How To List a Digital Download On Etsy (Step By Step!) (2024)

Etsy is a popular website for people to sell handmade goods, vintage items, and craft supplies.

But many people are unaware that you can also sell digital downloads on Etsy.

This is a great way to earn passive income, as you can set up your shop, list your digital items over there, and then let it run itself while you focus on other things.

You don’t need to be an expert in anything to sell digital products. Even if you’re not a graphic designer, there are plenty of free tools and resources available online that you can use to create high-quality products.

The best part about selling digital products is that there are very few costs associated with it. Once you’ve created your product, you can list it on Etsy and start making sales immediately.

In this article, I’ll tell you how to list your digital download on Etsy and start making money.

If you are curious to know how much time does it take to make money on Etsy, check out this guide here.

What Are Digital Downloads

If you’ve ever shopped on Etsy, you may have heard of digital downloads. But what are they, and how do they work?

Digital downloads are files that you can purchase and download to your computer, phone, or other devices. They can include things like prints, artwork, photos, fonts, templates, and more.

Digital downloads are a great way to get instant access to the items you need without having to wait for shipping. Plus, they’re often much cheaper than buying physical products.

The Pros and Cons Of Selling Digital Items on Etsy

Pros:

1. You can reach a large audience of potential buyers from all over the world.

2. Etsy is a well-established and respected marketplace, so buyers are more likely to trust your products.

3. Setting up and running an Etsy shop is relatively easy and inexpensive.

4. You have a lot of control over how you run your shop and what products you sell.

5. Etsy provides some tools and resources to help you run your business effectively.

Cons:

1. You may have to compete with a lot of other sellers selling similar products.

2. There are some fees associated with selling on Etsy, which can cut into your profits.

3. You will need to put in some time and effort to market your products and get noticed by buyers.

4. Etsy’s terms of service can be changed at any time, which could impact your business negatively.

How To List a Digital Download On Etsy (Step By Step!)

Create Your Digital Product

There are a number of design programs that can be used to create digital downloads, but Canva and Photoshop are two of the most popular. Canva already has templates that make it easy to get started, or you can also create your own designs from scratch.

Once you’ve created your designs, next thing is to create a downloadable file for your digital item.

Create Your Downloadable File

This file is will be available to download as soon as customers complete their purchase.

The 2 most common downloadable files sellers use on Etsy are ZIP and PDF.

Note: No matter what file you choose, Etsy only supports files under 20MB. You won’t be able to attach your file to an Etsy listing if it is more than 20MB in size.

Then how can you sell files bigger than 20 MB? we will talk about it later but first, let’s talk about the file types and what they are used for

ZIP: It can be used for anything that comes with multiple files for eg. let’s say you are selling a bundle of 100 clipart PNG files, you can easily create their ZIP file and attach it to your Etsy listing.

As soon as someone buys your listing, that ZIP will be delivered to him/her by Etsy, he can then download the ZIP and extract all the 100 cliparts.

PDF: This is the most popular file used by Etsy sellers, it can be used for selling Digital Planners, Stickers, Templates, etc.

Here is a cool thing about PDFs, you can embed links inside PDFs and use them to redirect your customers to a Canva template, Google Drive, or any other source from where they can download their purchase.

So let’s say you are selling canva templates, you need to provide a link to your template as soon as someone buys your template so that the user can visit and edit the template according to his needs.

You can just embed the link of the template inside the PDF file and upload the PDF file on the Etsy listing, when someone buys your item, he will get the PDF file containing your template link, and he will visit the link and edit the template.

The same you can do with Google drive, if your files are above 20 MB, just upload them on your Google drive or somewhere else, attach its link inside the PDF, and then upload the PDF file on your Etsy listing.

Isn’t it cool?

Start Listing Your Downloadable File

When you are done preparing your digital file whether it’s a ZIP or PDF, it’s time to start listing the file on Etsy for sale.

To list items on Etsy, you first need to sign in to your Etsy seller account and then click on “Shop Manager” from the top right corner.

After that, on the left side of the screen, click on “Listings” and then on the top right of the screen, click the “Add a listing” button.

Then you will be asked to provide information about your item, for eg. Images, Title, Description, Price, Etc.

Just fill in all the information, upload your Etsy product images and your downloadable file.

Make sure you select the listing type as “Digital Download” otherwise it will ask you for shipping details which is none in our case.

Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions for better reach and more sales and use high-quality images to display your product.

Attach Your Downloadable File To The Listing

Now when you are done filling in all the information, you can just attach your ZIP or PDF file at the bottom of the listing, make sure it is below 20MB.

After you finish uploading, preview everything and hit publish.

Conclusion

In conclusion, listing a digital download on Etsy is an easy and straightforward process. You simply need to create a product listing and upload your digital file.

Be sure to set a clear price for your product and provide buyers with concise instructions for downloading the file. By taking these steps, you can successfully list a digital download on Etsy and reach a wider audience for your product.

Thanks For Reading 🙂