Why You Should Sell Digital Products

There's a few main reasons digital products are powerful for creators. First, they’re infinitely scalable: once you create them, you can sell them over and over again without additional work. Second, they have high margins: since there’s no physical production cost, most of the revenue goes straight to you. Third, they deepen your relationship with your audience: when someone buys your digital product, they’re investing in your knowledge and perspective, not just consuming your content.

This guide walks you through the most common types of digital products creators sell, platforms to sell them on, and strategies to maximize sales.

Types of Digital Products

E-books and Guides

Probably the most common type of digital product, e-books and guides are straightforward to create and sell. You can write them in Google Docs or Notion and export to PDF. They work well for creators in niches like finance, health, business, relationships, and self-improvement—basically any niche where people want actionable information.

Price range: $7–$97

Templates

Templates are extremely high-value for the buyer because they save time. Notion templates, Canva templates, Excel spreadsheets, email templates, content calendars—these all sell well. If you’ve built a system that works for you, there’s likely an audience willing to pay for it.

Price range: $9–$49

Courses and Workshops

Courses are the highest-ticket digital product most creators sell. A well-produced course can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Workshops (live or recorded) are a lower-lift version of courses and can still command significant prices.

Price range: $97–$2,000+

Presets and Filters

If you’re in photography, videography, or visual content creation, presets and LUTs (look-up tables for color grading) are easy to package and sell. Lightroom presets are particularly popular.

Price range: $15–$75

Music and Sound Packs

If you produce music or audio content, you can sell beats, samples, sound effects, and royalty-free music packs. These are especially popular among YouTube creators and podcasters looking for original music.

Price range: $10–$200+

Stock Photos and Video Footage

High-quality photos and footage can be sold directly to other creators or licensed through stock platforms. If you shoot a lot of content, this can be a passive revenue stream.

Price range: Varies widely

Platforms to Sell Digital Products

Gumroad

Gumroad is one of the most creator-friendly platforms for selling digital products. It's easy to set up, handles payments and delivery, and charges a flat 10% fee on sales (no monthly fee). It’s a great starting point for most creators.

Stan Store

Stan Store is gaining popularity with creators because it’s designed as a one-link storefront—think of it as a link-in-bio tool that also sells products. It charges a flat monthly fee ($29–$99/month) rather than a per-sale percentage. Good for creators who sell regularly.

Beehiiv or Substack (for newsletters)

If you have a newsletter, platforms like Beehiiv and Substack let you offer paid subscriptions and digital products to your subscribers. This works especially well if your audience is already engaged with your written content.

Kajabi or Teachable (for courses)

For higher-ticket courses and educational content, Kajabi and Teachable offer more robust features: landing pages, email marketing, drip content, and more. They cost more, but they’re worth it at scale.

Your Own Website

Selling directly through your website (via Stripe, WooCommerce, or similar) gives you the most control and keeps more of the revenue. The tradeoff is more setup time and no built-in audience from the platform.

How to Maximize Sales

Validate before you build

Before spending weeks creating a product, test the idea. Post about the concept, run a poll, or presell it. If people aren’t interested before it exists, they probably won’t be after either.

Build an email list

Social media algorithms are unpredictable. Your email list is yours. Creators with strong email lists consistently outperform those without when it comes to product launches.

Use launch windows

Instead of selling products indefinitely at the same price, create urgency with limited-time launches, founding member pricing, or bonuses that expire. Scarcity drives action.

Repurpose your content

Your existing content is market research. If a particular video, post, or thread got huge engagement, there’s probably a product to be built around that topic. Let your audience tell you what they want.

Stack your products

Start with a low-cost entry product (like an e-book or template) and create pathways to higher-priced products (like a course or coaching). This is called a value ladder, and it maximizes the lifetime value of each customer.

Taxes on Digital Product Revenue

One thing many creators overlook: digital product revenue is taxable. If you’re making money from Gumroad, Stan Store, or anywhere else, you need to report it as self-employment income.

The upside: most of your costs to create the products are deductible—design software, recording equipment, platform fees, even the time you paid a contractor to help you build it.

If you’re not sure how to handle taxes on digital product income, Karat Tax can help. We’re built specifically for creators and understand how digital product income works.