There's no denying it, selling digital downloads can be very lucrative. Think about it, dissimilar physical products that you lot have to parcel and ship to customers, digital products tin be created in one case and sold repeatedly to many dissimilar customers without having to replenish your inventory.
That means less work and more than money… If you lot do it right.
Before you get started, at that place are a number of things to carry in heed, the well-nigh of import being where you sell your digital products. After all, the offering of a particular software tin vary quite a scrap and may non include key features like a website architect.
I've tried and tested a number of tools in order to find you the all-time solution for this new business venture. Whorl down to read my review.
But commencement. What are digital downloads and what should I sell?
What Digital Downloads Should I Sell?
There are so many dissimilar types of digital products being sold nowadays by entrepreneurs, artists, educators and creatives. Some of these include:
- eBooks, reports, guides
- Online courses
- SaaS products
- Audiobooks, podcasts and music
- Photos
- Videos
- Fonts, logos, graphics (similar icons and UI assets)
- Themes and templates (for websites and electronic mail marketing)
- Video games
Tip: What yous decide to sell depends on where your talents lie, simply y'all should also wait into what need there is for the product y'all desire to sell and check out the competition. Y'all might consider using a tool such as Ahrefs, Serpstat or SEMrush for SEO research.
4 Tools for Selling Digital Downloads
Though there are many well-known ecommerce solutions out there, like Shopify, Wix and WooCommerce, for the purposes of this commodity I've chosen to focus on the solutions that specifically cater to those selling digital downloads.
4 may audio like besides few, but you'll run into that all offer very different solutions; some offer complete online stores (Sellfy) or Buy It At present buttons, whereas SendOwl requires yous to have a website already.
- Sellfy (online store with bones email marketing)
- SendOwl (for those with an existing site)
- Easy Digital Downloads (an ecommerce plugin for your WordPress site)
- DPD (the cheapest solution)
i. Sellfy – Low-toll way to create a fully-fledged download store
I found Sellfy like shooting fish in a barrel to navigate. It includes basic e-mail marketing, decent analytics and a website builder. That said, it is missing some key features like SEO options and a CRM.
What we liked almost Sellfy
- Y'all can sell direct through the online shop y'all create through Sellfy. Alternatively, embed Sellfy Purchase At present buttons or product widgets on your website or blog
- Sellfy allows you to host & distribute large digital files with up to 10GB per product
- Their analytics are pretty comprehensive; yous can delve into your traffic sources and see where effectually the world your products are most pop
- Setting up sales, disbelieve codes and upselling is easy to practice
- You can add a 'pay what y'all want' option
- Offers basic email marketing inside the platform. You lot can employ Sellfy to ship newsletters and thanks emails, and now you're able to send abandoned cart emails, too
- Expert price for unlimited products & bandwidth
- SSL encryption, download limits and PDF stamping is used to fight product piracy and protect your heir-apparent's data
- SEO options bachelor
What wasn't then great
- Sellfy doesn't come with its own CRM, and so yous'll accept to manage your customers through another software
- Only 5 integrations are available through the platform – you can, of course, get through Zapier
Screenshots:
Who'south it for?
Sellfy is a skillful solution for small businesses who don't already accept their ecommerce set up, equally through them you tin can create a simple online store and accept admission to bones email marketing.
Pricing
Starter: $29/calendar month
Upwards to $10k sales per year. Unlimited products, custom domain
Business organization: $79/calendar month
Up to $50k sales per twelvemonth. All in the Starter programme plus 10,000 email credits and production upselling
Premium: $159/month
Upwards to $200k sales per year. All in the Business programme plus priority back up and free migration
Try Sellfy out for free and see if it'south for y'all! Use this link to get 10% off
2. SendOwl – Sell digital goods on your existing site
At the fourth dimension of writing this, SendOwl merchants accept fabricated an impressive $764.viii million collectively. So how does it work? Dissimilar Sellfy, SendOwl doesn't provide you with a website, yous'll need to accept other channels where y'all tin can sell your products, i.due east. an existing website, blog, social media profiles or through e-mail marketing.
What we liked about SendOwl
- You tin can employ SendOwl with WordPress, Weebly, Squarespace and Wix
- You can sell to customers via any online channel through the link generated for each product. You tin also use the code given to add a Buy Information technology At present/Add To Cart push to your website or blog
- The fact that you can transport abandoned cart emails is a smashing reward. I oasis't seen this in the other tools on this list
- You lot tin integrate a "Pay What You Desire" pricing module (and gear up a minimum, of form!)
- Ready up subscriptions
- Two-gene authentication for added security
- You can set up a monthly email to go direct to your auditor with a PDF study of sales that month
- They send you a weekly sales study via e-mail
What wasn't and then great
- Bear in mind that y'all tin't prepare an online store through SendOwl – yous'll demand to do so through a website builder
- Not necessarily a disadvantage, but something you lot should know: For larger files, or files with video/audio streaming, at that place may be an excess bandwidth fee if you sell high quantities
- The software could be improved with better support features like alive conversation integrated within the platform
Screenshots:
Who'south it for?
Sellers who already have their own website set up or those who want to sell their digital downloads through social media or e-mail lists.
Pricing
Standard: $fifteen/month for 30 products and 3GB storage
Premium: $24/month for 100 products and 5GB storage
Premium: $39/month for 250 products and 15GB storage
Cocky-Hosting:
As yous will be hosting the files and paying for the bandwidth costs, the number of products you can sell is pretty high.
$39/month for 2,500 products and 3 subscriptions ; $59/month for 5,000 products and five subscriptions ; $79/calendar month for seven,500 products and 10 subscriptions
Try SendOwl out for gratis and see if it's for you!
iii. Easy Digital Downloads – The solution for WordPress
Easy Digital Downloads, a solution for WordPress merchants, boasts over 2.iv million downloads through their tool. Information technology works past installing a plug-in on your WordPress site, so those used to using the WordPress backend should take no trouble interacting with the software. Their pricing model aims to cater to both small and big businesses and doesn't limit yous to a item type of digital product.
What we liked most Piece of cake Digital Downloads
- Unlimited file downloads
- Congenital-in reporting platform for hands viewing stats and making custom reports
- 100 integrations available (though your access will depend on the programme you choose)
- You can choose from a multitude of modernistic, attractive themes for your ecommerce
- Their client management features brand tracking customer lifetime value and activity piece of cake
- Supports both invitee and registered user checkouts
What wasn't so cracking
- Combining your current theme with the plugin could be slightly irksome
- Piece of cake Digital Downloads limits your access to third-party integrations (extensions) and unlocks them when you move upward to a pricier tier. As you'll be paying separately for services like e-mail marketing anyway it seems unfair to charge more but to be able to integrate them with the plugin
- Doesn't runway free downloads
Who'due south it for?
Obviously, you must be a WordPress merchant to sell your digital downloads through Easy Digital Downloads.
Pricing
Their pricing model consists of diverse passes that allow you access to item extensions (these are additional features and integrations with 3rd parties).
Personal Pass: $99/yrfor ane site activation, includes all electronic mail marketing extensions
Extended: $199/year for ane site activation. Includes all email marketing extensions and all payment gateway extensions
Professional: $299/year for 1 site activation. Includes all electronic mail marketing extensions and all payment gateway extensions
All Admission: $499/year for unlimited sites. Includes all extensions
four. DPD (Digital Product Delivery) – Starting at but $ten/month
DPD claim to have helped over 40,000 vendors make more than $150 1000000 collectively using DPD. Nothing to exist sniffed at, merely not equally impressive as SendOwl'south $764.8 one thousand thousand.
Similar SendOwl, yous won't be able to set upward your ecommerce through DPD, instead, once you upload your products, a Buy It Now push will be generated. This can then be used on your website, blog, Facebook, newsletters, etc.
What we liked almost DPD
- Allows for cross and upselling on published products
- They give yous a xxx-day gratis trial instead of the usual xiv days – this should give you enough time to go all your products uploaded before you start paying
- Prices are reasonable for small business owners
What wasn't then great
- Their analytics could be improved by providing the seller with details on the location of their buyers and the traffic sources
- No e-mail marketing options are bachelor
- The process of uploading a new production could be made simpler
- The interface feels a flake dated
Screenshots:
Who's information technology for?
Sellers looking for a cheap way to sell their digital products, who take existing channels they can sell via.
Pricing
They have tons of plans, which are calculated on how much space y'all need and how many products you wish to sell. They go all the way up to $280/calendar month for 174GB and 3500 products. Here are the prices for those only starting out:
$x/month for 1GB and 20 products
$16/month for 2GB and 35 products
$30/month for 6GB and 120 products
Try DPD out for gratuitous for thirty days!
Selz – Complete online store with CRM (Not currently accepting new customers)
I actually liked testing out Selz due to the many things you can do within their platform. Their acme features include a website builder, SEO options for your content and products and a congenital-in CRM. Some may be slightly overwhelmed past the number of options bachelor, but they do offer helpful explainer videos in each section and y'all tin always contact back up through their live chat if you get stuck.
What we liked about Selz
- 24/7 back up for all paid plans. They take live conversation installed within the platform
- You can add a folio championship and meta description for each production, which will help with SEO
- Very comprehensive analytics, which show the source and geographical location of viewers, conversions and buyers
- You lot tin build your own website using their piece of cake-to-utilise drag and drop builder. This is quite comprehensive and offers yous a number of modern, bonny themes to choose from, also
- They offering a blog editor, which comes with SEO options
- A prissy security characteristic they offering is PDF stamping – you can cull to stamp each copy sold with the buyer's name and order number to prevent illegal sharing of your digital downloads
- You can run Google Smart Shopping campaigns and rail the results in Selz
What wasn't so swell
- Email marketing is one thing the software doesn't include. We recommend these electronic mail newsletter services
- Because they have Selz Pay for payment processing, they charge you boosted fees for using other payment providers. Depending on the plan you become for this ranges from 0.5% to 2%
Screenshots:
Who's information technology for?
Budding sellers who are looking for an all-round solution to host their weblog, website and products. In spite of having a number of options and features, the interface is easy to navigate. Because they offer staff accounts and unlimited products on all plans, Selz is likewise a neat solution for larger businesses.
Pricing
Bones: $29/ month for unlimited products and ii staff accounts
Standard: $59/ calendar month for unlimited products and 5 staff accounts
Advanced: $199/ month for unlimited products and fifteen staff accounts
**Please annotation: Since Selz was caused by Amazon, they are no longer taking any new sign-ups**
Conclusion: What Tool Should I Apply For Selling Digital Products?
After testing these widely used tools for selling digital products, Sellfy came out equally the meridian option. Though their prices might seem a fiddling pricey, the options you take are greater than the other tools listed in this article.
If yous already have a website or a popular social media profile and are looking for a style to monetize it by calculation Buy It Now buttons to the products you offer, SendOwl is worth checking out as it'south slightly cheaper than Sellfy.
Let me know how you go on in the comments beneath, or if you've tried another tool you recall should keep this list!
Updates:
28 October 2021 – Moved Selz downward
10 February 2021 – Moved Sellfy up ane place
About Roberta Phillips, BA (HONS) UEA, NORWICH
How-do-you-do, I'm Roberta! Having worked every bit a digital marketer for a host of online businesses, I've tried, tested, fallen in love with and despaired with so many marketing tools. I am excited to assistance you find the best web tools you lot need for your business concern to thrive.
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