Choose a selling route before comparing percentages
A marketplace puts your listing beside other sellers. Etsy suits eligible original downloads; Amazon KDP serves a publishing workflow. Specialist markets such as Creative Market, Fab and itch.io address different kinds of assets and audiences. A shopper may already browse there, but that does not mean they will find or buy your listing.
A hosted storefront gives you a sales page, payment route and delivery tools. Gumroad, Payhip and Lemon Squeezy belong on this shortlist. Plan how suitable visitors will arrive, even when the service also offers a marketplace or discovery feature.
Your own website gives you more control over navigation and presentation. Shopify hosts the shop infrastructure; a WooCommerce installation puts more maintenance decisions in your hands. You can also combine routes: this website explains the handbook, while its purchase links lead to Gumroad.
Start with the buyer's expected delivery. A Kindle ebook, an editable workbook and a game-asset ZIP need different previews, access instructions and support. The platform follows that requirement.
Compare the full fee stack
The figures below describe a snapshot, not a universal all-in price. Currency, seller country, payment method, tax, advertising and account-specific terms can change the amount. Follow the official link in each row before using a figure in your own model.
| Route | Published baseline | What else to check |
|---|---|---|
| Gumroad direct | 10% + $0.50; card processing 2.9% + $0.30 separately | PayPal differs. Standard small-seller baseline; eligible high-volume direct sales have a lower rate. Gumroad fee details. |
| Gumroad Discover | 30%, including processing | Do not add the direct-sale fee on top. Gumroad pricing. |
| Payhip | Free: 5%; Plus: $29/month + 2%; Pro: $99/month + 0% | Payment-provider charges still apply on every plan. Payhip pricing. |
| Lemon Squeezy | 5% + $0.50 base platform fee | Includes payment processing; +1.5% international, +1.5% PayPal and +0.5% subscription fees can apply. The fee uses total order value. Fee rules. |
| Etsy | $0.20 listing/renewal + 6.5% transaction fee | Payment processing, possible setup fee, applicable Offsite Ads and other regional charges sit outside this baseline. Etsy fee policy. |
| Amazon KDP ebooks | 35% or eligible 70% royalty | This is a royalty model. Eligibility, territory, tax and delivery costs affect the result. It is not a general-purpose ZIP store. KDP pricing rules. |
| Shopify | Subscription plus payment charges | Prices vary by region and billing period; third-party transaction charges can apply. Use your local quote rather than a US price pasted into every country. Shopify pricing. |
A $12 direct Gumroad card sale under the stated standard baseline gives $2.348 in combined percentage and fixed fees: $12 × 12.9% + $0.80. That leaves about $9.65 before other costs. This simplified calculation excludes taxes and currency effects; it is our arithmetic, not a payout quote.
Find the subscription break-even point
Suppose one plan takes 6% with no subscription and another costs $20 per month plus 3%. If their other charges match, equal monthly cost occurs when 0.06R = $20 + 0.03R. Divide $20 by 0.03: the plans meet at roughly $666.67 in monthly sales. These two plans are fictional.
Apply the same method to the published Payhip Free and Plus baseline: $29 ÷ (5% − 2%) = about $966.67 per month. Compare Plus with Pro separately: ($99 − $29) ÷ 2% = $3,500. Processor costs cancel only if both scenarios use the same applicable terms and volume.
Do not upgrade because a spreadsheet contains a break-even number. Ask whether you actually expect that volume, whether the subscription adds useful features and whether switching costs outweigh a small saving. Our unit-economics guide shows how to include refunds and fixed costs.
Ask who handles the transaction taxes
A merchant of record acts as the seller for the customer transaction and handles the applicable indirect-tax work within that arrangement. Gumroad describes its merchant-of-record tax handling on its pricing page; Lemon Squeezy explains its role in its sales-tax and VAT documentation.
Payhip currently says it collects, reports and remits digital EU/UK VAT and US/Canadian sales tax. It also lets sellers configure other taxes, which it reports to them. Check that stated coverage for your product and location instead of assuming every service handles every country.
Tax collected from a buyer is not automatically money you keep. Merchant-of-record handling also does not erase your own income-tax, bookkeeping or business-registration responsibilities. Record who collects which tax, who remits it and what reports you receive. Those answers matter more than a vague claim that a platform handles taxes.
Test one complete buyer journey
Before decorating a shop, confirm seller-country eligibility and a payout method you can use. Then walk through the delivery: product preview, requirements, purchase, file access and the first task. For an editable template, test the copy link in a separate buyer account; for a download, open the final archive in a fresh folder.
- Check permitted products and license restrictions.
- Record payout currency, timing, thresholds and any reserves.
- Price one order with the actual fee schedule, including the refund treatment.
- Confirm file limits, update delivery, support contact and customer-data export options.
- Keep a local copy of your content and a record of your product URLs.
Choose the smallest route that supports your current delivery and your first traffic experiment. If you plan to sell original printables, continue with the Etsy format guide. If you already have a storefront, improve the offer and preview before moving everything again.
Questions about this guide
Where is the best place to sell digital products?
Choose around the buyer, delivery format, seller eligibility, total costs and your source of visitors. A marketplace can offer discovery; a storefront can support your own traffic. No single service wins for every product.
Does a merchant of record pay all my taxes?
Its agreement covers specified customer-transaction tax duties. You still need to check your own income-tax, reporting and business obligations. Keep those separate from VAT or sales tax collected on an order.
Are these the confirmed platform fees for 2027?
No. We checked the linked terms on November 1, 2026. The title describes a planning horizon. Verify current regional and account-specific terms before choosing or changing a platform.