How to Sell Digital Products on Amazon

Amazon opens a lot of opportunities for people to earn. You don’t need to own a private-label business to make serious money on the Everything Store. Sometimes, all you need is a stable connection, a laptop, and a couple of good ideas.

In this guide, we’ll take you through the various ways you can earn on Amazon by selling digital products.

What Digital Products Are Allowed to Be Sold on Amazon?

Amazon allows you to sell various types of digital products including T-shirt designs, apps, e-books, and music. You just have to comply with Amazon’s Terms of Service.

Here are the various digital products you can sell on Amazon and the process of selling them:

#1E-Books

• Product: e-Books
• Program: Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
• How you earn: Royalties
• How much you can earn: 35% or 70% of the listed price, depending on whether your book is eligible for the higher royalty rate
• What you need:
  • A KDP account
  • A completed book
  • Book cover design

Kindle isn’t the first e-reader that was released, but it’s arguably the most popular one today. This isn’t surprising at all, considering that Amazon started as an online bookstore.

In 2007, the company launched Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Through this program, any aspiring author can market and sell his book without having to beg big publishing houses for a chance to be considered.

We have a dedicated article on how to publish your e-book through KDP, but here’s a summary:

1. Write your book.
2. Prepare your cover and other graphics.
3. Create a KDP account.
4. Upload your book to KDP.
5. Promote your book on and off Amazon.

#2Audiobooks

• Product: Audiobooks
• Program: ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange)
• How you earn: Royalties
• How much you can earn: 25% to 40%, depending on whether you distribute exclusively on Amazon’s programs or not.
• What you need:
  • An ACX account
  • A completed book
  • Your own recording (optional)

Some people like to read books, while others prefer to listen to them. Statista reports that in 2023, the number of respondents who said they have listened to an audiobook reached 53 percent. This is higher than previous years where the number didn’t cross 50 percent.

If you’re into creating and marketing, then it’s worth looking into Amazon, which coincidentally houses the biggest audiobook platform in the world today—Audible. The program you will be using is called Audiobook Creation Exchange.

Here’s a summary of how it works:

• Prepare the book you want to turn into an audiobook.
• Make your ACX account.
• Choose an available narrator who will read your book for you (Optional: You can record the audio yourself, but this is better left to the professionals.)
• Publish and market your audiobook.

Find more statistics at  Statista

#3Prints and Digital Art

• Product: Prints and Digital Art
• Program: Amazon Merch (a.k.a. Merch on Demand)
• How you earn: Royalties
• How much you can earn: Less than $2 per unit sold to more than $9, depending on your offer price, tax, and Amazon costs
• What you need:
  • Approval from Amazon to get into Amazon Merch
  • An original digital design

This part needs to be explained a bit because what you’re actually selling when you sell on Amazon Merch are physical items, e.g., shirts, hoodies, caps, etc. However, you won’t be responsible for the production of these physical products. 

You only have to prepare the digital design which you will upload, and Amazon takes care of the rest. So we’re still counting this as a digital product although the final item is a physical one.

If you have a knack for design, we have a full article on how to sell on Amazon Merch, but here’s a quick summary of how it works:

1. Sign up for Amazon Merch.
2. Create your design.
3. Upload it on Amazon Merch.
4. Set the cost and hit publish.
5. When someone places an order, Amazon will handle the printing, shipping, and fulfillment.

#4Music

• Product: Music
• Program: TuneCore
• How you earn: Sales
• How much you can earn: 100% of your revenue
• What you need:
  • An account on TuneCore
  • At least $19.99 for the Unlimited Plan
  • Cover art

Are you a budding artist that just wants to share his music to the world? The good news is you don’t have to go to a recording company and pray for their good graces because you can upload and sell your music on your own through Amazon.

Here’s how simple the process looks like:

TuneCore allows independent musicians to distribute their music to major digital stores like Amazon, Apple, Music, and Google Play, reaching over 150 stores worldwide. Plus, you get 100% of your sales! 

Seem too good to be true?

Well, the catch is you have to pay a fee to get your music uploaded. Fortunately, the amount won’t burn your pockets. It starts at $19.99 per year.

#5Apps and Games

• Product: Apps and Games
• Program: Amazon Developer
• How you earn: Royalties
• How much you can earn: 20% to 30% of the revenue
• What you need:
  • Knowledge in app and game development
  • An Amazon Developer account

This is definitely not for everyone because developing apps and games require technical knowledge. But for those of you who already have the skills or are willing to learn, this way of earning money on Amazon will get you 20 to 30 percent of the revenue.

To start selling, follow these steps:

1. Create a free account in Amazon Developer. 
2. Develop your app or game.
3. Get approved to gain access to Amazon’s API to begin publishing your apps.

#6Videos

• Product: Videos
• Program: Prime Video Direct
• How you earn: License Fees
• How much you can earn: 50% of the net revenue
• What you need:
  • A Prime Video Direct account (you can also connect your existing Amazon account here)
  • A decent movie or series

This type of digital product isn’t easy to make. You actually need to have a few other people helping you out in one way or another. Amazon won’t go for something that resembles your high school video projects, so you may need to invest a little more on this one.

Short films, movies, and shows are just a few examples of videos that you can sell on Amazon. But it has to be approved by the company before it can be posted and marketed publicly.

Conclusion

You can say what you want about Amazon, but it does provide a lot of opportunities for earning as well as a more level playing field for people who don’t have that many connections or influence when starting out.

Some of these programs, like KDP and TuneCore, allow talented people to showcase their works to a broader audience without having to go through a lot of hoops just to get their foot in the door.

Which of these products would you want to sell? Tell us in the comments section below.