Download products

Sell digital goods such as music, books for ereaders, art, and PDFs.

You can sell ebooks, audio files, and other downloadable content by creating download products. When a customer purchases this type of product, they're sent a download link. The link expires 24 hours after the purchase. If a customer clicks an expired link, we'll send a new link to the email address used for the initial purchase.

Tip: For merchandise, apparel, and other physical goods, visit Physical products. For events, classes, and services, visit Service products.

Commerce is a premium feature available in Business, Commerce, Professional, and Premium plans.

Before you begin

• The file size limit for a download is 300 MB.
• All file types are accepted, but only one file can be added to each download product. You can zip files together and upload the zipped file to a download product as long as it's under 300 MB.
• Remove any special characters, such as em-dashes (—), from the file name prior to uploading. Special characters in the file name can prevent the file from downloading for your customers.
• Ensure your site is set to Secure in the SSL panel. This prevents issues when your customers download their purchase. To learn more about SSL settings, visit Understanding SSL certificates.
• It's not possible to set the quantity or add variants or SKUs for download products.
• It’s not possible to sell download products as subscriptions.

Step 1 - Choose the product type

When adding a new product to your product page, choose Download.

Step 2 - Edit the product information

Use the Name, Description, and Image fields to add information for your product.

Click Add images or drag and drop images from a folder on your computer to add images for the product. You can add multiple images. Multiple images will display as thumbnails.

Step 3 - Upload a file

Click Upload file to upload your file. Select a file from your computer or drag and drop a file into the upload field.

Note: The file size limit for download products is 300 MB. Only one file can be added to each download product. You can zip files together and upload the zipped file to a download product as long as it's under 300 MB.

Step 4 - Add Pricing

Under Pricing, set the price of the product and create sale pricing.

• Price - This defines the regular price for your product.
• On Sale - Switch the toggle on beside On sale to set the product as on sale.
• Sale Price - Set the sale price in the Sale price field that displays after enabling On Sale.

Step 5 - Add tags and categories

Scroll down to Organization and click Add under Categories and Tags to organize your products with categories and tags.

Adding categories to your products automatically creates category navigation on your store pages. To learn more, visit Organizing products.

Formatting tips:

• Tags must be 80 characters or fewer.
• Categories must be 25 characters or fewer.
• Tags and categories are case-sensitive. For example, entering Apples, apples, and APPLES creates three tags or categories.
• Tags and categories appear in alphabetical order.

Step 6 - Add an SEO description (optional)

Scroll down to Marketing and click Edit to add SEO descriptions to your products. This helps search engines properly index your products, making it easier for people to find your content online.

Step 7 - Save

Hover over Save and click Publish to publish the download product to your store page. This sets the product as available for purchase. You can also click Save to hide the product until you're ready to list it. Or to schedule the product to publish to your live store later, click Schedule. To learn more, visit Editing products.

Fix saving errors

The download product can't be saved until you upload its file. If you don't upload a file before saving, a "Cannot save product" message appears.

How customers download their file

After it's purchased, the file is available for download in the Order Confirmation page. The customer will automatically receive the standard order confirmation email, followed by an email containing a link to the file.

• This link will expire 24 hours after the purchase.
• If a customer clicks an expired link, we'll send a new link to the email address used for the initial purchase.
• To manually re-send the download link, open the order in the Orders panel, click Email notifications, then click Send under Resend and Refresh digital goods.

To review your checkout experience and test opening a digital file, run a test order.

Note: If you change or delete the file in the download product, your site can't send a new link when customers click an expired download link. To send customers an updated link, manually re-send it from the Orders panel.

Additional options

To further customize your product, you can add detailed descriptions, a custom form, images, and custom buttons. To learn more, visit Adding additional information to products.

Next steps

After creating a product, you can:

• Use Squarespace's marketing tools to draw customers in and encourage purchasing.
• Promote your new products with Squarespace Email Campaigns. You can build mailing lists or create automated email campaigns to send marketing emails to customers after they make a purchase.
• Share your products with followers and attract new customers by selling your products on Facebook and Instagram.
• Register for our Design tips to increase your store’s sales webinar where we’ll present tools and tips that you can use to help make your products stand out across your site and drive sales.