How to Sell PDFs Online: The Complete Guide

If you’re looking for an easy way to make passive income, it might be time to sell PDFs online, and it’s a great way to do it.

Why sell PDFs online? Because the products are online files, there’s no “inventory” to manage. You can sell PDFs online as many times as you want, and you can adjust or update the content as needed to better fit your audience or add new information and graphics.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. What kinds of PDFs can you sell?
2. How can you create your PDFs?
3. Where can you sell your PDFs?
4. Getting Paid, Legalities to Consider, and Marketing

What kinds of PDFs can you sell?

When it comes to ideas for PDFs to sell, as long as you can put it on a piece of (digital) paper, you can make it into a PDF. Here’s a list of the most popular types of PDFs to sell online.

• Ebooks (fiction, non-fiction, coloring books, comics/graphic novels)
• How-to guides, tutorials, study guides, or manuals
• Courses
• Magazines
• Templates
  • Professional document templates (resumes, invoices, etc)
  • Marketing templates (newsletters, calendars, etc)
• Workout and nutrition plans
• Catalogues
• Brochures
• Crafts
  • Sewing patterns
  • Wrapping paper patterns
  • Greeting cards
  • Invitations
• Your original art or sheet music
• Industry reports
• White papers
• Spreadsheets (budget planners, teaching resources, etc)

How can you create PDFs?

Use or install the relevant software on your computer. You probably already have software that can make PDFs. Most word processing programs, like Microsoft Word, Pages on a Mac, or Google Docs, can create PDF files. Design software like the Adobe Suite will also export your work as PDF files.

1. If your PDF is meant to be printed, make sure your paper size is compatible with standard printer paper (A4 or 8.5″ x 11″), or plan to offer different versions of your PDF based on the paper sizes and printers your audience has available.
2. Add content like text and images, and, if it’s an ebook or course handbook (or anything that won’t necessarily be printed), include hyperlinks to online videos and other useful information.
3. If you’re creating an ebook or a PDF with any text, make sure you check for spelling and grammar.
4. Export and/or print test versions of your PDF to ensure everything is legible. Also, check that there aren’t any problems with the font, images, or links, and that the layout doesn’t have any issues. You can export your document to PDF typically by going to “File” and then “Save As” or “Print”.
5. Once you’re happy with the layout, save the file version as a PDF. If you want, you can also add a level of security by adding a watermark or password-protecting the document for each individual buyer. These features may not be available depending on what program you’re using.

Where can you sell your PDFs online?

There are two major ways to sell your PDFs online: on an online marketplace or on your website.

1. Online marketplaces

With this method, you can start selling as soon as you sign up for a seller account. Some of the most popular online marketplaces to sell your PDFs are Payhip Marketplace, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.

By selling on an online marketplace, you already have their audience as potential customers, so you don’t need to rely entirely on marketing. They also provide built-in services such as terms and conditions, payment systems, and, at a minimum, a basic level of technical and customer service.

However, because you’re using a third-party service, you’ll need to pay fees per month, per listing, or per transaction, depending on the marketplace. You’re also restricted to being paid according to their schedule.

You’ll have to follow their rules and regulations regarding what’s allowed in product listings, what you can sell, and how much you can sell. An important rule to look out for is file size restrictions. Every online marketplace has its limits on how large a file any digital product can be.

If you’re selling something like a text-only ebook or a simple template, this probably won’t affect you, since these kinds of PDFs tend to have small file sizes. However, if you’re selling PDFs like workout guides, magazines, catalogues, or anything that’s heavy on graphics and images, file sizes tend to be larger.

You’re also restricted to their style and layout; any branding you can do will be minimal, since most online marketplaces want to maintain aesthetic consistency across all their stores.

2. Your website

The best place to sell your downloadable PDF is on your own website. All you need to do is connect it to a payment processing company (PayPal or Stripe for instant payouts), upload your PDF as a product listing, and start selling PDFs online.

By creating a store on your own website, you can customise the customer journey, add as much branding as you want, and possibly cultivate long-lasting relationships with your customers through follow-up marketing, such as mailing lists or unique discounts. You can easily send emails to sell PDFs in higher volumes.

Plus, you don’t have to worry about direct competition and how that can affect your pricing. In an online marketplace, interested customers can quickly see whether the PDF they’re looking for is cheaper at another seller’s store. In these instances, you’re typically forced to price your PDF the same as other sellers. But by selling on your website, you can set the price you want, and customers will have to spend more time and effort looking for other alternatives.

But by selling your PDFs on your website, your sales will depend on how well you market your product. For example, you can promote your PDFs on platforms like Pinterest. You’ll also have to create your own terms and conditions to make sure that all the legalities are covered as dictated by your local and national laws.

In other words, this method is great for those who don’t mind figuring out problems on their own and want to have a hand in everything as they build their brand.

Option 1: Use your website builder’s ecommerce functionality.

If you’re already using WordPress, Squarespace, or another website builder, then you can add a store to your website or blog using their service. With some platforms, this can be simple; with others, it may require you to understand how to code or pay for plug-ins.

Option 2: Create an online store

This method doesn’t have to take as much time as you think. You can build an online store to sell PDFs in as little as five minutes, without needing to know how to code. There are ecommerce platforms, like Payhip, that let you create a store where you can sell PDFs and other digital and physical products in one place. For example, you can sell PDFs and coaching services on Payhip.

With Payhip, you’ll be able to set the prices you want, the payment structure you want (recurring vs one-time vs pay-what-you-want), get paid as soon as you sell one PDF, and not to mention, you’ll get higher profits since you won’t have monthly subscriptions to pay.

And since your store is tied to your website, you can create a cohesive customer journey that follows the customer from cart to checkout to marketing content. With Payhip’s ability to manage your customer information and provide analytics, you can also tweak and improve your marketing campaigns.

I tried a few different services before settling on Payhip. What stood out to me the most about them was how easy everything was to set up and just start selling!
– Martha Jones, Social Media Shark

How to Market Your PDFs

1. Sell PDFs on social media

You can sell PDFs on social media platforms. On Pinterest, you can link out to the exact product page. On TikTok or Instagram, you can create reels to educate potential customers and sell your PDFs to them via your bio link.

2. Market PDFs with other services

You can also promote PDFs with other services you offer. For example, if you’re a nutritionist, you can sell PDFs of meal plans to your email list to earn money. You can also host your PDFs on your website so people can both hire you for your services and buy your products. Your website becomes a selling machine with countless options for customers to choose from.

3. Sell PDFs via advertising

You can also sell PDFs by advertising them on Google, social media, forums, and more. Selling is made easier when you build an audience, have reviews, and have a great product. Advertising can be expensive, and it isn’t always profitable. Learning how to create effective ads will help you sell more PDFs without overspending on ads.

4. Promote your PDFs via email

Once you start selling PDFs, you’ll start building an email list of previous buyers. You can remarket to them as you create new, engaging, relevant products for them. On top of that, you can also create a lead magnet with a teaser for the main product, so you can get more email subscribers to whom you can sell PDFs.

5. Partner with collaborators, influencers, bloggers

There are so many partnership opportunities in the PDF space. You can create an affiliate program with Payhip to attract affiliates who earn a commission on sales they drive to you. You can also do influencer marketing by pitching influencers to create sponsored posts about your PDF. Lastly, you can partner with bloggers who can drive referral traffic to you, helping you rank organically in search.

6. Sell PDFs on marketplaces

Marketplaces like Payhip Marketplace allow you to sell PDFs and other products in one place. The competition isn’t as fierce on this marketplace, as you can only be added to it after you’ve made $10 in sales and been approved by a staff member. This allows you to sell your PDFs without having to undercut your pricing.

Selling PDFs Online: FAQs

How do I sell PDFs online using PayPal?

Most services will allow you to accept payment with major credit cards. But when you’re trying to decide on what service to go with, make sure they cover the options that you know your audience will also be interested in, like PayPal and Stripe.

Payhip offers PayPal, Stripe and 100 other payment methods to customers automatically when you sign up for a Payhip account.

How do I get money selling PDFs?

With most online marketplaces, they will usually transfer your earnings (minus their fees) to your bank account or payment platform of choice. However, you’ll have to wait for a fixed payment schedule.

If you sell on your website and connect your PayPal or Stripe account to your Payhip store account, you’ll get paid every time someone buys your PDF. No waiting!

Is it illegal to sell PDF books?

There’s an easy way to tell if selling a PDF book is illegal or not: Did you create the content?

If it’s a copy or scanned version of a copyrighted book, textbook, or other digitisation of any existing content, then yes, it’s illegal to sell.

If you’re selling a PDF book you created yourself, then no.

What’s the best way to sell PDFs online?

The extremely short answer: marketing. This applies whether you’re selling on an online marketplace or on your website.

One way to quickly start attracting customers is to use the store or product’s URL in your social media and marketing materials, such as newsletters or ads.

Along with the link, add interesting photos or facts, or start a blog covering topics related to your PDF downloads. Get creative in finding ways to show why your PDF is useful, interesting, and probably better than what else is out there.

No matter where you try to market, think about what kind of customer you’re targeting. Are they teachers looking for printable teaching materials? Is it potential new readers for your sci-fi book? Someone looking to kickstart their content calendar and looking to follow a PDF guide?

Where do these kinds of people like to get their information? How can you connect with them?

Finding and reaching your audience will take some trial and error. Be ready to adjust to what your audience is telling you and keep at it!

At the end of every blog post, and in our Google and Facebook ads, there was our URL, directly linked to our Payhip store. As an afterthought I put it in our IG bio too. After a few months, I learned that most of our customers were coming from the IG link! Payhip’s Analytics helped me track that customer journey and now I’ve changed the marketing strategy, shifting it more to IG and our sales have more than doubled since!
– Alex Foster, Entrepreneur

Ready to start selling PDFs?

You now know what kinds of PDFs to sell, how to make them, and where to sell them. Plus, you also have some insight into how payment for your PDFs works, some legalities, and how to market your PDF products.

Overall, it’s pretty simple, right?

If you want to get started now, sign up for a free Payhip account and start selling PDFs!