Why SendOwl is Perfect for Your First Digital Product Shop (Even if You Switch Later)
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Quick note: While I currently use Studiocart for my own digital product shop, I still recommend SendOwl for beginners because of its simplicity and flexible monthly pricing. This post shares my experience using SendOwl and why it might be perfect for your first digital product launch.
Why I Originally Chose SendOwl
Ever spent months overthinking which platform to use for your digital products? 🙋♀️ That was totally me! I spent 6+ months comparing different checkout systems, trying to decide if I should invest in a one-time fee platform or start with something more budget-friendly.
Here’s the thing about selling digital products—it’s hard to know at the beginning how successful your shop will be. Do you spend hundreds upfront on a fancy cart system, or start with something simpler that you can pay for month-to-month?
I finally made my decision after two things happened:
First, I discovered Faith Lee from Faith’s Biz Academy recommended SendOwl. And when Faith recommends a tool for your business, you listen!
Then, just days after signing up for my account, I noticed the BTS Official Store for the U.S. was using SendOwl to distribute digital albums. When I ordered Jung Kook’s Golden album and saw the SendOwl delivery system in action, I thought, “Well, if it’s good enough for BTS, it’s definitely good enough for me!” 😊
What is SendOwl?
SendOwl allows you to have a simple digital shop without the complexity of a full ecommerce website. Instead of building an entire store, you can just add “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” buttons to your existing WordPress (or other) website.
What makes it perfect for beginners:
- Handles all the payment processing
- Automatically delivers your digital products
- You can start selling even without a website with its built-in storefront option
- Flexible monthly payments (no huge upfront investment)
Setting Up Your First Digital Product
Getting started with SendOwl is surprisingly simple. Let me walk you through exactly how I set up my first product. When other participants started asking for copies, I knew I needed to get it listed ASAP!
Step 1: Create Your SendOwl Account
After signing up, you’ll need to:
- Set up your profile
- Connect your payment gateways (like Stripe or PayPal)
- Fill in your business details
Pro tip: SendOwl’s Help Center has great tutorials for this initial setup if you get stuck!
Step 2: Add Your First Product
- Log into your SendOwl account and find the “Products” section
- Click “Add New”
- Choose “Digital Product” as your product type
- Fill in your product details (name, price, description)
- Upload your digital file
Step 3: Configure Delivery Settings
The default settings work great for most digital products, but you can customize:
- How customers receive their download
- How long the download link stays active
- Whether to send follow-up emails
Adding SendOwl to WordPress
Integrating SendOwl with WordPress allows you to embed buttons that lead to either checkout pages or product detail pages directly on your site. And, of course, you’re able to style these buttons to match your branding.
You’ve got two options for adding SendOwl buttons to your WordPress site. I’ll show you both, and you can choose what works best for you!
Option 1: Using HTML Buttons
Go to the “Products” area of your Dashboard and click “Sell” next to the digital product you just created.
Select “Sell from your website or blog” on the left. Here you’ll see 4 button options, and this flexibility is one of the reasons I initially chose SendOwl over other options I’d been considering:
- Buy now
- Add to cart
- View cart
- Product sales page
Once you’ve decided on the best action for your customer to take from your website to purchase your digital product, click “Copy code”.
When you edit a page on your WordPress site, you want to add a “Custom HTML” block.
Paste the button code from SendOwl into this new block.
You can click on Preview mode to see what the button will look like on your page. When I preview or publish the page, I am taken directly to the checkout window since I selected a “Buy Now” button, but you may prefer to have your customers add a product to their cart or read more about the product on the product sales page first.
Option 2: Using Theme Buttons
This is the option I used on my site so I have full control over the buttons with my WordPress theme. Just like in Option 1, you’ll go to the “Products” area and then click “Sell” next to the product you wish to send people to from your site.
From there, you can choose to connect the button to either the payment page or the product sales page. Copy your preferred link.
Over on your WordPress page, add a button. On my site, I used the “Advanced Buttons” block from Kadence Blocks to my page.
Click on your new button, and then click on the link option above it. Here, you will paste the URL from SendOwl.
When you click the button on a published or preview page, you’ll be taken directly to your SendOwl product sales page!
My SendOwl Journey and What I Use Now
My first digital product for E. Houston Studio was a keyword planner and guide designed to help you get started with SEO. I actually created this digital planner during a planner challenge, and when other challenge participants expressed interest in my planner, I knew I needed to start a shop on my website ASAP. The positive feedback I received gave me the confidence to take the leap and create more resources tailored to small business owners and creatives.
While I’ve since moved to Studiocart for my own shop (because I wanted a shop that fully integrated with my WordPress site), SendOwl was exactly what I needed to get started without overthinking it.
My tip: You can always switch platforms later as your business grows. The important thing is to start somewhere and start selling!
Courses and Workshops to Help You Get Started
Faith Lee: Your SendOwl Expert
Faith from Faith’s Biz Academy is my go-to expert for all things digital products.
Sell With SendOwl in 30 Minutes
This quick, actionable course is perfect if you want to start selling digital products without the tech headaches. For just $9, you’ll learn:
- How to create a simple digital printable product
- Tips for creating eye-catching product banners
- Step-by-step process for listing products without a full shop
- Ways to sell on social media, through email, and on WordPress—no plugins needed!
Bonus: The course includes Canva templates to help you create your first products faster!
Sage Grayson: Fast Product Creation Strategies
Speedy Ways to Fill Your Shop
In this free workshop, Sage shows you how to:
- Speed up your content creation instead of perfectionism paralysis
- Choose product topics that actually help your customers
- Create a pricing model that honors your effort and product value
- Repurpose existing content into new products
Elizabeth Goddard: Overcome Your Launch Hesitation
How to Create and Sell Something Before You’re Ready
For just $9, this training helps you stop overthinking and start selling. You’ll learn:
- How to craft offers that match your personality and strengths
- The magic of pre-selling to maintain momentum
- Whether to use beta pricing or start at full price
- Ways to underpromise and overdeliver
- Secret weapons for quick action with minimal drama
Remember: The perfect time to start selling digital products is now. You don’t need a complicated setup or a huge audience—you just need a product that helps people and a simple way to deliver it.
Ready to get started?
Check out these resources, pick one, and take action today. Your future self will thank you for not spending six months overthinking it like I did! 😊
If you’re looking to learn more about selling products on SendOwl, and you’d also benefit from Canva templates to help you kickstart your digital product creation journey, I highly recommend Faith’s short course.
