Selling digital downloads on Etsy: file limits, delivery and listing tips
Digital downloads — printables, patterns, templates, planners — are popular on Etsy because there’s nothing to ship. But they have their own rules. Here’s what Etsy’s help says, plus how to make the listing findable.
File rules
- An instant-download listing can include up to five files.
- Each file can be up to 20MB.
- You can’t save or publish the listing without at least one file attached.
- Etsy supports audio, image and text files, among others — see the supported file types in Etsy’s help.
To replace a file, remove it with the X in the listing editor and use Add files.
What happens after a sale
- Buyers can download the files whenever they want from their Purchases page.
- Cancelling the order is the only way to revoke a buyer’s access once they’ve bought it.
Make the download easy: include a short instructions file (or a page in the PDF) explaining what’s in the download and how to print or use it.
Choosing categories and attributes
Etsy asks separately whether a listing is a physical item or digital files, so choose the category by what the item is — a printable wall art download goes under art and prints — not under some generic “digital” category. Fill in every attribute that applies. See Etsy categories and attributes.
Photos for digital products
Your photos still sell the item:
- show the product in use — the print framed on a wall, the planner on a desk, the template on a phone screen;
- show what’s included (number of pages, sizes, file formats) in one image;
- keep text in images large enough to read as a thumbnail.
For sizes and thumbnail crops, see Etsy listing photo size.
Fees
To see what a digital sale leaves you after Etsy’s fees, use the Etsy fee calculator with shipping set to 0.