Digital Products is a built in feature that lets you create, manage, and automatically deliver downloadable products directly through your Big Cartel shop. Whether you're selling digital art, music, ebooks, patterns, templates, or other downloadable content, you can now do it all without any third-party integrations.
Why Sell Digital Products?
Offering digital products alongside your physical goods (or exclusively) opens up exciting opportunities for your shop:
- Instant Delivery: Your customers get immediate access to their purchases - no shipping delays or costs.
- No Platform Fees: Unlike competitors who charge 7% or more on digital sales, Big Cartel takes 0% of your digital product revenue. You only pay standard payment processing fees (2.9% + 30¢).
- Expand Your Offerings: Diversify your shop by selling digital versions of your work, bonus content, or exclusive downloads.
- Passive Income: Create once, sell unlimited times with automatic fulfillment.
- Lower Overhead: No inventory storage, packaging, or shipping materials needed.
Did you know? The digital products market continues to grow rapidly, with creators earning income from assets like printable art, design templates, music downloads, and educational resources. Adding digital products can help you reach new customers and increase your revenue streams.
Who Can Use Digital Products?
Digital Products is available exclusively to shop owners on paid plans:
- Platinum Plan ($15/month): Upload 1 file or link per product, with 25GB of total storage across your shop.
- Diamond Plan ($30/month): Upload up to 5 files or links per product, with 250GB of total storage across your shop.
If you're currently on the Gold (free) plan, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan to create and sell digital products. Upgrade your plan to unlock this feature and start selling digital products today.
Setting Up a Digital Product
Creating a digital product in your Big Cartel shop is simple and straightforward:
- Log in at https://app.bigcartel.com/ and go to the Products section.
- Click Add Product select Digital Product as your product type.
- Add a product name, description, and price. Upload product images to showcase your product. Set your product to "Active" when you're ready to sell.
- Add Your Digital File(s): You can share your digital content in one of two easy ways:
- Option 1:Upload your file right in the Product file upload section.
- Option 2: (coming soon!): Paste a download link to your file.
- Click Upload File and select the file from your computer. You can upload files up to 1GB in size. We support most common file types including PDFs, JPGs, PNGs, MP3s, ZIP files, and more.
If you need to upload a file type that isn't currently supported, please let us know. Instead of uploading, you can provide a link to where your file is hosted (such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or another cloud storage service). Simply paste the shareable link into the provided field. This is especially useful for very large files, as it provides a faster, more reliable experience for your customers.
5. Click Save to make your digital product available in your shop.
Important: A digital product must have at least one file or download link attached before you can set it to "Active" in your shop.
How Customers Access Their Digital Products
Once a customer completes their purchase, accessing their digital downloads is seamless:
- Immediate Access: Customers can download their files directly from the receipt page immediately after checkout.
- Email Confirmation: A link to the receipt page is included in their order confirmation email, so they can easily return to download their files anytime.
- Unlimited Downloads: Customers can re-download their files as many times as needed, as long as the product remains in your shop's catalog.
- Always Up-to-Date: If you update or replace a file, customers who return to their receipt page will automatically have access to the latest version. Previous versions will no longer be available.
Important Security Note: For customer privacy and security, receipt page URLs are obfuscated (made private and harder to guess) one hour after purchase. This means customers should save the receipt link from their confirmation email or bookmark the page if they want to return later for downloads. The download links themselves do not expire unless you delete the product from your shop.
Digital vs. Physical Products
Keep these key differences in mind when working with digital products:
- Separate Product Types: A product cannot be both physical and digital. If you want to offer both a physical print and a digital download, create them as separate products.
- No Variants: Digital products currently do not support variants or options (like size or color). Each digital product must be created as its own listing.
- Streamlined Checkout: When customers purchase digital-only items, they won't be asked for shipping information, making checkout faster and easier.
Best Practices for Large Files
If you're working with files larger than 100MB, consider these recommendations:
Use Download Links Instead of Direct Uploads:
- Uploading very large files requires a stable internet connection and can take significant time.
- Hosting files on services like Google Drive or Dropbox and providing a link ensures a smoother experience.
- Customers will have a faster, more reliable download experience with externally hosted large files.
Compress When Possible:
- Use ZIP compression for folders containing multiple files
- Optimize images and PDFs without sacrificing quality
- Consider splitting very large products into multiple smaller downloads
Managing Your Digital Products
Updating Files: When you replace or update a file on an existing product, customers who return to their receipt page will automatically receive the updated version. This is perfect for:
- Fixing errors or typos
- Adding improvements or new features
- Providing updated versions to past customers
Deleting Products: If you delete a digital product from your shop, customers will no longer be able to access their download links. Make sure to communicate with past customers before removing products they've purchased.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
File Upload Taking Too Long:
- Check your internet connection speed and stability
- For files over 100MB, consider using a download link instead
- Try uploading during off-peak hours for better performance
File Type Not Supported:
- We support most common file types, but if you encounter an issue, please contact our support team to report it.
- As a workaround, you can compress your file into a ZIP archive
Customer Can't Download File:
- Verify the product is still active in your shop
- If using a download link, confirm the external link is still valid and properly shared
- Check that the file hasn't been deleted from your cloud storage
Storage Limit Reached:
- Review your products and remove old or unused files
- Use download links for larger files instead of uploads
- Consider upgrading to Diamond plan for increased storage (250GB)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I offer both physical and digital versions of the same product? Yes, but they must be created as separate products. Consider creating a collection to group related physical and digital items together.
Do customers need an account to download digital products? No, customers can access their downloads directly from the receipt page using the link in their confirmation email.
How long do download links last? Download links remain active as long as the product exists in your shop's catalog. They do not expire.
Can I limit how many times a customer can download a file? No, customers have unlimited downloads of their purchased digital products.
What happens if I change a file after someone has purchased it? When you update a file, anyone who returns to their receipt page will automatically receive the new version. The previous version will no longer be available.
Can I sell access to exclusive content or memberships? While you can sell digital products, Big Cartel doesn't currently have a built-in membership or subscription feature. Each digital product is sold as a one-time purchase.