How to sell digital products: A step-by-step guide

The market for digital products is booming, with 70% growth in past 2 years and customers spending over $135 billion on digital products last year alone.

Creators have made over a billion dollars selling digital products on Whop - so if you're looking to start making money online, you're in the right place.

With no manufacturing costs, no packaging, no shipping, and no barriers to keep you from trying, it's easy to see why so many people are making and selling digital products.

Let's take a look at how you can easily sell your digital products.

How to sell digital products

1. Make (or buy) your digital product

If you want to sell digital products then you need to have a digital product to sell. If you already have your product ready to go, then skip this step.

If not, keep reading and learn how you can make your first digital product.

First, find a niche

If you don't already have a product in mind, thinking of one is the first thing you need to do.

You might want to fill a gap in the market you’ve experienced yourself or do some research to find one from scratch. It’s also good to think about your own skills and passions - what can you do that others struggle with? 

This can lead to ideas about things you could create, teach, or share with others. For instance, if you’re interested in investment, you could set up a paid community that shares tips related to finance.

From there, you're just a few steps away from having a full-blown business, with ebooks, courses, and coaching.

Check out the most profitable digital products to sell (and where to sell them).

Next, do some market research

Before you make your decision official, it's time to scope out the competition. 

Is there anyone else out there offering something that's super similar to your idea? If not, can you find anyone talking about the concept? 

By making a few posts on Reddit or other social media platforms, you can gauge whether there’s an interest in your product. This can help you figure out if the idea is worth pursuing or help you make a few key tweaks to better suit consumer demand.

Next, dive deeper into some market research. Start by researching a few choice keywords that best describe your product, such as "cryptocurrency ebooks" or "personal fitness online course," and check for keyword volume and how saturated the market appears to be. 

If there are loads of similar queries, it might help to niche down more to reach more customers, such as by narrowing down to "NFT selling ebooks" or "pregnancy fitness ebooks".

A few tools that can help you with this are:

• Google Trends
• Ubersuggest
• Answer the Public
• WordStream Free Keyword Tool

Lastly, start making your digital products

There are all sorts of digital products that you can create, and while some take only a few hours tom make, other are much bigger projects. 

Here are a few examples:

• Ebooks and downloadables: This covers digital versions of novels, non-fiction books, or textbooks. It also covers PDF versions of workbooks, planners, habit trackers, and checklists that people can download and print out or fill in on a tablet. Let's not forget things like Figma templates.
• SaaS: This includes widgets, plugins, website templates, apps, and tools. These can be fairly large projects, but if you already know how to make them, there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy it or benefit from the practice!
• Digital media: Podcasts, newsletters, stock photos, stock videos, magazine subscriptions, video content - there are endless types of digital media you can make. There are also quite a few different ways you can monetize newsletter content.
• Online courses: Another format for sharing your knowledge or skills is online courses. You can teach people how to code a certain thing, how to make pixel art, how to invest, how to achieve peak physical fitness - literally anything you want.
• Memberships and communities: The internet is full of online communities, but there are some downsides to anyone and everyone having access. By hosting paid-for communities, you can create a better atmosphere and encourage better conversation on specific topics. Exclusive content is often included as part of the subscription.

For a more detailed guide, check out how to make a digital product in 6 easy steps.

'What if I can't make a digital product?'.

If you like the time, interest, or skill set that it takes to make a digital product from scratch, then you can take the easy route by buying a PLR digital product. These are pre-made digital products that you can edit with as little as your logo. All you do is buy, package, and resell.

2. Find the right place to sell your products

You may think this is an easy win, but there are a lot of restrictions on the types of digital products you can sell across different platforms.

There are a lot of ecommerce platform options out there, like Kajabi for courses, Patreon for memberships, and Etsy for creative products. Even Amazon supports digital products like music, ebooks, graphic design, apps, and games. 

But, though these platforms are good choices for some digital products, they aren't great for all digital products.

For example, while you can sell digital downloads on Shopify, you need to use an app integration which sends the digital downloads to the buyer's email. And if you want to sell online coaching services, you need to use a third-party app. Whilst Shopify was built for ecommerce, it was not specifically built for digital products.

Similarly, while you can promote digital products on TikTok, you can't sell digital products on the TikTok shop. So, you have to instead share a link where your followers can access your products.

As a creator, you need a platform where you can sell all kinds of digital products easily. Let's say you start out selling digital planners on Etsy but then want to make and sell a masterclass about organization. You would have to find a new platform, get your customers to join you over there, and set up a new storefront.

This is frustrating and time-consuming. You need an all-in-one platform.

The best place to sell digital products is Whop. Whop was created for the sale of digital products - meaning no third-party integrations or unnecessary steps needed. It's an all-in-one platform where you can sell everything from courses to communities, online coaching, software, masterminds, digital downloads, sports picks, and everything in-between.

3. Market, scale, and grow your digital product business

Once you’ve set everything up, you're all ready to start raking in some of that hard-earned cash - and to rake in even more of it, you can turn your efforts to continued marketing.

Firstly, get to know your target audience. You can’t reach the right audience until you know who your target audience is. Creating a target persona is a great tactic here - a fictional version of your typical customer. 

Think of the people who might be interested in your products. Map out some of the following:

• Who they are
• What they do
• Sites and platforms they frequent
• The type of advertising they may respond to
• Deals they might be interested in

Once you've got your target audience locked down, it's time to find ways to reach that market.

How far you want to go with marketing depends on how universal your product is and how big you want to grow your business. It’s totally fine to stick to a really strict niche and only market to a limited set of people if that’s what you want.

On the other hand, if you want lots of demographics to see your product, you’ll have to think about using different marketing tactics that appeal to different groups of people. 

One thing to keep in mind is that organic marketing is a great way to increase your revenue without having to spend too much money. Whop's Content Rewards is a great example of this.

Marketing with Whop's Content Rewards

Using Content Rewards, you can promote your business on socials and get real views from real people. How it works is simple - you create a 'Content Reward' on Whop, set the details (requirements of the content, any assets to be used, budget, payout amount) and then open it up for creators to start generating views for you.

For example, you might have a digital planner that you want to promote. Create a content reward asking creators to share content about your planner - this can be Tweets, Reels, YouTube videos - whatever you want. Creators will then start making content for you and getting your digital product seen all over the internet.

Find out more about using the Content Rewards app on Whop.

How to sell digital products with Whop

By now you should know that Whop isn’t just another platform that can handle digital products - it's a social commerce platform designed exclusively for them.

Whop supports both subscriptions and one-time payments, allowing you to create whatever pricing model best suits your products. 

Ready to start selling? We'll walk you through the process of setting up your whop so that you can see for yourself just how easy it is.

1. Setting up your whop

Setting up a whop takes no time at all. You can sign up with an email address or use your Discord, Google, a crypto wallet, Twitter (or X, if you've gotten used to the name change), or Apple account. After that, just pick a catchy name for your whop, and you're all ready to go.

Oh, and don’t worry - you can change the name of your whop later if you want.

2. Adding apps

Building your whop is all about adding apps.

If you’re selling courses, add the Courses app, and if you’re selling access to files, add the Files app. If you’re selling both, add both.

There's no limit to how many apps your whop can host, so let your creativity be the guide.

You can also add handy apps like Giveaways, Chat, or Whop Wheel to create streamlined ways for you and your customers to interact.

3. Making your first product

You can think of your whop as a product itself. While some content just needs to be uploaded to the app, like PDFs or videos (using the Files app), other apps are tools to help you populate your whop from scratch.

The Courses app, for example, is a place where you can make an online course from start to finish.

You can add text, videos, PDFs, knowledge checks, or quizzes to build up lessons and teach your customers efficiently. Your course can be about anything: investment tips, fitness programs, coding courses, or dropshipping guides are just some of the things you could share your knowledge on.

Remember, you can have as many apps as you like in one whop. You can also create multiple whops under the same organization. When you try to create a second whop, you'll be asked if you want to create it under the current organization you have or create a new one.

If you're planning to sell multiple products, like a beginner and advanced tiers of a course, the best practice is to create two whops under the same organization and apps accordingly.

One of the best things about having multiple whops under the same organization is that when you're adding an app, you'll have the option to create a mirror instance of an app between multiple whops.

This way, you can have two whops with different courses that cater to different tiers. On top of this, you can have a Chat app where members of both of your whops can communicate together.

4. Customizing your storefront

When your whop is ready to sell, you can click on "Manage store" button in the banner card of your whop at the top left of your screen.

There, you can make your storefront uniquely yours. Add pictures, customize the tag lines, edit target personas, FAQs, creator details, and so much more.

(Hint: Don't forget to read up on some ecommerce marketing strategies to make your product stands out)

5. Applying to the Discover page and setting up payments

This is an optional step if you want to increase your revenue. It's possible to run your whop without listing it on Discover, but applying to it is a great way to get your store seen by more people. 

The "Set up your whop" card is at the bottom of the screen while you’re editing your store page, and when you click it, you’ll see a handy checklist that tells you everything your store needs to have to apply. 

When everything is ticked, go ahead and click the "Apply for Discover" button in under the "Discover" section of your "Manage whop" settings.

Then, all you need to do is set up your payments by going to the Dashboard, clicking "Finances," and selecting "Payouts.” Follow the instructions to set up your account with Stripe and get everything verified so you can start receiving payments from Whop.

And with that, you’re done! Your store is live, your products are up, and you’ll receive payments whenever anyone makes a purchase.

How much can I make selling digital products?

We can’t tell you exactly how much you’ll make selling digital products - it all depends on your offerings, prices, and marketing efforts. But we can tell you how much other people are making on average. 

Take Whop as an example. Creators are making over $7300 a month. Imagine that, an extra $7300 a month on top of your day job; $7300 while looking after your kids full-time; or even $7300 while studying at college. 

It’s not limited to just one platform though, as the creator economy as a whole is growing more and more. According to Goldman Sachs, the creator economy could approach half a trillion dollars by 2027. Meanwhile, research from Adobe shows that digital creators are earning six times the U.S. minimum wage. 

Since you don’t need to spend money designing and manufacturing any physical items, you can try out your ideas with next to no investment—which means next to no risks! That’s the real beauty of digital products. 

Now is truly the right time to go digital, whether you're looking for a side hustle or a new job.

Start selling digital products with Whop

It doesn’t matter how niche or specific your idea is - if it’s digital, Whop is the place to sell it. 

From sports betting picks and dropshipping to downloadables, SaaS, and online courses, Whop’s no-code builder with native apps will help you create a storefront that works in tandem with your vision. 

You can set up a whop and start playing around with the apps within seconds, with no sign-up fee. That makes Whop the best platform to sell your digital products.

Create your free account today to discover how much you can make selling digital products.

FAQs

What's the difference between selling physical and digital products?

The biggest differences between selling physical products and digital products are simplicity and cost. To sell a physical product, you have to buy or manufacture a constant stream of stock, store it somewhere, package it, and ship it to customers.

To sell digital products - well, you don’t need to do any of that.

You just come up with a product, design it and make it, if applicable, and instantly email it over or grant access to customers when they purchase it. Upkeep or maintenance of your product can be done by you from the comfort of your home—if there even is any upkeep to start with. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say that selling digital products skips all of the expensive parts of running an ecommerce business.

The initial investment to choose and design a product will be less, stock can be limitless and without cost, and you don’t have to ship anything. 

If handing the digital product over goes wrong, it doesn’t cost you anything to send it again. If you need to give a refund, you don’t need to worry about getting the product sent back to you or losing a unit of stock. The list goes on!

How do I sell digital products on Etsy?

To sell products on Etsy, set up an account and create a new listing. You’ll see an option in the Core details section where you can specify your product as digital. Then, all you need to do is fill in the About section, title, description, tags, and price before publishing the listing.

How can I sell digital products on Amazon?

To sell digital products on Amazon, all you have to do is sign up for the right kind of account (which depends on the product type) and submit your product for approval. Then, you can make your listing and start selling on Amazon.

How to sell digital products on Shopify?

When you add a product to your Shopify store, you can specify it as a digital product to remove the shipping fees. Then, you can use an app like the Shopify Digital Downloads app to provide download links to your customers.

You can also customize your email templates for digital products so that when customers make a purchase, the confirmation email tells them how to download or access the product.

Can I sell digital products on TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop doesn’t offer digital products yet, so you can’t sell your digital products there. You can use TikTok for marketing purposes to drive customers to a different ecommerce platform, though. 

What are the best digital products to sell?

The most popular digital products are ebooks, downloadables, exclusive paid communities, courses, apps, and podcasts. Niche products sell really well because they provide specific or custom-made products that consumers can’t get from big brand names.

Can I sell digital products without a website?

Yes! It’s easy to sell digital products without a website—you just need to sign up for a marketplace like Whop. Here, you can create your own Hub offering all of your products, along with a secure payment system and lots of cool ways to interact with your customers.

Why sell digital products?

Perhaps the most compelling reason to sell digital products is that it’s low risk. The barrier to entry is so low that, for some digital products, all you have to commit to the project is the time to design and make the product.

No matter which niche of digital products you want to dive into, there are growth projections all around.

Let's say you want to sell courses—great! The e-learning market revenue was $185.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit $270–279 billion by 2029.

What about SaaS?

The news is great, too—that market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.7% and will reach $307.3 billion by 2026. Ebooks, monetized communities, online fitness content … all of that is on an upward trajectory, so now is a good time to take the leap.

Once you're all set up, you’ll have a low-effort, low-cost, easily scalable stream of passive income that you can manage completely from home. Digital products are in high demand, so if you can offer something customers want, your business will have great earning potential.