How to sell digital products (downloads and license keys)

In TeleportHQ, you sell a digital product, such as an e-book or a piece of software, by turning on This product is digital in the product form. Add the files buyers download with Add files and, if you sell software, paste a pool of license keys. Once the order is paid, the buyer downloads the files from their order page and gets an email saying they're ready. Nothing is shipped, so a digital-only order has no delivery fee.

Before you start#

• The store must be turned on. See How to add a store to an existing project.
• Uploading files needs an active trial or paid plan. Each file can be up to 30 MB, and a product can hold up to 200 files.
• A product can't be both digital and a gift card.

Steps#

1. Make the product digital#

1. In the editor's left sidebar, click E-commerce (the card icon). The E-Commerce panel opens.
2. Next to Products, click + (tooltip Add Product), or click an existing product.
3. Fill in Product Name and Price, for example Sourdough Baking E-book and 9.00.
4. Turn on This product is digital: "Delivered as files or license keys from the buyer's order page once the order is paid. Nothing is shipped, so a digital-only order takes no delivery fee." The Files and License keys sections appear, and the dimensions and weight fields are hidden.

2. Add the files#

1. Under Files, click Add files and choose one or more files, for example sourdough-ebook.pdf. On a saved product, they upload right away. On a new product, they're listed with "uploads on save" and upload when you click Create Product.
2. To check what buyers get, click Download next to a file.

TeleportHQ stores the files privately and hands them out from the buyer's order page.

3. Add license keys (optional)#

1. Under License keys, paste your keys, one per line, for example ABCD-EFGH-1234.
2. On a saved product, click Add keys. On a new product, the keys are added when you save. One key is handed to the buyer per unit once the order is paid. A key that's already stored is skipped, never overwritten.
3. Check the count under the box, for example 5 available · 0 assigned.

4. Set the download rules (optional)#

• Download limit per purchase: how many times each paid unit can be downloaded, for example 5. Leave it empty for no limit.
• Links expire after (days): how many days after payment the downloads stay available, for example 30. Leave it empty so they never expire.

5. Save#

Click Create Product (or Save Changes). In the Products list, the product's card shows a Digital label.

What your buyers get#

• A separate order. Digital products are bought in an order of their own. A buyer with other kinds of items in the cart sees "Digital products need a separate order. Complete your current order or remove the other items from your cart first."
• No delivery fee. A digital-only order has no delivery fee and no delivery method to pick.
• Their downloads. Once the order is paid, the buyer gets an email titled "Your downloads for order … are ready", and the order page shows a Downloads card with a Download button for each file and their license keys.

See what was delivered#

In the TeleportHQ editor, click Growth in the left sidebar, then Orders under E-Commerce, and click the order's row in the orders table. Its details open on the right. Their Digital delivery section says Delivered, or "Not delivered yet — the buyer gets their files and keys once the order is paid." For each product it shows the number of downloads, for example 2 downloads, and the license keys handed out, with a copy button. See How to find and manage orders.

Manage files and keys later#

• Remove a file: click the trash icon next to it, then Remove file in the window that opens. Buyers can't download it any more, and its stored copy is deleted. This can't be undone.
• Remove an unused key: click the trash icon next to an Available key (tooltip Remove this key from the pool).
• Take a key back: next to an Assigned key, click Revoke, then Revoke key. The buyer sees it as revoked on their order page, and the key isn't handed out again.

Refunds and withdrawals#

Two store settings decide what happens to digital products after a refund or a withdrawal request. Open them from the E-Commerce panel: click the gear at the top (tooltip E-Commerce Settings). In the E-Commerce Setup panel, find Digital products:

• Revoke Downloads on Refund (on by default): "Fully refunded orders lose access to their downloads and their license keys are revoked." A change reaches your live store after you publish again.
• Digital Goods Withdrawal Exemption (on by default): "Digital goods are exempt from the right of withdrawal (EU): withdrawal requests leave digital lines out."

See How to refund an order and How to handle return (withdrawal) requests.

Troubleshooting#

"… was not added: your plan does not allow file uploads. Upgrade the workspace to upload files." Your workspace has no active trial or paid plan. Click Upgrade workspace, or see How to subscribe to Pro or Premium.

"… is over the 30 MB maximum for a product file. Compress it or split it into smaller files." No plan raises this limit. Make the file smaller, or split it into several files.

"… a product can carry at most 200 files. Remove a file to make room." Remove a file you no longer need, or put several files into one ZIP file.

"Download limit must be a whole number of 1 or more. Leave it blank for unlimited downloads." Type a whole number such as 3, or empty the field. Links expire after (days) follows the same rule.

"A product cannot be both a gift card and digital. Turn one of them off." Turn off This product is a gift card first. While it's on, the digital switch is greyed out.

"Your checkout page was built before digital products existed, so it would charge delivery for this product." Your store is older than digital products. Click Recreate checkout page in the same notice to rebuild it.

Good to know#

• Subscriptions can be digital too, for example a monthly pattern pack. See How to sell subscriptions and manage subscribers.
• Paddle sells digital products only, and every other payment provider in the store sells them too.
• Buyers' emails: see Which emails does the store send to you and your customers?.