Maximizing Digital Product Profits: Other Platforms vs. SamCart

March 3, 2023

Social media influencing and content creation can be rewarding professions; however, profits are crucial to making this lifestyle feasible. Many monetizing creators wonder how to make profits when selling digital products online.   SamCart is here with a look at how you can maximize your digital product profits.

An Overview of Profitability

Ultimately, the key to maximizing your profits is to increase sales while decreasing overhead costs. A few considerations can help you achieve higher profit margins:  

     
  • Eliminate Unnecessary Fees: Digital product profitability starts with finding a compatible e-commerce platform. A platform’s transaction fees, listing fees, and other unnecessary expenses will cut into your return—making this decision central to digital product profits.
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  • Low Selling Costs: Naturally, the less you pay for your e-commerce platform membership, the more earnings you can pocket for digital product sales.
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  • Automatic Delivery for Digital Products: Whether you have a team on your side or you run a one-person show, making administrative work easy can help cut your management costs. Features like automatic delivery for digital products can increase sales and customer satisfaction while minimizing your staffing costs.
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  • Included Selling Tools and Features: Each sale you make of a single digital product will boost its profits. Features like the Subscription Saver and Cart Abandonment Recovery can help you convert more customers and recover lost profits.
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  • Selling Opportunities: Does your online sales platform support digital product sales, physical product sales, membership/subscription services, and online course sales? Multiple selling opportunities will allow your business room to grow while supporting profitability with upsells, cross-sells, and order bumps.
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  • Payment and Promotions: Offering flexible payment options, automated checkout processes, and promotional support are all easy ways to boost sales and increase profits.

An Overview of Digital Product Platforms

One of our specialties here at SamCart is digital product profitability. So let’s unpack some ways SamCart compares to other digital product platforms. Please note that all pricing and plan information is current at the time of publication—details are subject to change.  

WooCommerce: Plans, Fees, and Alternatives

If you find yourself wondering, “How much does WooCommerce cost?” You’re not alone. This WordPress e-commerce platform currently doesn’t disclose prices or plan details to non-members. Even after signing up, you’ll find that the WooCommerce pricing structure is complicated. Rather than an all-in-one e-commerce solution, this platform requires sellers to manage several different fees individually—from paid SSL protection to hosting costs, domain name costs, theme costs, and more.   WordPress offers memberships of various pricing, so we are running our cost estimate based on the WooCommerce branded membership level—which is the plan designed for e-commerce. Let’s break down these expenses:

     
  • WooCommerce Membership Costs, Billed Monthly: $70 per month
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  • WooCommerce Membership Costs, Billed Annually: $45 per month
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  • Hosting Costs: Varies by hosting site (averages $120 per year)
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  • Domain Name Costs: Varies by the domain (averages $15 per year)

Online sellers also have to pay for desired themes and additional features. So while your set-up cost might vary depending on the membership and site configuration, it is easy to see how WooCommerce can cut into a seller’s digital product profits.  

Square: Plans, Fees, and Alternatives

When you consider selling your digital products through Square, you might wonder about their online selling services. This platform is perhaps best known for innovative in-person transaction support; however, it may not be the right choice for digital product sellers.   While Square has a “free” membership level, proven online sellers will likely need the functionality of a paid plan. As such, we have calculated these costs based on the two available paid Square plans:

     
  • Square Plus Membership Costs:
  •   $29 per month, billed annually  
  • 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee for each online purchase
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  • 2.6% + $0.10 transaction fee for each in-person purchase
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  • Square Premium Membership Costs:
  •   $79 per month, billed annually  
  • 2.6% + $0.30 transaction fee for each online purchase
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  • 2.6% $0.10 transaction fee for each in-person purchase

These transaction fees can add up, cutting into your profitability potential. Additionally, the Square platform is tailored to physical item sales—letting digital product sellers fall through the cracks. For example, Square does not currently support the automatic delivery of digital products.  

Etsy: Plans, Fees, and Alternatives

Etsy was once a go-to e-commerce site for digital product sellers. However, the ever-increasing Etsy fees have challenged profitability for digital product sales.   According to data from Business of Apps, the number of active Etsy sellers fell almost 3% in 2022 (from 7.5 million sellers to 7.3 million sellers). This drop coincided with Etsy’s 2022 transaction fee increase from 5% to 6.5%. Let’s take a closer look at how much it costs to sell on Etsy:

     
  • Membership Fees: $10 per month
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  • Listing Fees: $0.20 for each listing, charged every four months
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  • Transaction Fees: 6.5% transaction fee for each item sold

As you can see, this transaction fee is the highest among similar digital product platforms. Additional Etsy costs include domain extension fees, on-site advertising fees, off-site advertising fees, in-person selling fees, and more.  

SamCart Pricing Details

Unlike other platforms, SamCart does not charge any transaction, listing, domain name, or other unnecessary fees—helping creators profit more from digital product sales. Instead, we cap our selling costs with fixed-rate fees:

     
  • SamCart Membership Costs, Billed Annually: Starting at $39 per month
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  • SamCart Membership Costs, Billed Monthly: Starting at $59 per month

These membership fees include all of the tools creators need to sell digital products profitably.   Our advanced features are tailored to digital product sales, physical product sales, online courses, and memberships/subscription services. In addition, SamCart continually upgrades and adapts e-commerce features to support the evolving needs of online sellers.   Collectively, SamCart’s low costs and high selling potential can make each digital product sale more profitable.  

Sell Profitable Digital Products With SamCart

It is easy to make digital products profitable when you partner with SamCart. You can download a copy of The Profitable Customer mini-book or try SamCart for free to get started today!

Common Questions

How does SamCart help increase profits from digital products compared to other platforms?

SamCart is designed with features that specifically boost digital product sales, such as one-click upsells, subscription management, and advanced analytics. Unlike other platforms, SamCart's streamlined checkout process and marketing tools help sellers create a seamless buyer experience, leading to higher conversion rates and increased profits.

Can I still utilize marketing tools I'm used to on other platforms with SamCart?

Absolutely! SamCart allows for easy integration with a wide range of marketing tools and services. This means you can continue using your favorite email marketing, automation tools, and customer relationship management systems while enjoying the additional benefits that SamCart offers for selling digital products.

What makes SamCart a better choice for selling digital products over traditional e-commerce platforms?

Traditional e-commerce platforms often cater to a broader range of products, which can dilute the focus on digital sales. SamCart, however, offers specialized features that are tailored to digital product sellers, such as instant product delivery, license key distribution, and digital rights management, ensuring that digital products are sold more effectively and securely.

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