Every digital product seller hits the same fork in the road: keep handing 6-10% of every sale to a marketplace, or take on a fragile plugin stack to own your shop outright. Here's how to make that call, and what it actually costs either way.
Sell Digital Products
What "Owning Your Shop" Actually Means
Selling digital products the owned way means your shop runs on your own domain, your payment processor pays out directly to you, and your customer list belongs to you, not a marketplace algorithm. No revenue-share fee that grows as you succeed, no plugin stack you have to babysit.
Which Path Fits You Right Now
Step 1
Still selling on Etsy, Gumroad or Payhip?
See exactly what marketplace fees cost you over a year, and what changes when you own the storefront instead.
Step 2
Ready to pick self-hosted or managed?
Both remove marketplace fees entirely. The difference is how much server work you want to take on yourself.
Step 3
Want the fee math laid out?
See the difference between payment-processor fees (unavoidable) and marketplace fees (the ones you can cut).
Featured Articles
How to Sell Digital Downloads Without Paying 10% Platform Fees
The real math behind marketplace fees vs a fixed-cost system.
Choosing Between a Self-Hosted eCommerce Platform and Marketplace
A full breakdown of Etsy and Gumroad vs owning your storefront.
Self-Hosted or Managed Hosting – Finding the Right Fit For You
Which ownership model fits your time, budget and technical comfort.
Why Your Digital eCommerce Shop Needs Policies and Other Trust Signals
The trust signals that turn a first-time visitor into a buyer.
Why Djangify Builds Mini Sites Instead of Full Platforms
Why a lightweight, digital-only system beats a bloated platform.
Bending the E-E-A-T Rules: Build a Digital Empire Without Showing Your Face
How to build search trust and authority without a personal brand.
From the Shop
Own Your Digital Shop Outright
The Self-Hosted Digital eCommerce Builder gives you the full Djangify codebase, checkout, delivery, customer accounts, blog and SEO tools, on your own hosting, for one payment instead of a recurring cut of every sale.
Quick Answers to Common Questions
What does Djangify cost compared to a 10% marketplace fee?
Managed hosting is a flat £19/month regardless of sales volume; self-hosted is a one-off £97. Neither takes a cut of your revenue. See pricing
Can I keep my existing products and customer list?
Yes. You migrate your own products and start building your own customer list from day one; nothing stays locked into a marketplace.
Does Djangify handle secure delivery and customer accounts?
Yes, checkout, secure file delivery and customer accounts are all built in, no separate plugins needed. How it works
FAQ
How much am I actually losing to marketplace fees each year?
Add up the platform's percentage plus payment processing fees against your actual sales volume. On 500 sales of a £40 product at a 10% marketplace fee, that's roughly £2,000 a year gone before any other costs, and it grows every year you sell more.
Do I need to be technical to move off a marketplace?
No. Managed hosting on Djangify sets your shop up automatically. You log in, add products and start selling. Self-hosting is available if you want full server control instead.
Will I lose my existing customers if I switch?
You can keep selling on a marketplace while you build your own shop, and point new buyers there. Once your shop is live, every new customer becomes yours, not the platform's.
What's the actual difference between self-hosted and managed hosting?
Self-hosted means you run the code on your own server and handle updates yourself. Managed hosting means Djangify runs the infrastructure and your shop is ready the moment you pay. Both skip marketplace commission entirely.