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 post: a PDF, an audio file, a template pack, a software license. The buyer pays, and the thing they bought arrives by email a moment later — 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.
- Set how it reaches the buyer to Neither — nothing is being posted or collected, so there's no address to ask for and no shipping to charge.
- Find the Digital delivery panel and switch it on.
- 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.
Setting delivery to Neither is what keeps digital orders out of your “to fulfill” pile. Leave it on Shipping and every download will sit in the queue looking like something you forgot to post.
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 in the buyer's email, which is how a bundle works: one purchase, several files.
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 top up.
- 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 expiry
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 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 download links, assign their keys, and email everything to the address on the order. 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, usually after a refund. 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 straight away so you can load more keys. The waiting buyer is served automatically once you do.
If a buyer has lost their email or used up their downloads, you can re-issue their delivery from the order itself. They get a fresh set of links without paying 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.
Not if the product's delivery is set to Neither, which is what you want for a download. That's the setting that tells us there's nothing to pack. Leave it on Shipping and the order will sit there looking unfinished.
Yes. Turn on both and the buyer's email carries their download links and their code together.
Large files are fine — this isn't email, so you're not fighting an attachment limit. What counts against your plan is the storage the file occupies, which you can see under Usage.
The sale still completes and the shortfall is recorded against that order, and we email you once 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 re-issue their digital delivery. They get a fresh set of links, and you don't have 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 passing on the file itself once it's on their computer.
Revoke it from the Digital keys page. It's marked withdrawn and stays that way — it isn't returned to the pool, so the same code can't reach a second buyer.
No. With delivery set to Neither there's no address collected and no shipping rate applied, so the buyer pays the price and the tax and nothing else.
It follows the product's Taxable setting and your site's sales tax setup, exactly as it does for physical goods. Digital goods are taxed differently in different places, so it's worth checking what applies where your buyers are.