Selling something that ships itself
Files, license keys, and the limits that keep one purchase from becoming ten.
Overview
A digital product is one you don't ship: a PDF, an audio file, a template pack, a software license. The buyer pays, and a moment later an email brings them what they bought: a button to their downloads, and any license keys printed right in it. No packing, no postage, no waiting.
Digital delivery is a setting on a product rather than a separate kind of product. You add files, license keys, or both, and everything else about the product — its price, its photos, its category — works exactly as it does for anything else you sell.
Digital selling is part of the online store, so it needs the Store plan and a connected Stripe account, the same as any other paid product.
Turn on digital delivery
Everything lives on the product itself, in a panel called Digital delivery.
- In the side navigation, under Inventory, go to Products.
- Open the product you want to sell as a download, or create a new one.
- In the Digital delivery panel, check “Deliver as a digital product”. That also sets the product's Fulfillment to None — nothing is shipped or picked up, so no shipping is charged.
- Add your files, your license keys, or both — the next two sections cover each.
- Save. The product now delivers itself the moment it's paid for.
Fulfillment set to None is what keeps digital orders out of your “to fulfill” pile. Switch it back to Requires shipping and every download will sit in the queue looking like something you forgot to ship.
Selling files
Upload the file once and it's sold as many times as you like. Your files are kept privately — a buyer never gets a public link to them, only a personal download link tied to their order.
You can attach more than one file to a single product. Each one becomes its own download on the buyer's order page, which is how a bundle works: one purchase, several files. Each file can be up to 50 MB.
Replacing a file never breaks a past buyer's download: they keep the copy they paid for, and new buyers get the new one. After a backup restore or a site import, a file that couldn't come along is marked Missing on the product — upload it again, because buyers get nothing for it until you do.
A download is granted per file, per order — not per copy bought. Someone who buys two of the same thing gets one set of links, not two.
Selling license keys
If what you sell is a code — a software license, a game key, a redemption code — turn on keys and every buyer gets their own. There are two ways to supply them, and the difference matters.
- Generated: a fresh, unique code is created at the moment of purchase. You can never run out, so there's nothing to refill.
- Pooled: codes are drawn from a list you load in — real keys from a vendor. These are finite, and they can run out mid-sale.
If you're using a pool, set a low-stock warning. We'll email you once when the remaining keys fall into that band — once per restock, not once per sale — so the alert stays worth reading.
Download caps and expiration
Two settings decide how long a purchase stays useful, and both are optional.
A download limit caps how many times each link can be used. An access window sets how many days the links stay alive. Together they're what stops one purchase from being forwarded around a group chat — and left empty, the links simply don't expire.
Be generous rather than strict. People change laptops, lose emails, and download things twice by accident. A cap of one is the setting most likely to generate a support message.
What the buyer gets
As soon as the payment clears, we create the buyer's downloads, assign their keys, and email the address on the order: keys printed in the email, files a button away on their order page. There's nothing for you to send.
If the same order is processed twice — which can happen when a payment confirms in two places at once — nothing is duplicated. Files already granted are skipped and keys already assigned aren't re-issued, so a buyer never ends up with two sets.
Keeping track of keys
Every key your site has ever issued is listed under Digital keys, in the side navigation under Commerce. Each one is in one of three states:
- Available — loaded into a pool and waiting. Only pooled keys sit here; generated keys are made at the moment of purchase.
- Assigned — handed to a buyer, with the order and customer attached.
- Revoked — withdrawn automatically when its order is fully refunded. A revoked key doesn't go back into the pool, so it can't be handed to somebody else.
When a buyer says their key doesn't work, this page is where you check what they were actually sent, and when.
When something goes wrong
Two situations come up often enough to be worth knowing in advance.
If a pool runs dry mid-sale, the order still goes through — the shortfall is recorded and we email you right away so you can load more keys. The waiting buyer is served automatically once you do.
If a buyer has lost their email, open the order and click Resend confirmation: it goes out again with their keys and the button to their downloads. If they've used up their downloads, click Re-issue beside the file, which resets its download count and access window. Neither asks them to pay again.
Frequently asked questions
The Store plan, the same as for any paid product — digital delivery is part of the online store rather than an add-on. You'll also need Stripe connected so you can take the payment.
No. Checking “Deliver as a digital product” sets the product's Fulfillment to None, which tells us there's nothing to pack. Switch it back to Requires shipping and the order will sit there looking unfinished.
Yes. Turn on both and the buyer's email carries their code and the button to their downloads together.
Up to 50 MB per file, which is plenty for most PDFs, audio files and zips. For something bigger, split it across several files on the same product. Files count toward your plan's storage, which you can see under Usage.
The sale still completes and the shortfall is recorded against that order, and we email you to say the pool is empty. Add more keys from the product's Digital delivery panel and the waiting buyer is sent theirs automatically.
Open the order and click Resend confirmation — the email goes out again with their keys and the button to their downloads. If they've also used up their downloads, click Re-issue beside the file to reset it. There's no need to refund and re-sell.
Set a download limit and an access window on the product. The links are personal to the order and stop working once either runs out. Nothing can prevent someone from passing on the file itself once it's on their computer.
Nothing, by hand: refunding the whole order revokes its keys automatically. They show as Revoked on the Digital keys page and stay that way — a revoked key isn't returned to the pool, so the same code can't reach a second buyer.
No. With Fulfillment set to None no shipping rate is applied, so the buyer pays the price and the tax and nothing else.
Yes, if the product is taxable and you collect sales tax. Digital products get their own tax category automatically — a downloadable document for files, software for keys — and you can pick a closer one, like Ebook or Music, in the product's Tax category. Digital goods are taxed differently in different places, so it's worth checking what applies where your buyers are.