How To Sell Digital Downloads On Etsy

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Selling Digital Products

Are you interested in learning about selling custom digital file on Etsy?

Are you trying to find other ways to make money from art you have already created?

In a post, I wrote How To Sell Prints On Etsy With Printful, I talk about how easy it is to sell reproductions of your art with Printful’s print-on-demand services.

But what if you could sell digital downloads of your art so people can use your artwork as a screensaver or print the digital downloads themselves?

There is money to be made selling digital downloads, and it is easier than you might think.

Why Sell Digital Downloads On Etsy

Etsy is a platform that allows crafters and creators to turn their passions into a thriving business. People visit Etsy to discover unique hand made and digital products.

Even if you are selling your original artwork and reproductions on your artist website, you might want to consider selling digital downloads of your art or other digital files on Etsy to increase your income.

Successful artists have multiple revenue streams set on autopilot, which is also known as passive income.

There is work involved in setting up different passive income solutions, but you can earn money from them for years to come without any additional work once they are in place. 

The same is true with selling your original art as a digital file on Etsy. 

You have already done the work creating the piece. If you only sell the original painting, you will be losing out on a lot of passive income you could be making selling art prints online and digital downloads. 

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What Printables Sell Best On Etsy

You can sell many different printables you can sell in your Etsy shop related to art and digital art designs.

Best Selling Digital Downloads On Etsy

• Printable wall art
• Planners
• Crafting printables
• Vector images
• Educational materials
• Greeting cards
• Invitations
• Wedding invitations
• Clip art
• Graphic design

Etsy Digital Download Fees

Etsy charges $0.20 per listing. When an item sells on Etsy, Etsy will charge a transaction fee of 5% of the total selling price. 

When a buyer purchases an item, you can have the money sent to a PayPal account or directly to your bank account.

Additional fees might apply depending on the type of sales. To read more about Etsy’s fees, visit Etsy’s Fees And Payment Policy. 

How To Create Digital Downloads For Etsy

A digital download is a product delivered to a customer through a download like an eBook or worksheet.

There are different ways to create digital downloads and principles, but I will talk about selling printable prints of your original artwork and digital art in this post.

How To Create A Digital File Of A Painting Or Drawing

There are two ways to create a digital file of your original artwork.

The first way is to take a photo with a digital camera then save it to your PC. The image that you have saved to your PC is a digital image.

To read more about the best cameras for artists visit 4 Best Digital Cameras For Photographing Art.

The second way is to scan a drawing and save the scan on your PC. The scan you saved is also a digital file.

If you are creating digital art on Photoshop or designing a planner on Canva, you can save the image you have made on the software as a jpeg file or a PDF file. Both jpeg and PDF files are digital files you can sell on Etsy.

How To Resize Image Sizes For Digital Downloads

The next step is to resize your digital image, so it will print as a size that can easily be framed.

Popular wall art sizes:

• 5 x 7
• 6 x 8
• 8 x 10

Open your image in Photoshop.

Click Image > Image Size.

Set Width and Length to inches.

Type in the size of the printable image. There will be times that the size will not be exactly 5 x 7 of an 8 x 10. Just make them as close as you can.

Click Save As and type in the name for the digital image. Use the name of the art and the size of the print for the digital file’s name. This will make it easier for when you list it on Etsy.

Save the image to a destination on your PC.

I have created a folder under pictures that says “Art for prints” to make it easy to locate the images.

How To Add Digital Downloads In An Etsy Store

First, you will have to create an Etsy account if you do not already have one.

Related Resource – How To Set Up An Etsy Shop Step By Step.

Key Points For Etsy Digital Listings:

• Use keywords in title, description, and tags
• Explain in detail what the buyer will receive
• Add up to 13 tags to describe art for search results

Creating an Esty digital download listing is the same as creating a physical item except you will want to click Digital for the product.

Watch this video to learn how to create digital downloads for Etsy.

How To Sell Digital Art Downloads On Etsy

After you have created your listing, you will want to promote your Etsy listing just like you do with your original art.

Start by writing a blog post about the digital download and pin the blog post to your Pinterest business account.

Next, share the Etsy listing on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest using the share button in the Etsy listing.

Schedule more Pinterest pins with Tailwind for more exposure.

To read more about Tailwind visit, 5 Reasons Artists Should Use Tailwind’s SmartLoop.

The last thing you will want to do is send a newsletter to your email list.

Continue to share your Etsy listing several times on your social media platforms, including your Instagram account.

To read more about selling art online, visit Sell Art Online Startup.

How Customers Can Print Digital Downloads

Customers who purchase digital downloads from Etsy can print them in simple steps.

After the customer completes the purchase, they will be able to access the file through their Etsy account in the “Your Orders” section. From there, they can download the file to their computer.

Once the file is saved to their computer, they can open it and print it from any printer. Some printers allow customers to print directly from their Etsy accounts by connecting their accounts to the printer. Customers that have any questions about printing their digital download can reach out to the seller through Etsy’s messaging system.

By following these simple steps, customers can easily print their digital downloads from Etsy.

Final Thoughts On How To Sell Digital Downloads On Etsy

Selling digital downloads is easy with Etsy. You have to create a digital file of the art you want to sell. You probably already have a digital file if you are promoting your art on your artist’s website and social media.

It is important to edit the image size in Photoshop before creating the listing.

After creating the image size, create a listing on Etsy by following the video’s steps and promoting the digital downloads on your website, social media accounts, and email list.

Check out how some of the other Etsy sellers list their digital items.

How To Sell Digital Downloads On Etsy Related Posts:

• Selling Digital Art On Etsy – Complete Guide
• How To Sell Art On Etsy – Complete Guide

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