How to Sell Digital Products Online
Digital products have no inventory, no shipping, and near-zero marginal cost. Here's how to create and sell them from your own store or a marketplace.
2 min read · Updated 2026-05-12
Short answer
Choose a product type (eBook, template, course, printable), create it, and sell via Gumroad (gumroad.com) or your own Shopify store with a digital delivery app. Price it at £15–£50 for entry-level products. Delivery is instant and automatic.
What counts as a digital product
- eBooks and guides — PDFs covering a specific skill or topic
- Templates — Canva templates, spreadsheets, contract documents, Notion dashboards
- Online courses — video lessons hosted on Teachable (teachable.com) or Podia (podia.com)
- Printables — planner pages, worksheets, wall art, kids' activities
- Stock assets — photos, icons, fonts, mockups, audio files
- Software — plugins, scripts, Lightroom presets, Figma components
Where to sell
Gumroad — simplest option for beginners. Upload the file, set a price, and you get a product page immediately. Gumroad handles payment, tax, and delivery. Free to start; 10% fee.
Etsy — large built-in audience for printables and templates. Competitive, but the traffic is ready to buy. Listing fee of $0.20 per item.
Your own Shopify store — full control and no per-sale fees. Add a digital delivery app like Digital Downloads (free, built by Shopify) or SendOwl (sendowl.com) to automate file delivery.
Teachable / Podia — purpose-built for courses. Handles video hosting, student management, and payment. Podia has a free plan.
Pricing digital products
The common mistake is underpricing. A £5 eBook and a £25 eBook take the same time to create. Price based on the value delivered, not the file size.
- Simple templates or printables: £5–£15
- Comprehensive guides: £15–£35
- Short courses (1–3 hours): £35–£99
- Full courses (5+ hours): £99–£299
Protecting your files
Basic protection is fine for most products:
- PDF: enable content restrictions in your PDF creator to prevent copying
- Templates: share as a Canva template link (view-only) rather than the editable file
- Courses: hosted platforms control access — no download needed
Perfect protection is impossible and not worth the effort. Focus on delivering real value; most customers pay.
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