The top 6 options and features to sell digital downloads on the internet

Jun 30, 2022

Look for the best tools to market digital downloads online. This article will explain what characteristics you should look for as well as the best platforms to sell digital downloads.

The most effective marketplaces to offer digital downloads to various types of creators

When you're choosing an online marketplace to sell digital downloads, be sure to choose an application with easy access, functionality, assistance and marketing tools, and also has low costs and reasonably priced costs.

  • Shopify and Etsy are designed for selling physical goods, however, they allow you to sell digital downloads as well. Their digital product selling options might be more flexible.
  • Gumroad provides a variety of functions that permit the sale of a wide range of file types with no recurring fees. However, Gumroad charges high transaction costs for each purchase.
  • Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin that allows you to sell your products directly from your website. Even though it's available for no cost, it's likely that you'll need to add additional extensions and integrations.
  • It is simple to setup It is simple to setup and permits you to provide every kind of file with no limits. There are advanced marketing features that are integrated into the platform. Additionally, our support is superb and easy to set up. That's according to what our clients have to say about us.

In the beginning, when I first launched one digital version of my products, I was thinking that the most difficult element would be to transform the ideas of my brain into a product that customers actually wanted to purchase.

We do not want this to happen to you.

There are numerous places you can offer digital downloads these days however, deciding on the best software to use for your product could be as simple as a timesink.

What are the main reasons for offer digital downloads for sale?

Digital downloads are the downloads that are available for purchase via the internet. If you're a designer, digital downloads can become a very profitable component of the product line.

The following are reasons to sell digital downloads might be a good idea for your business:

It is not necessary to fret about stock or shipping. If making daily visits to the post office sounds like your own personal nightmare Electronic products will be the ideal solution.

There are six things you need you should consider in deciding on the best site to offer digital downloads over the internet.

Some platforms, however, go to the next level by offering high-end capabilities. It's crucial to determine which platform best matches the objectives you're trying to achieve, both today and in the future.

Transferring your equipment from one tool to another can be like a trip for a visit to the dentist. You can avoid the toothache by picking the tool that you are comfortable with however it also provides you with the space to expand.

For making the process simpler Here are some of the features you should look for:

accessibilityFirst foremost, the site which you are selling digital downloads needs to be simple to collaborate with  as the author.

Features:You're a multifaceted creator This means that you could provide a variety of digital items in the future. Keep an eye out for sites that do not restrict the kinds of files which you upload.

Support:If you're like more than two thirds of users  are, you're expecting answers to support questions within ten minutes of you asking the question. Selecting a company that has outstanding customer support could save customers from feeling frustrated later.

Fees for transactions:Transaction fees are a fraction of the sale that the platform keeps. It is usually 1-10% of the total cost of the transaction. A few platforms can also charge listing and processing fees to credit cards. They will increase with every transaction.

cost:Finally, we have to figure out the numbers. While cheaper isn't necessarily that it's the most effective option, since lower-cost platforms usually have higher fees and other hidden costs.

The features we've learned to look for, take a look at some of the well-known brands and see what they have in the way of common features.

The creator Emily Connors uses her site to offer the free digital downloads , as well as sell live cohort programs online courses, as well as private coaching classes.

Best of all, has an affordable plan. It is possible to build your own website and also manage your online community, and offer one download digital as well as one item of coaching for free.

Are you interested in trying the system yourself? Join for a an account for free today.

These are some of the benefits for using

The no-cost plan makes it easy to sell your first digital download without having to pay a large upfront price.

You are able to offer any kind of digital download and file size that is unlimited.

While we may think it's fantastic, not every program is suitable for everyone. There are a few reasons that may not be your ideal choice.

Digital has become the norm and if you are looking to market physical items such as a website like Shopify or Etsy is a good alternative.

Features

accessibility: 5 out five. The creator-facing dashboard on is simple and clean to navigate. With our customizable onboarding process and step-by-step instruction videos you'll be able to list your items in few seconds.

Functionality 5-stars out of 5. The platform allows you to sell files of virtually every type of format and there's no restriction in the file size. It's your choice to package your items or even offer them as upsells and price them as you like.

Support Rating 5/5. Have you had a chat with our customer support staff? If not, then you must! Go to the chat box on the lower left of the page and introduce yourself. Our chat support is the most efficient quick, helpful, and friendly chat support you can find.

Marketing Rating: 4.5 from 5. The goal of our team was to develop an all-in-one solution for the demands of your business and the features that support marketing constitute a large part of the overall puzzle. It is possible to prelaunch and sell products, distribute coupons and even set up your own affiliate program directly from the box.

I've decided to take half of a point because we don't offer a marketplace feature although it's not a necessity for any business. We'll help you create an online fanbase with our lead capture tool.

Transaction fees: 4.5 out of 5. With , there is no transaction fee on paid plans. People who have free plans pay the 8% transaction cost on transactions.

This keeps costs low when you're just starting out. There's always a way to improve and reduce transaction fees as your business develops.

Like most platforms, there's fees for payment processors that are not related to . Stripe or PayPal will charge a standard transaction fee of 2.9 percent plus 30Cor. We also offer instant payouts for creators, so you are able to access funds quickly.

Cost: 's free plan includes a website, an online community, the digital download as well as a coaching product. The paid plans start at $39.90 to $199.99/month.

Are you looking to learn more about managing your online business using WordPress ? Come join us for an interactive live demonstration to try it out:

Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce giant and a household name in the realm of creators. It has more than 1.7 million customers who employing Shopify to run their own online shops and its creators on Shopify have made more than 200 billion dollars in revenue.

Shopify is a Shopify platform is widely known for selling physical goods however it also allows to sell digital products. Since its launch, Shopify has also added numerous international features for e-commerce.

If you're an artist who would like to market physical or physical items to buyers all over the world, Shopify might be a ideal place to begin.

Here are some of the Shopify advantages:

Shopify has powerful marketing tools, and seamlessly integrates with numerous social media platforms.

Shopify has its own payment processor called Shopify Payments. It's easy to use and comes with every plan, which means you do not have to sign up with any other payment processors if you don't want to.

Create stunning online pages and storefronts which are customisable and stunning.

They are Shopify Negatives of Shopify:

Shopify's focus is on selling physical products. There are premium features that don't require if you're just selling digital goods.

If you don't use Shopify Payments, there are additional fees in addition to the month-long subscription cost.

The structure of fees is usually intricate.

Shopify offers

Accessibility 3 stars out of 5. As Shopify was first built for selling physical items, it is necessary to take additional steps in order to provide digital downloads. The site has videos that will guide users through the process of uploading your item via their Digital Downloads app, but it's not the most intuitive process.

Functionality 3/5 Functionality. Again, Shopify loses points because a lot of the tools are targeted at selling physical goods.

If selling digital downloads the maximum file size for sale is 5GB for each file. Sellers can offer only one file per variant of the product, however it is possible to offer multiple variations, such as diverse resolutions of images, and ebook formats. You must use an ZIP file in order to include multiple files in one product.

Support: 3 stars out of 5. Shopify provides 24/7 support via chat online, help via email, as well as a support community that allows you to get assistance from your fellow customers. Many review sites complain about slow responses from Support.

Marketing: 5 out of 5. Shopify excels in their marketing capabilities. They offer plans that provide a fantastic web-based builders that lets you build your online shop and also manage your blog.

There's built-in email marketing with eCommerce templates. Additionally, you are able to create coupon codes, create gift cards and present real-time customer reviews. It also works with social media websites.

Fees for transactions: 2.5 out of 5. The Shopify fees structure is complicated. It's hard to know exactly the amount of your transaction and the charges associated with processing credit cards are on purchase.

There's no transaction fee in the event of a transaction using this Shopify Payments system. However, if you do choose not to use Shopify Payments, there's a cost to utilize a third-party payment processor.

Additionally, if you use big credit cards, you'll have to pay an additional cost to credit card companies for every purchase. The percentages will change depending on the kind of program you select.

The basics of Shopify:

Processing cost for credit card processing: 2.9% + $0.30

Transaction fee if not using Shopify Payments: 2%

Shopify:

Processing fees for credit cards: 2.6% + $0.30

Cost for transactions when you don't utilize Shopify Payments 1percent

Advanced Shopify:

Processing fees for credit cards: 2.4% + $0.30

Fee for transactions if you do not use Shopify Payments: 0.5%

Price: $29 -- $299/month. Shopify provides three different plans. The cost per month is in addition to the costs that are listed below.

Etsy

The majority of users use Etsy for buying hand-crafted, original merchandise. Etsy is known for being the site to purchase custom, vintage, and quirky products created by artists and small businesses.

Etsy receives nearly 400 million people visiting their site each month , which is quite a large number of people looking at your products. Etsy also has a robust marketplace where you can sell your products and get noticed by new buyers.

Plus side:

Etsy is an established brand name, which will instil trust among buyers.

In your store's page on your shop page, you can categorize your products into categories that will help you organize your products as well as make it easier to search.

Etsy has a user-friendly seller dashboard that lets you browse reviews, make messages to your customers, create coupons, and offer discount coupons.

It's an excellent place to market items such as models as templates, templates, presets, fonts, vectors and also creative products.

Another side of the coin is:

Etsy was designed to permit sellers to market physical and also digital goods. Be sure to state clearly on your listing that the products are digital, to avoid any confusion.

While being on the Etsy marketplace Etsy marketplace can be a great benefit, there are an array of products that compete, and those with a lot of popularity may be lost.

Etsy offers many functions

It is simple to utilize Rating: 4/5. Etsy has adapted to an online marketplace extremely well. The process of setting up an store in just a few hours and then adding items can be straightforward as simple as filling out an online form that describes your item and uploading images of your products by dragging the images onto the website, click the publish button.

Functionality 3/5. The benefit of Etsy the possibility of selling many different file types, however, you're only allowed to upload up to five documents per product. There is a limit of 20 MB per file, this might be limiting to certain creators.

Support 3.0 five stars. One thing is that Etsy provides a fantastic community of creators, where you can ask questions. Sellers can also obtain comprehensive assistance materials as well as the seller's manual.

However, Etsy support is only contactable via emails. They currently have a a 1-2 day turnaround time, which isn't great for urgent inquiries.

Marketing Rating: 4/5. Etsy has some interesting marketing tools available to sellers. Although other platforms might provide a marketplace, none have the presence of Etsy.

It could be a fight for the ultimate victory, however, it is possible to bring real customers to your site and products. There are other third-party tools for search engine optimization that specifically cater to Etsy searches. Etsy provides the additional option of advertising on behalf of sellers.

Transactions cost 2.5. There are a couple of fees you should be aware of in selling products through Etsy. One one is the $0.20 listing fee per item that you put in your shop. Each listing will remain active for a period of four months or until it is sold.

If you're selling your product, you'll pay a 5 percent transaction fee as well as an additional percentage and $0.25 payment processing fee.

Cost Free --10 bucks per month. Making the personal Etsy shop is free, however , it will cost $0.20 to display the item as well as other transaction fees.

Simple Digital Downloads

It's specially designed to sell digital items, but it needs some additional weight to fulfill similar functions to others that are on this list.

Positives:

EDD could be an excellent alternative to an current WordPress site and want to maintain your product inside the WordPress ecosystem.

It's also an excellent alternative for people who want complex customization. But keep your eyes on the fact that you'll need to be confident programming and using.

On the downside:

In order to fulfill the various functions it is necessary to offer digital downloads you'll have add extensions, or connect to other programs.

Other enhancements or integrations could be priced separately, as well as technical difficulties may be a problem.

Simple Digital Downloads has features

Simple to type in Easy to sign in. If you're already familiar with WordPress and have uploaded plugins previously making the switch to EDD is just like usual. If you've not used WordPress it's not the most ideal device, because you'll have to be able to navigate two different ways of using the interface.

Functionality 3.0 out of 5. The EDD platform offers EDD it is possible to sell any kind of document that you upload to WordPress. This gives you a wide choice, but you need to be aware of your bandwidth for hosting in the event that you intend to sell large products.

It's been mentioned before that EDD is able to be integrated with third-party tools to add more functions. It's highly customizable, but managing multiple systems can become complicated.

It is the most suitable alternative for anyone who wishes to build and manage the business from their own premises. Blocks are great for building, but the question is: are you willing to complete the work?

Support: 2 out of 5. EDD offers customer support through an online ticketing system. However, there's no live chat feature. Priority support is available only on higher-level plans.

One thing to keep to keep in mind is should you experience problems with the integration, you might need contact support for the integration in addition. This could result in unpleasant and heated discussions.

Marketing: 2.5 out of 5. In the box, EDD offers coupons and discounts. Additionally, they have option to buy on the internet.

Through extensions, you'll be capable of expanding the options for marketing by adding affiliates, emails, star reviews Cross-selling, upselling, and cross-selling. Certain of these options are available only on higher-level plans.

First, you must have the necessary WordPress website, which comes offered with hosting as well as domain registration costs. You'll also have fees for any integrations with premium pricing you want to use.

Price is: $999/year for no cost. The basic EDD plugin is totally cost-free. If you'd like to have more features however, you'll need purchase these tools separately. You can also upgrade to a higher package to enjoy all the tools.

Gumroad

Gumroad is an internet-based marketplace that lets creators sell digital downloads in all shapes and sizes. Over the past decade Gumroad's creators earned more than 500 million from selling goods online.

It's easy to use and is the most popular option by designers. But do you think it's the best choice for you? We'll look at the benefits as well as drawbacks.

This is the spot where Gumroad shines:

Gumroad is an easy option to begin selling nearly any kind of product you can think of, even tangible items if you decide to.

The platform is free for anyone to use. The only cost you will be charged is transaction costs when you sell. This is ideal if you are you are selling digital goods and would like to experiment before committing to the purchase of a costly instrument.

Creators are able to use Gumroad Discover an internet-based marketplace on which potential buyers are able to search the products you have created.

Here are some Gumroad negatives:

There's a lack of options for customization for checkout pages as well as product pages. It's tough to create an ordinary sales page as there's no builder on the market for web pages.

Although it's no cost to join, there are large transaction charges for each transaction. This is fine when starting out. However when you expand your business, this could reduce the amount of money you earn.

Gumroad includes

Easy to use: 4 out five. The process of registering products to sell on Gumroad is simple and easy. It is possible to launch your first product within minutes, and have everything you need to begin selling.

The features: 4.5 out of 5. Gumroad is a great platform for selling products. Gumroad allows you to market digital and physical items, including memberships, product variations rental and modifications. Additionally, you can choose an release date for your merchandise, supply the license key code when you're selling software and offer subscriptions to buy.

When you buy paid-for items the maximum file size is 16GB will be applied. For free products, the maximum size is 250MB. The product may contain as many files as you'd like.

Support: 2.5 five stars. Gumroad has a collection of helpful resources that include content and videos. Gumroad's reputation has been damaged as a result of live chat nor contact number, therefore the most effective way to get in touch for questions about particular issues is through their email address.

Marketing Rating 4/5. Marketing Rating: 4/5. Gumroad's affiliate system shines. If you're planning to make use of affiliate marketing connection with your business, Gumroad lets you set an affiliate marketing strategy to your specifications at no cost using their simple-to-use system.

Gumroad offers a variety of integrationsthat allow the integration of your email marketing program and an integration with Zapier.

Transaction costs: 2.5 out of 5. With transaction fees ranging between 9% and 2.9 percent, this is the area that Gumroad suffers the largest loss of points. The fees for transactions decrease when you raise the amount that you sell, however 9% is a steep cost for creators who are new. Additionally, you have to be responsible for the $0.30 fee for each sale.

Gumroad offers weekly cash payouts so the amount you've crossed the threshold of 10 USD.

Cost: There are no fees. There's no recurring monthly price, but the costs for transactions will be calculated based on the volume of revenue per year.

What should you look out to determine which digital downloads to offer for sale?

Each creator is unique. It's why it's so nice to have the option of choosing the right software for your company.

By having a safe and reliable digital download system on your partner and you'll be well on your way to the latest product line-up and a plethora of earning possibilities.

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