10 Killer Marketplaces for Selling Digital Goods
Digital products can’t be held or touched, but today, everyone consumes them – from eBooks to audio to downloadable software, we want them all.
For entrepreneurs, selling digital products have many advantages. Inventory never becomes an issue, there’s no need to find a place to store your products and in most cases, customers can get their product immediately upon purchase.
Looking to sell your digital products online and wondering which marketplace you should sell on? Look no further! We recently put together a list of 12 killer marketplaces that fit the bill. Each marketplace caters to different industries and product offerings, but each can help you build a page, post digital items like eBooks, music, videos and even PDF files. Let’s take a look…
Amazon
Amazon is the most popular solution for those interested in selling digital goods online — they had almost $233 billion in sales in 2018 — and it offers a great place for you to reach out to an international crowd. You can sell anything from music to games and apps. They also provide quite a few special programs for those sellers who sell exclusively with Amazon.
For example, the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing program is designed to increase commissions for authors and writers who only sell on the Amazon Kindle Store for a designated period. Amazon fees for digital products depend on the products you plan to sell.
Merchants, designers, and creators should also explore:
- Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
- Amazon Advantage
- Amazon Business
- Merch by Amazon
- Amazon Handmade
Who is this marketplace best for?
Amazon is most popular for authors selling eBooks, but the Amazon music library is robust, and you can even sell apps and gaming files for download.
Walmart
In the first six months of 2019, Walmart.com had more than 323.6 million visitors to their website, and in Q4 of 2018, the company’s U.S. eCommerce sales grew by 43%. While the platform was initially only open to U.S. sellers, they have recently opened the door to those from China, Canada, and the UK.
On Walmart, you can sell anything from tax software to music downloads, and more.
Walmart gets more than 110 million visitors, which can help expand your potential customer audience and reach new audiences. Sellers on Walmart only pay a referral fee per sale, which varies by product category.
Walmart is very specific in what they’re looking for, and sellers outside of the U.S. can only join by invitation at this time. If you’re not selected to be a vendor, even if you’re in the U.S., Walmart requires that you apply to be a seller on their website.
Who is this marketplace best for?
The platform is best for those who have a unique product assortment, competitive pricing, and align with Walmart’s customer service track record.
Gumroad
Gumroad lets you sell audio clips, eBooks and videos with the click of a button, and even offer rentals for your music or videos that includes unlimited bandwidth and payments are just 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction.
The seller interface is clean and simple, and you receive advanced analytics for projecting your sales into the future. The coolest part is that you can quickly share your digital content through email, social media, your website and more. If you’d prefer to build a solid online shop with all the bells and whistles, you might want to read some Shopify reviews.
Who is this marketplace best for?
Gumroad is built primarily for authors, filmmakers and musicians. Big-name artists sell through Gumroad because of the simple interface and the connectivity with social media.
AliExpress
AliExpress, as part of the Alibaba group, is an online retail service made up of small businesses in China and Asia. It’s available in 230 different countries and regions, gets more than 200 million visitors a month. AliExpress offers a wide range of digital products such as graphic and digital designs, computer software, e-learning courses, web-based apps and much more.
The commission fee is only charged on the actual store transactions, and usually comes out to 5-8% depending on items and categories.
Who is this marketplace best for?
Currently, only sellers and suppliers from Mainland China can sell on the platform, although it’s aimed primarily at international buyers in the Americas and Europe.
Themeforest
Themeforest is a popular place to buy and sell website templates, HTML code, marketing themes, PSDs and plugins. Top sellers are known to make over $1 million per year and the store management area is ideal for interacting with customers and showing off your best work. When you sell products on ThemeForest, you’ll be charged an author fee which varies, depending on your exclusivity agreement with ThemeForest and your aggregate product sales.
Include product demos on your page, allow customers to contact you, and build up your ratings to increase how many people buy from you.
Who is this marketplace best for?
It’s all about website development, so if you don’t plan on making and selling website templates, you probably won’t be working through Themeforest.
Lazada
Lazada is similar to Amazon, yet it focuses on selling items from people located in Southeast Asia and has the highest number of average monthly visits, at 183.4 million visits a month. You receive your own admin panel for managing and posting your items with ease. Once someone buys a book or music clip from you, they can access the files on their Lazada dashboard. There are also no commission fees.
Who is this marketplace best for?
Lazada is best for those sellers who would like to expand their business’s online presence due to their geographical location.
Apple iTunes Store
The Apple iTunes store has books, music, apps, videos and more. The iTunes Connect program is your best bet when selling books, music and apps, since it guides you through the free application processes. There’s no charge to sell through iTunes, but you will pay commission on each sale. The average musician earns $0.57 from each single sold for $0.99.
Keep in mind that each form of media requires a unique application. The stats are great through iTunes, and you receive access to any consumer with an Apple product.
Who is this marketplace best for?
Sellers who are familiar with Apple products, since the backend configuration is similar. It’s also mainly catered to app developers, authors and musicians, but you must ensure that your content is good enough.
eBay
We all know eBay as that wonderful place for buying and selling just about anything you can get your hands on. In 2018, eBay made $7.4 billion in revenue, with 179 million active buyers worldwide, and mobile audience reach of 31.2% for its mobile app.
Selling digital products on eBay is just like selling a physical product, but you must indicate that you would like to “List as a Digital Item” when creating the product page. Before posting your digital items it’s wise to generate your own eBay store to brand yourself and accumulate ratings from buyers.
Who is this marketplace best for?
Anyone with digital files can sell on eBay since there are no restrictions.
Udemy
Udemy is your hub for selling video courses. It’s a wonderful way to make a passive income, since you gain access to all the free hosting and interface tools you need; and it processes the payments for you. The payment system is a little complicated; if someone uses a coupon code from you, the instructor, you receive 97% of the revenue. If the customer arrives via organic search, you keep 50% of the revenue, which still isn’t bad.
Who is this marketplace best for?
If you possess knowledge in a particular field and want to create some videos to sell to other people, this is the spot for you.
TemplateMonster
TemplateMonster is a marketplace where you can buy everything you need in order to create a website and one that focuses on selling different ready-made solutions. This marketplaces offers a large number of WordPress themes and eCommerce templates. In addition, users can also find many CMS templates for the most widely-used platforms.
Who is this marketplace best for?
If you’re looking to create a unique website and need a ready-made solution, TemplateMonster is the marketplace for you.
