloads. There are videos on the site that will guide you through the process of adding your products through the Digital Downloads app, but it's not an easy process.

Functionality 3/5. This time, Shopify loses points because most of its features are intended to help you sell physical goods.

When selling digital downloads, the maximum size of the file is 5GB for each file. Sellers can offer only one variant of a product , but you may include multiple variants, such as different resolutions for images and ebook formats. It will need an ZIP file to incorporate multiple files into the same item.

Support: 3 stars out of five. Shopify has 24/7 support via chat online, help via email, as well as a support community in which you can ask for help from other users. Many online reviews that have complained about slow responses for Support.

Marketing 5-star rating. Shopify stands out for their capabilities in marketing. The plans they offer include a robust site builder, which allows you to create your online store and also make a blog.

Email marketing features are built-in to ecommerce templates, and it allows you to design coupons or gift cards, vouchers and vouchers, and display the real-time feedback of customers. It also works with social media websites.

Charges for transactions: 2.5 out of 5. The Shopify fee structure is a bit complicated. It's hard to know exactly the transaction cost and the processing fee for credit cards are on the purchase.

There are no transaction fees on transactions that are made through this Shopify Payments system. If you do not use Shopify Payments, there's a fee for transactions processed through another payment processor.

Additionally, if you use large credit cards then you'll need to be able to pay the company that issued your credit card a fee per purchase. These rates change depending on the type of plan you select.

Basic Shopify:

The processing cost for credit card transactionsis 2.9% + $0.30

Charge for transactions when you do not use Shopify Payments 2.2%

Shopify:

Credit card processing fee: 2.6% + $0.30

Charge for transactions when you do not use Shopify Payments: 1%

Advanced Shopify:

Processing cost for credit card processing: 2.4% + $0.30

Fee for transactions if you don't use Shopify Payments: 0.5%

Price: $29 -- $299/month. Shopify has three plans available. Monthly costs are in addition to those costs, which are listed below.

Etsy

Millions of shoppers turn to Etsy to purchase exclusive and handcrafted merchandise. Etsy is well-known as the spot to buy distinctive, antique, and unique products created by individual creators and small companies.

Etsy boasts over 400 million users per month  this is a huge amount of attention on your goods. Additionally, they have a strong marketplace that allows you to sell your products and get discovered by potential customers.

The positive side is:

Etsy is a well-known brand, and helps to build confidence among customers.

Your shop's page is where you can subdivide your items into categories to make it easier for organization and accessibility.

Etsy has an intuitive seller dashboard that lets you receive reviews, message customers, design coupons and also provide coupons for discounts.

It's a great platform for sell items like art, templates, and presets along with vectors, fonts as well as innovative items.

Another side of the coin is:

Etsy is designed for selling physical goods in addition to digital ones. It's important to state on your advertisements the fact that your product is digital, to avoid confusion.

Though being listed on the Etsy marketplace Etsy marketplace is an attractive benefit, but there are many competition, and products with a lot of popularity may be overlooked.

Etsy provides

Ease of entry Ease of entry: 4 out of 5. Etsy is adjusting to the new world of digital items well. It is possible to set up your store can be done in just a couple of minutes, adding products can be just as simple as filling out the form for description, uploading your product images before uploading them onto the website and hitting the publish button.

Functionality 3.5. On Etsy the platform, you are able to offer multiple file types however, you're only allowed to upload five files per item. With a maximum size of 20MB for each file it could be prohibitive for some artists.

Support 3 stars from 5. However, Etsy offers a fantastic Creator community in which you can ask questions. Sellers are also able to get help from a comprehensive source and a manual to sellers.

Contrary to that, Etsy support is only available via email. There's currently a 1-2 day turnaround time which isn't the best option for urgent questions.

Marketing 5 stars out five. Etsy has some interesting marketing tools for sellers. While some platforms could provide an online marketplace, none has the reach of Etsy.

There's a lot of competition, but you can bring in real customers to your service. Actually, there are third-party tools for keyword research that are made to be adapted to Etsy searches. Etsy provides advertising services that sellers may avail.

Cost of transaction 2/5. There are a few fees to know about when selling products on Etsy. The most important is the $0.20 cost for listing each item you offer in your shop. The listing will be in effect for four months, or until the item sells.

If you're selling an item that you sell, you'll be assessed a 5 percent transaction cost, and a third percent and $0.25 transaction processing fee.

Cost: of 10 dollars per month free. The process of creating Etsy shops is free. Etsy shop is completely cost-free, however it costs $0.20 for selling products and other transaction charges.

Easy Digital Downloads

It's specially designed to sell digital items, but it needs some additional lift to perform exactly the same goals as different systems listed here.

There is a benefit:

EDD is a fantastic option if you already have an existing WordPress site and want to keep integrating your product within the WordPress setting.

It's also an ideal option for people who are looking for sophisticated customization, but bear in mind that you'll need to be comfortable in coding and designing.

Negative:

In order to get the full features you need to sell digital downloads, it's essential to use extensions and integrations to other programs.

The additional improvements and integrations could be charged separately as well as technical problems.

Simple Digital Downloads offers

It's easy to sign up 3/5. If you're familiar with WordPress and have uploaded plugins prior to making the move to EDD will be business as usual. If you're not familiar with WordPress, this wouldn't be the ideal tool, as you'd have to learn two brand new interfaces.

Functionality: Three out of five. With EDD, you can sell any type of file that you upload onto WordPress. This allows you to sell a large range, but be mindful of the bandwidth you have on the hosting platform when you intend to offer large-scale products.

As we've mentioned, EDD is able to be integrated with tools from third parties for additional features. It's extremely customizable, however managing multiple systems can be complicated.

This is the ideal choice for those who want to create and operate the selling system themselves. Building blocks are great however the issue is Do you really want to build the construction?

Support: 2/5. EDD offers customer support through tickets. However, live chat feature isn't offered. Priority support is available only for plans with higher tiers.

A different thing to think about is that if you have problems with the integration, you might need to help with the integration as well. This could lead to disconcerting and heated discussions.

Marketing: 2.5 out of 5. In the box, EDD offers coupons and discounts and an excellent shopping cart function.

By utilizing extensions, you'll have the ability to enhance your marketing suite with affiliates, email stars and reviews of star ratings , as along with cross-selling and upselling, but some of these options are only offered with premium plans.

First, you must set up first a WordPress website. This is provided with domain and hosting charges. You'll also be cost-based to pay for the premium services you plan to make use of.

Cost of $999 per year. The basic EDD plugin is gratis. If you'd like more tools that you can purchase, you'll have to purchase them separately and upgrade to the premium version to gain all of the functions.

Gumroad

Gumroad is a website where creators offer digital downloads in every dimension and shape. Since its inception Gumroad's creators have made more than 500 million dollars from the sale of online goods.

It's user-friendly , and is an ideal choice for designers however, is it really the best option? Let's look into the pros and cons.

Here's an area where Gumroad is shining:

Gumroad is an excellent option to begin, and you can sell almost any thing you think of, even physical items, if you select.

It's free for users of all ages to utilize. It will only charge charges for transactions if you're able to make a sale. It's a great option if you're in the process of selling digital items and wish to try before committing to using a high-end software.

Creators have access to Gumroad Discover an online marketplace that allows potential buyers to find the products you offer.

Here are a few Gumroad negatives:

There are limited customization options for your product pages along with checkout pages. It's difficult to design a traditional sales page, even if you're not using a website builder.

Even though it's not expensive to sign upfor the service, it can be costly to charge transaction fees for each transaction. This can be fine when beginning out, but as your business grows will reduce your profits.

Gumroad has

User-friendly Ease to use Entry: 5/5. The process of registering your items for sale through Gumroad is straightforward and simple. When you first make a post in only one minute, then you'll be ready to offer your goods.

The features: 4.5 out of 5. Gumroad is a great marketplace for selling your products. Gumroad lets you offer physical and digital products, memberships, product variations, and rentals. You can also choose the date you'll launch your product, and give license keys to customers if you're selling software, and offer subscriptions.

For paid products the file size limit of 16GB. When you download no-cost versions, then the size limit is 250MB. Every product is able to add as many files you like.

Help: 2.5 out of 5. Gumroad offers a library of useful resources that include helpful information as well as videos. They have lost points due to no customer support via live chat or phone. One of the best ways to contact them with specific questions is to use their contact form.

Marketing Rating 5/5. For the department of marketing Gumroad's affiliate marketing program can be a lifesaver. If you're planning to utilize affiliate marketing with the product you sell, Gumroad lets you set the affiliate marketing program to your specifications at no cost with their simple system.

Gumroad offers a variety of integrations that allow you to connect your email marketing tools as well as the Zapier integration.

Charges for transactions: 2.5 out of 5. The transaction fee ranges between 9.9 percent up to 2.9 percent in this category which is why Gumroad is the worst off. The cost of transactions reduces when increases the value of merchandise you are selling, but 9.9% is an expensive cost for creators who are newer. You also have to pay an additional $0.30 charge for every purchase.

Gumroad gives cash out weekly in the event that you've reached a $ 10,000 USD minimum.

Price: Free , plus fees. There's no recurring monthly cost, but charges for transactions are determined by the number of annual sales.

What are the main factors to take into consideration when choosing the best place to market digital downloads

All creators are distinct. This is why it's great to have the option of choosing the program that runs your company.

With a reliable digital download service on your partner will give you access more products as well as a myriad of earnings opportunities.

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