Where To Sell Digital Products: 4 Options

Selling digital products can be a great side hustle, and even allow you to earn a full-time income. But after producing your digital goods, you’re likely wondering: which are the best platforms for selling?

Well, the right option really depends on your needs. Marketplaces have a pre-established audience while niche platforms can be a good fit for selling online courses. However, if you want to retain 100 percent of your earnings, you’re better off launching your own website.

In this post, we’ll discuss the benefits of selling digital products. Then, we’ll explore four of the best platforms to sell digital content, and show you how to launch an online store. Let’s get started!

The Benefits of Selling Digital Products

Digital products are any assets that exist in digital format. These may include:

• Software (like WordPress plugins)
• Templates
• Sheet music
• Greetings cards
• Photographs
• Memberships
• Online courses
• eBooks
• Digital art

Selling digital products means low overhead costs since you don’t need to pay for inventory space or shipping. This allows you to maximize your profit margins.

Additionally, you only need to create digital items once, and then you can sell them repeatedly to hundreds of customers. This saves time so you can focus your efforts on marketing products instead.

The flexibility of selling digital goods is also unmatched. You could leverage free digital assets to build your mailing list, accept one-time payments, sell subscriptions, or charge people for license keys.

Where to Sell Digital Products (4 Options)

Now that you know more about selling digital products, let’s discuss the best platforms to list and sell items.

1. Marketplaces

One of the quickest ways to start selling digital products is to use marketplaces like Amazon. These platforms give you access to millions of potential customers all over the world.

They’re also ideal for certain types of digital products. For instance, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a popular platform for eBooks.

Meanwhile, Etsy works well for craft-based digital products like stencils, backgrounds, and journal pages:

Marketplaces can also be convenient since they’re compatible with many apps and marketing tools. With Amazon, you can advertise your products and be recognized as a “best seller” to boost your credibility.

The downside is that tons of merchants rely on marketplaces to sell products. That means you’ll be in direct competition with other sellers in your niche, who may present a better offer.

Additionally, the platform retains a slice of your earnings (and some may even charge you to list digital assets for sale). Currently, Amazon pockets $0.99 per sale on the Individual plan while the Professional plan costs $39.99 per month, no matter how much you sell.

2. Social Media

In recent years, it has become easy to sell digital products across social media. Popular networks like Facebook and Instagram have neat shopping features that let customers buy items through these platforms.

Social commerce lets you accomplish multiple goals from one place, like building a brand and promoting your offer. Better yet, many sites categorize users according to their behavior and preferences, allowing you to target the right people.

There’s also a lot of flexibility when it comes to selling online. With Facebook specifically, you could set up a Facebook Shop, list items on Facebook Marketplace, join buy-and-sell groups, and more. However, some of these options are geared more towards local sellers.

One of the biggest limitations of selling digital products this way is that you must adhere to strict terms and conditions. Unlike traditional marketplaces, you won’t be charged selling fees, but you’ll still have to pay transaction fees.

3. Niche Selling Platforms

Although this won’t be suitable for all types of digital content, it might make sense to start selling on niche platforms.

Udemy and Skillshare are perfect for selling online courses. You’ll also get access to marketing tools to promote your course and motivate signups.

Again, you’ll be competing with other instructors who may have much more experience. And, you’ll share revenue with the platform (e.g. Udemy currently takes a 50 percent commission).

Freelancer marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork can be good for selling digital products like content templates or branding kits. But again, transaction fees are applied at checkout (roughly 10-20 percent).

You might consider options like Teachers Pay Teachers if you want to sell worksheets, lesson plans, or other resources. With this platform, you can even launch a customizable online storefront. However, you’ll pay an annual subscription and transaction fees.

4. Your Own Website

The best way to sell digital downloads is to set up your own website. This gives you complete control over the design, so you can build a winning brand identity.

You also don’t have to abide by any terms or conditions, so you can sell whatever you like. Better yet, a website functions as a central hub for your entire business, where you can tell your story, publish blog posts, link your social accounts, and let customers ask questions.

Another great perk is that a website gives you an opportunity to target popular keywords in your niche. This enables you to leverage search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to your products (rather than relying on paid ads).

WordPress is the most flexible content management system (CMS) on the market. Besides being free and open-source, it’s also fully customizable.

There are plenty of free and paid plugins that let you extend the base functionality of the platform. For example, you can use WooCommerce to transform your site into a fully-fledged online store.

You can also install form plugins, SEO plugins, membership plugins, social media plugins, and more. This makes it an excellent option for digital product sellers who want to take an omnichannel approach to selling digital goods.

How to Build Your Own Site to Sell Digital Products

The best way to sell digital products is to set up your own website. As we discussed above, WordPress is the CMS that we recommend since it’s scalable, flexible, and robust.

The only problem with WordPress is that it comes with a slight learning curve if you lack technical skills. That’s why it’s better to combine the power of WordPress with a beginner-friendly website builder like HeroBuilder:

HeroBuilder is the latest offering from NameHero, which offers secure and powerful hosting. Therefore, you can ensure peak performance and stability for your customers.

This WordPress website builder uses clever AI technology to generate an entire online store in minutes. All you have to do is provide some details about your business, define your website goals, and choose from a collection of personalized website templates:

Based on your input, HeroBuilder adds all the content, styles, and plugins you’ll need. So, not only do you get WordPress pre-installed, but HeroBuilder also auto-integrates marketing tools, ecommerce features, analytics, and more.

Once you have access to the WordPress dashboard, you can use the WooCommerce plugin to list your digital files:

WooCommerce comes with integrated payment processing (WooPayments), although you can install other payment gateways like PayPal via the WooCommerce Marketplace.

After that, you might wish to upload a logo or edit key web pages, including cart and checkout pages. HeroBuilder also provides a helpful AI Assistant if you need help writing persuasive content like product titles and descriptions.

You can try HeroBuilder for free for four days. Then, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium plan, which will give you full access to your website, as well as features like professional email accounts, backups, and an SSL certificate. You’ll also be able to connect your online store to a custom domain name.

Conclusion

There are tons of digital product offerings such as online courses, memberships, digital artwork, teaching resources, and more. Since you don’t need to manage inventory or ship digital goods, the process is much more straightforward than selling physical products.

To recap, here are the best platforms to sell digital products:

1. Marketplaces offer a pre-existing audience but you’re forced to compete with established sellers.
2. Social media lets you target the right customers but there are strict terms and conditions.
3. Niche selling platforms are great for selling teaching resources, online courses, etc, but they charge hefty subscription and transaction fees.
4. Your own website grants ultimate freedom and control over your digital products. And, with a website builder like HeroBuilder, it’s quick, affordable, and convenient.

Do you have any questions about how to sell downloadable items online? Let us know in the comments below!