how to create a digital file to sell on etsy
This is a great way to add a little extra income as an artist, without doing any extra work. When she first started selling digital downloads on Etsy in 2011, Claudine was self-employed and had more time to devote to creating new digital designs and marketing her shop. That question can be difficult to answer if you’re just getting started selling downloads. Art, planners, journal pages, coloring books, chore charts, you name it. It’s a great opportunity for creators to sell their handmade goods. “Sometimes customers need more step-by-step instruction, especially if they’re new to sewing,” she says. The questions and comments you receive from customers are a great opportunity to think about how you can improve your pattern or download to make things clearer for future customers—saving you time and improving your customers’ overall experience. Plus, shoppers who purchase a digital download can have new art hanging in their home in minutes or start a new sewing project that day. Etsy uses cookies and similar technologies to give you a better experience, enabling things like: Detailed information can be found in Etsy’s Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy and our Privacy Policy. I'm a digital seller and I include all of the sizes within the same listing. Keep your digital file sizes manageable. Take full advantage of our site features by enabling JavaScript. If you’re new to selling on Etsy, digital products are the best place to start. I sell digital items mostly created with Adobe Illustrator and saved as PDF files. Great photography is essential for any listing on Etsy, but photographing digital items and ensuring that shoppers understand exactly what they’re buying poses certain challenges. Start by thinking about how much you would charge for the item if you were printing it, packaging it and mailing it. Digital art sold by Zee J. Yan. She includes step-by-step directions in the email buyers receive with their files. To sell digital files on Etsy, you need to choose the “digital” option for your product type. Offering digital downloads is one way you can add more listings to your shop and exercise your creativity. This means that you are able to make more money with the least amount of effort. I feel this keeps my shop fresher in ETSY’s back process. However, in order to successfully sell digital downloads, you’ll need to invest in the Basic Shopify plan at $29/month. But, there are some nuances to know about when photographing and pricing digital items, and shoppers might have different customer service expectations. Log in, 15 Clever Organization Tips with Tin Cans, Printables: Weekly and Monthly Calendar Pages. “I always try to create a mood with my photos,” Sarah says. PDFs are easier to print and more difficult for someone to modify to resell. After buyers purchase a digital file on Etsy, it’s immediately available on their downloads page. The tools and resources you’ll need depend in part by what you plan to create… By selecting “digital”, a file upload section is added to your listing. Use MS Word, Excel or Powerpoint (or Google Docs) Many people think that you have to get all fancy for your digital downloads, but you can start out easily by just having a Word Doc, Excel Spreadsheet or even a Powerpoint (just remember that not everyone has Powerpoint). 2. Why you should create them; Best places to sell printables or digital downloads; Ideas for printables or digital downloads ; How to get started including an interview with a successful Etsy printables shop owner (with tips, tools and best practices) You will not want to miss this interview! You can upload audio, image or text files to your listing. Emphasizing in your titles and tags that the item is a digital download can also help. In this post, I’m going to share the best digital products to sell on Etsy to make passive income. When you sell digital downloads with Shopify, your customers get a direct download after checkout, as well as an emailed link. The kicker is, they are not graphic designers. Follow the instructions to list an item on Etsy and choose Digital item under Type. Find out more in our Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy. Mark it as a digital listing and upload clear images. Digital downloads, also known as digital products, are intangible goods that exist in a digital form. Then, add on expenses like Etsy fees to settle on a final price. A few of them would be ideal as editable files since they would require only minor changes to the text. Creating your own files can be a fun creative outlet that can earn you some extra cash.. I’ve made quite a few of my own files that I have for free or a few for a few dollars in my shop.When I first started making them, I used a free program called Inkscape. They let you run an Etsy shop without having to worry about headaches like shipping. Check out my shop here where I sell bibs and digital prints! Printables are digital files, such as PDFs, that people buy, download, and print out on their home printers. Etsy is a great platform to sell handmade products. “You don’t have to wait to have hundreds of designs to open your shop,” she says. It’s free to set up your shop then Etsy charges .20 cents per listing which I feel its worth the traffic and type of customers that come to Etsy. And be sure to consider how much time you put into each design and what you would consider a reasonable profit. Learn How To Create SVG Cut Files. Sarah includes photos in her listings that communicate the aesthetic of her brand and show shoppers what they can create with her patterns. Sometimes this is hard because we are so close to the item, so think like your neighbor or grandma. I create mine 800×800 pixels, Include clear directions or restrictions right in the listing for the customer to read while they are looking at your product. It's my feeling (for my shop, you can do as you wish, of course) that if someone is buying the digital file to my artwork, then they should be able to print it whatever size they wish. You can set your quantity to a high number, I use 100. If you can’t have all square images, be sure the first, and main image is square. I have googled but have yet to find clear instructions. “List a few designs, see what your customers respond to and then make more of whatever category is selling well.”. Claudine recommends experimenting with selling digital downloads by starting with a few designs. I do not have my digital files “auto renew”. Payment is collected, the file is delivered to the buyer and you get a notification of the sale. Drill down to the core of your item. Another concern is that selling digital downloads might take away from sale of your other products on Etsy, but Sarah says it’s unwarranted. For good measure, I would have both portrait and landscape images. Course Summary: In my course How to start an SVG Cutting File Business, I will be taking you step-by-step through the process of setting up your brand new Etsy shop, from your products to your about page and everything in between. Learn more. The file types needed may vary depending on what you’re making, but in most cases, I recommend including a PDF. Listing a digital download on Etsy is just like creating a listing for a physical product, except you’ll upload the file your customers will receive when they make a purchase. Listing a digital download on Etsy is just like creating a listing for a physical product, except you’ll upload the file your customers will receive when they make a purchase. It is a passive income option in that you create it once, and make money from it over and over. In this post, I will share the why’s, how’s, and what’s of selling digital products on Etsy. Creating these resources allows her to reply with a link for more info instead of repeatedly answering the same questions via Messages. “I was nervous to start selling sewing patterns because I didn’t want to take away from my lingerie sales, but I found that it’s two different markets,” she says. Sarah uses her blog to share more in-depth details and how-to's with her customers. By Angie Nelson. What are Etsy printables? Advice and inspiration for successfully running your Etsy shop. Link to other similar products in the item description or suggest your viewer take a look at them too. I recommend choosing a niche that will set you apart from other Etsy shops and that you’re passionate about. In this instance, we're only talking about making a physical marketplace like Etsy. See all the steps of listing a digital item. INSIDE: If you've noticed that tons of people are selling Etsy digital downloads, you're not alone! For example my Etsy Planner file name is “Etsy Planner.pdf” Not super unique but easy to for your buyer to find once they download it. Digital items are items that the buyer can download immediately. Title your item clearly and simply. All I do is make the file, upload it to an Etsy listing, set the quantity to 100 (or whatever number you want) and keep it on auto-renew so the listing relists itself after each purchase. Listing a digital item is similar to listing any other item on Etsy. It is also a good idea to do some keyword research to see what queries customers use to look for similar products as you. What size of promotional images should you create when you sell downloads? If you're already familiar with the process of listing and selling on Etsy, listing your first digital item should feel familiar. If you aren’t passionate about your niche, you will most likely quit and and not put the required effort needed to build a thriving successful shop. You can send your designs to a few popular printers to see how they turn out—that way you can make an informed recommendation to your customers and help them troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Adding a stylized photo of the pattern itself has dramatically cut down on the number of confused customers Sarah encounters who think they’re purchasing the finished item and not a pattern. Start an SVG Cutting File Business Today. Etsy really is a simple solution to sell digital products and printables online! Disclosure: We may receive compensation if you sign up for or purchase products linked below. If I have too many files, I compress them into a zip file, which means that you can virtually include unlimited files as long as they fit into the file … She recently went back to a full-time job as a graphic designer, but her Etsy shop remains a source of income on the side. Selling digital downloads can also be a low-maintenance way to stay in touch with your creative and entrepreneurial passions. As a pattern seller, Sarah has found that her communication with pattern customers is much more in-depth than the questions she gets from shoppers who purchase lingerie from her. Add several tags to help shoppers find your products. Most of your first time shoppers are going to come from ETSY’s search engine, not from a link directly to your store. https://www.yourdayyourstyle.com/2016/04/14/how-to-sell-digital-files-on-etsy How to Sell Digital Downloads on Etsy. You’re in the right place because we’re going to share with you how two Etsy users became successful by selling printables on Etsy. Add listings to your shop, reach new customers and get creative by selling downloadable art, patterns, templates, and more on Etsy. Find out more in our Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy. Details on offers may change, and you should confirm them with the company prior to taking action. Set where you live, what language you speak, and the currency you use. Some examples of digital downloads are music files, printables, and digital designs. How do you place a value on a digital item? Make sure you are following the Etsy guidelines. Not only are they easy to create, but there is little to no cost to create them. Examples are jar labels for your spice rack, planner pages, grocery store checklists, printable wall art, clip-art illustrations, and what I sell – bachelorette party printable games.