So, to narrow down what I mean, I’m talking about having your very own Online Store. This might seem like a lot of work, and it is, but the upsides could be huge.

My own requirements:

  1. An online store that will take care of payments, international taxes, etc.

  2. Able to host e-books, audio files, and other digital products. Physical products are not an immediate concern, although Payhip, for example, supports this option.

  3. Low costs. Ideally, these platforms could allow you to keep up to 90% of the sale price of your product. There are charges, of course, because they are also in the business of making money. More on this in another article.

Thoughts on tire kicking:

I would advise you to investigate in advance. The field is wide and although there is usually very little penalty in jumping straight in, it is probably better to find out what you want rather than diving straight in. Time is money.

Also, while some platforms allow free trial accounts, others don’t like lurkers, so it is best to have a product ready to go. That way, they won’t suspend your account because of inactivity or worse, block you as a suspected scammer. Some stories say this might happen anyway, but you can minimize the risks.

1. Have the product created and ready to sell, or at least preorder (in a week, say)

2. Find/define a niche and need

3. Sign up for an account on your platform of choice

4. Upload your product

5. Set your pricing and payment options

6. Promote your product

7. Engage with your audience

8. Analyze your sales

9. Repeat from step 4

I may write more on this in a subsequent post.

The most interesting players that caught my eye so far (roughly in order of popularity, size, etc). Links to my own pages as I add them:

Gumroad

LemonSqueezy

Payhip

CheckYa

Thrivecart

Paddle

 

TLDR:

Gumroad is the grand-daddy on the scene and had a great thing going until 2022, when they raised their charges a lot. They used to charge around 3% plus processing fees, which has jumped to 10% plus processing fees. This still compares favorably with the charges from Amazon Kindle, for instance. Except the processing fees mean that the old promise that “you get to keep 90% of the price” is no longer true.  Most of the others have standardised on 5% plus processing fees. This seems more reasonable. If you are already on Gumroad and doing okay, it might not be worth the effort to change. But if you haven’t set up yet, it is a pricey option. My instinct is to try Payhip first, which has been around almost as long. It charges 5% plus processing fees. You can reduce those by moving up to one of their charged plans when you get a large enough volume of sales to justify this.