How Much Can You Earn Selling Digital Products Online?

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Economics of Digital Products
3. Realistic Income Expectations
4. Choosing the Right Digital Product for Your Brand
5. Why Your Tech Stack Dictates Your Take-Home Pay
6. Strategies to Increase Your Digital Revenue
7. Case Study: From Physical Goods to Digital Dominance
8. Managing the Technical Side of Scaling
9. Maximizing Profitability with the Tevello Unlimited Plan
10. Common Myths About Selling Digital Products
11. The Future of the Shopify Digital Ecosystem
12. Conclusion
13. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that the global e-learning market is projected to soar past $460 billion by 2026? While many entrepreneurs are still struggling with the rising costs of physical inventory, shipping delays, and supply chain disruptions, a new wave of merchants is discovering a more streamlined path to profitability. If you have ever looked at your Shopify dashboard and wondered how to increase your margins without adding more boxes to your warehouse, you are asking the right question.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a realistic, data-driven exploration of the income potential within the digital product space. We will move beyond the "get rich quick" myths and focus on the mechanics of building a sustainable, high-margin business. We will cover everything from product types and pricing strategies to the technical infrastructure required to keep your brand front and center.

At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We believe that the key to modern e-commerce success lies in owning your customer data and brand experience. By the end of this article, you will understand how to leverage your existing expertise to create recurring revenue streams, increase customer lifetime value, and build a business that scales without the traditional headaches of physical retail.

The Economics of Digital Products

To understand how much you can earn selling digital products, we must first look at the fundamental economics that differentiate them from physical goods. When you sell a physical item—say, a pair of handcrafted leather boots—every single sale incurs a Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). You have the cost of materials, the labor for assembly, storage fees, and the ever-fluctuating cost of shipping.

Digital products operate on a "create once, sell infinitely" model. Once the initial investment of time or capital is made to produce a course, a template, or a membership program, the cost of delivering that product to the 1,000th customer is virtually the same as delivering it to the first. This leads to profit margins that are often 90% or higher.

High Margins and Scalability

In the physical world, doubling your sales usually means doubling your inventory and potentially doubling your staff. In the digital world, doubling your sales primarily requires a robust technical platform that can handle the traffic. This is where the advantage of a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members becomes apparent. By removing the ceiling on your growth, your profitability increases exponentially as you scale.

Diversifying Revenue Streams

For established Shopify merchants, digital products offer a way to diversify. If you sell coffee beans, your revenue is limited by how much coffee your customers can drink. However, by adding a "Barista Masterclass" video series, you are selling knowledge. This doesn't replace your physical sales; it augments them. It creates a "hybrid" ecosystem where digital and physical products live side-by-side, catering to different customer needs and increasing the overall revenue generated per visitor.

Realistic Income Expectations

While the internet is full of stories of creators making six figures in a weekend, it is important to set realistic expectations. Success in the digital space is rarely overnight; it is the result of consistent effort and strategic positioning.

The Foundation Phase ($0 - $1,000 per month)

In the beginning, your earnings will likely be modest. This phase is about "proof of concept." You are learning which topics resonate with your audience and refining your delivery. During this time, many merchants focus on low-ticket items like PDF guides or simple templates to build trust.

The Growth Phase ($1,000 - $10,000 per month)

As you build an email list and establish authority, your earnings will begin to stabilize. This is often where merchants introduce higher-ticket items, such as comprehensive online courses or tiered memberships. By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, you can ensure that the checkout process is as smooth as buying a physical product, which is critical for conversion at this level.

The Scale Phase ($10,000+ per month)

At this stage, you are no longer just selling a product; you are running a platform. You likely have multiple digital offerings, a thriving community, and a system for upselling existing customers. Successful brands at this level often see significant revenue from repeat buyers. For instance, some merchants have found great success driving 50% of sales from repeat course purchasers, proving that a high-quality digital experience builds long-term loyalty.

Choosing the Right Digital Product for Your Brand

Your earning potential is heavily dictated by the format of your digital product. Different products solve different problems and command different price points.

Online Courses and Masterclasses

Courses are the "heavy hitters" of the digital world. They provide deep, transformational value. Whether you are teaching someone how to knit, how to code, or how to manage their finances, a well-structured course can be priced anywhere from $47 to $997 and beyond. The key to high earnings here is the "transformation"—you aren't just selling information; you are selling a result.

Membership Sites and Communities

If stability is your goal, memberships are the answer. By charging a recurring monthly or annual fee, you create a predictable floor for your monthly revenue. Communities thrive on engagement, and by offering exclusive content, forums, and direct access to your expertise, you increase the "stickiness" of your brand. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Digital Downloads and Templates

These are excellent "gateway" products. They are typically lower-priced ($5 - $49) and help a customer solve a specific, immediate problem. Think of a Lightroom preset for a photographer or a meal plan for a fitness coach. While the individual price is low, the volume can be incredibly high, especially when these items are offered as "add-ons" at the Shopify checkout.

Why Your Tech Stack Dictates Your Take-Home Pay

Many merchants make the mistake of choosing a platform based on its "free" entry tier, only to realize later that the hidden fees are eating their profits. When calculating how much you can earn, you must look at transaction fees and "success fees."

The 0% Transaction Fee Advantage

Some popular course platforms take a 5% to 10% cut of every sale you make. If you are doing $10,000 a month in revenue, that’s $1,000 out of your pocket every single month—simply for the "privilege" of using their software. We believe that you should keep 100% of what you earn. That’s why we offer predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees. This transparency allows you to reinvest those savings back into your marketing or product development.

Native Integration vs. Third-Party Redirects

Every time you send a customer away from your URL to a third-party site (like "yourbrand.teachable.com"), you lose a bit of their trust and a lot of your data. A native Shopify experience keeps the customer on your domain, using the Shopify checkout they already know and trust. This seamless experience is vital for maintaining a professional brand image and maximizing conversion rates.

Strategies to Increase Your Digital Revenue

Once your product is live, the focus shifts to optimization. How do you move from "making some sales" to "running a powerhouse"?

Bundling Digital and Physical Goods

One of the most effective ways to increase your Average Order Value (AOV) is by bundling. Imagine a merchant selling high-end yarn who includes a "Pattern and Technique Guide" with every purchase. Or consider how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with their physical craft kits. This strategy adds perceived value without significantly increasing your costs.

Upselling to Existing Customers

Your current customers are your most valuable asset. They already trust you. By offering them a "next step" digital product, you can significantly increase their lifetime value. For example, a photography gear store could upsell a "Portrait Lighting Masterclass" to anyone who buys a new studio light. This approach has led to merchants generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers.

Building a Community-Centric Brand

People buy from people. By integrating all the key features for courses and communities, you transform a one-off purchase into a long-term relationship. A community gives your customers a reason to log in every day, even when they aren't buying something new. This engagement keeps your brand top-of-mind and provides a wealth of feedback for your next product launch.

Case Study: From Physical Goods to Digital Dominance

Let's look at a practical scenario. Imagine a merchant named Sarah who runs a successful Shopify store selling organic gardening seeds and tools. Sarah’s margins on seeds are thin, and shipping costs are rising.

Sarah decides to create a digital course titled "The Urban Harvest: Growing a Year's Worth of Food in Small Spaces." She records a series of 15 high-quality videos and creates a downloadable planting calendar.

1. Phase 1: She offers the calendar as a $7 "order bump" on her checkout page. 30% of her customers add it to their cart.
2. Phase 2: She launches the full course for $147. She emails her existing list of 5,000 physical product buyers. 100 people buy in the first week, generating $14,700 in pure profit.
3. Phase 3: She creates a $19/month membership community where she hosts monthly Q&A sessions. 200 of her course students join, creating $3,800 in recurring monthly revenue.

By using digital products that live directly alongside physical stock, Sarah has not only diversified her income but has also created a more resilient business. She is no longer just a "seed seller"; she is a gardening authority.

Managing the Technical Side of Scaling

As your digital empire grows, the technical demands change. Managing 10 students is easy; managing 10,000 requires a different level of infrastructure.

Video Hosting and Bandwidth

A common bottleneck for digital creators is video hosting. If you host videos yourself, you risk slow load times and high costs. If you use a platform that charges based on bandwidth, your bill could skyrocket as you become more successful. We include unlimited video hosting and bandwidth in our Unlimited Plan to ensure that your costs remain fixed even as your audience grows.

Automation and Drip Content

To earn "while you sleep," you need automation. Drip content allows you to schedule when students receive their lessons, ensuring they aren't overwhelmed and keeping them engaged over a longer period. This feature is essential for maintaining high completion rates and reducing refund requests.

Customer Support and Access Control

Nothing kills a digital business faster than "I can't log in" emails. By utilizing a native solution, you eliminate the need for secondary logins. Your customers use their existing Shopify account to access their digital purchases. This unified experience drastically reduces support tickets and friction. We have seen this first-hand, with merchants strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively while keeping their support load manageable.

Maximizing Profitability with the Tevello Unlimited Plan

We believe in simplicity and fairness. Most apps in the Shopify ecosystem use tiered pricing that punishes you for being successful. They increase your monthly fee as you add more students or more courses.

We take a different approach with The Unlimited Plan at $29.99 per month. This plan is designed to be the only tool you need to grow from your first dollar to your first million.

What’s Included?

• Unlimited Everything: Whether you have one course or one hundred, ten students or ten thousand, your price stays the same.
• Zero Transaction Fees: You keep 100% of your earnings. We don't believe in "success fees."
• Comprehensive Features: From drip scheduling and quizzes to community profiles and member directories, everything is included.
• Native Shopify Integration: Your digital products are managed right alongside your physical ones in the Shopify admin you already know.

By providing a robust set of tools at a fixed price, we empower you to focus on what matters: creating great content and marketing it to your audience. You can install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today and begin building your curriculum immediately.

Common Myths About Selling Digital Products

To truly understand your earning potential, we need to dispel some of the common myths that hold merchants back.

Myth 1: "I'm not an expert."

You don't need a PhD to sell a digital product. You only need to be two steps ahead of your audience. If you have a hobby, a skill, or a unique process that saves people time or money, you have something worth selling. Your "expertise" is often just your documented experience.

Myth 2: "The market is too saturated."

While there are many courses out there, there is only one you. Your unique voice, your specific perspective, and your brand's existing trust are things that cannot be duplicated. Saturation is often a sign of high demand; the goal is to find your specific niche within that demand.

Myth 3: "It takes too much technical knowledge."

This was true ten years ago, but not today. Modern tools are designed for creators, not developers. If you can navigate a Shopify store, you can build an online course. The process of verifying compatibility details in the official app listing will show you just how accessible these tools have become.

The Future of the Shopify Digital Ecosystem

The line between "physical retailer" and "digital creator" is blurring. We are moving toward a world of "Omni-channel Education," where customers expect a holistic brand experience. They don't just want the product; they want the community and the knowledge that comes with it.

By adopting a digital-first mindset today, you are future-proofing your business. You are moving away from being a commodity seller and toward being a brand leader. This shift is the most reliable way to increase your earnings and build a company that has value beyond its physical inventory.

Conclusion

The question of "how much can you earn selling digital products" doesn't have a single answer, but it does have a clear path. By focusing on high-margin products like courses and memberships, leveraging your existing Shopify audience, and choosing a platform that doesn't penalize your growth with transaction fees, you can build a highly profitable and scalable revenue stream.

At Tevello, we are committed to providing the infrastructure you need to succeed. Whether you are adding a single digital download or building a massive online academy, our goal is to help you stay in control of your brand and your profits.

Start today by taking advantage of our 14-day free trial. You can build your entire curriculum, set up your community, and see the power of native integration before you ever pay a cent. Remember, with Tevello, you get a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses and, most importantly, 0% transaction fees. Your success is your own.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

1. Can I sell digital products and physical products at the same time?

Absolutely. In fact, this is one of the most effective ways to grow a Shopify store. By selling both, you can bundle them together, create high-value upsells, and cater to different segments of your audience. A native integration ensures that your customers can buy a physical book and a digital course in the same transaction using a single checkout.

2. How much does it cost to start selling courses on Shopify?

Beyond your standard Shopify subscription, the cost is very low. With Tevello, you can start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now. Our Unlimited Plan is just $29.99 per month, which includes video hosting and community features. Because there are no transaction fees, your only other major costs will be your time and any marketing expenses you choose to incur.

3. Do I need to host my videos on another platform like YouTube or Vimeo?

No. One of the biggest advantages of the Tevello Unlimited Plan is that it includes unlimited video hosting and bandwidth. This means you don't need to pay for a separate pro-level hosting service or worry about your videos being taken down by third-party platforms. Your content stays secure and loads quickly for your students directly within your store.

4. What happens to my data if I decide to change platforms?

One of our core values is that you should own your customer data. Because Tevello is a native Shopify app, your customer information lives within your Shopify database. You aren't "locked in" to a proprietary third-party system. This ownership is crucial for long-term business value and allows you to market to your audience through your preferred email marketing tools without jumping through hoops.