Sell Digital Products on Shopify: PDFs, Templates, Courses

Digital products have a big advantage: no inventory, no shipping, no return parcels. That’s exactly why many underestimate the legal and tax side. Here you’ll learn how to sell digital products on Shopify, technically step by step and legally sound for Germany. The article is part of our overview Products and product range in Shopify.

Which digital products suit Shopify

Shopify is a store platform, not a course platform. It’s a very good fit for files that are bought once and downloaded. For courses with lessons, progress tracking and a members’ area, you need an extension.

You can sell digital and physical products in the same store, even in the same order. Digital items are delivered automatically after payment; physical ones go through your normal shipping. You don’t need a special theme for this; any current theme like Dawn works. For a dedicated section, simply create a “Downloads” collection.

Unique code per buyer: The app sends all buyers of a variant the same file. If you need something unique per order, such as a license key, serial number or eSIM QR code, use a license key app that assigns codes from a pool you upload in advance.

Courses, subscriptions and group sessions

Shopify doesn’t have a built-in course area with lessons and progress. For that, there are course apps in the Shopify App Store that unlock access after purchase. If you want to sell a video course or a membership as a monthly subscription, combine such an app with a subscription app like Shopify Subscriptions. A single longer video, on the other hand, can simply be delivered as a file or Vimeo link via Digital Products. Live courses with fixed dates and limited spots are more like tickets than downloads. How to sell those is explained in Selling services, appointments and tickets with Shopify.

How to sell digital products on Shopify: step-by-step setup

1. Install the app: Install the free Shopify Digital Products app from the App Store. It’s made by Shopify itself.
2. Create the product: Create the product as usual, with title, description, preview images and price. Show what’s inside: page views, table of contents, sample pages.
3. Turn off shipping: In the Shipping section, deactivate the option that this is a physical product. Otherwise checkout asks for a delivery address and shipping costs.
4. Turn off quantity tracking: Shopify recommends not tracking inventory for digital products. Otherwise the product will eventually show as “Sold out”.
5. Attach the file: Add the file or link via the app. Up to 50 files with a combined total of up to 5 GB are possible per variant. Directly via the product page in the admin, the limit is 500 MB per file (Shopify Help Center). Folders don’t work; pack multiple files into a ZIP. The app only accepts links from supported providers like Vimeo, not arbitrary URLs.
6. Set a download limit: The default is “Unlimited”. You can set a number of downloads per customer. The limit counts per link.
7. Enable download at checkout: With the app’s block on the thank-you page and the order status page, the customer can download immediately. They also receive an email with the link.
8. Test purchase: Buy your product once yourself, for example with a 100% discount code, and check the email, download and order confirmation. Do the test as a guest in an incognito window. If the store asks for a login when clicking the download, check your customer account settings.

Removing “Shipping calculated at checkout”: This note below the price comes from your theme’s default texts and applies to all products. If you only sell digital products, adjust the text by editing the theme content. In Germany, the notice “inkl. MwSt.” (incl. VAT) remains mandatory regardless.

Formats as variants: If you sell a poster as a print file in A4 and A3, or a template with a personal and a commercial license, create these as variants and attach the matching file to each variant. How variants work is explained in Creating variants in Shopify.

Right of withdrawal for downloads

This is the most important point for Germany, and it’s missing from almost all English-language guides. In principle, consumers have a 14-day right of withdrawal (Widerrufsrecht) for digital content too. On download, it only expires early if all of these conditions are met (§ 356 (6) BGB, German Civil Code, in the version in force since June 19, 2026, previously para. 5):

1. You have started performing the contract, i.e. provided the download.
2. The customer has expressly agreed that you begin performance before the withdrawal period expires.
3. The customer has confirmed that they know they lose their right of withdrawal as a result.
4. You have provided them with a confirmation of the contract on a durable medium (§ 312f BGB), usually by email. It should record the consent and the acknowledgment.

If one condition is missing, the customer can withdraw despite the download. The European Consumer Centre (German) explains this from the customer’s perspective; you’ll find the statutory text at dejure.org (German).

How to implement this in Shopify

The catch: you can only extend the checkout steps (contact, shipping, payment) with apps on Shopify Plus. On the thank-you and order status pages, it works from the Basic plan, but that’s too late, because consent must be given before the purchase. In practice, there are therefore three ways:

• Mandatory checkbox on the product page or in the cart: The buy button only becomes active once the customer ticks the checkbox with consent and acknowledgment. This works via a theme customization or an app. The consent should be saved as an order note or order attribute.
• Legal-text service providers: Providers like the IT-Recht Kanzlei (German) or the Händlerbund (German) supply suitable wording and in some cases technical solutions for Shopify.
• Shopify Plus: Here you can build the checkbox directly into the checkout.

Also add a sentence to the order confirmation email under Notifications stating that the customer has agreed and confirmed their knowledge that the right of withdrawal expires. And adapt your cancellation policy (Widerrufsbelehrung) to digital content. Which other legal texts you need is covered in Protecting your Shopify store from cease-and-desist letters.

Special case: online courses and coaching

A recorded on-demand video course is usually treated as digital content. Live coaching, webinars or support are more like services. For these, § 356 (5) BGB applies: the right of withdrawal only expires once the service has been fully provided, if the customer agreed beforehand and confirmed their knowledge. With mixed offers, the distinction isn’t always clear. For a larger course offering, have a lawyer check this once.

VAT: 7 or 19 percent?

For digital products, the VAT rate isn’t automatically the same as for paper books:

In Shopify, you set different rates via tax overrides or the product category. How that works is explained in Setting up taxes in Shopify.

Customers in other EU countries: Digital products count as electronically supplied services. Together with your distance sales, they count toward the EU-wide threshold of €10,000 per year. If you’re above it, the VAT of the country where the customer is located applies, and you report it via the OSS procedure at the BZSt (German). As a small business under the Kleinunternehmerregelung (prior year max. €25,000, current year max. €100,000 in revenue), you don’t charge VAT as long as you also stay below the €10,000 threshold. Above it, the law of the customer’s country applies, and § 19 UStG doesn’t apply there.

Licenses, PLR and other obligations

• Your own content: You can sell your own e-book without any special license. State in the product description what the customer may do with the file, for example “for personal use only”.
• PLR content (Private Label Rights): This is ready-made content that you may resell under your own name. Read the license carefully: some prohibit selling below a certain price or on certain platforms. Many PLR packages are in English and very generic. Without significant reworking, you’re one of hundreds with the same product.
• Trade registration: Even if you only sell digital products, you are generally running a trade (Gewerbe) in Germany. There are exceptions for certain freelance activities. More in Registering a trade for your online store.
• Invoices: Shopify sends order confirmations, but not full invoices under German tax law. For that, use an invoicing app or your accounting software. Which details belong on the invoice is covered in Invoices and accounting in your Shopify store.

Shopify or a specialized platform?

For one to three e-books, Shopify isn’t automatically the best choice. You pay at least the Basic plan, from approx. €36 per month when billed monthly (as of October 2026, current prices on the Shopify pricing page), plus payment fees. What Shopify costs overall is calculated in the article Shopify costs 2026.

Specialized platforms usually charge fees per sale, but in return they come with a course area, an affiliate system and sometimes other features. Compare the fees with your expected revenue.

FAQ

Can I sell my own e-book as a PDF on Shopify?

Yes. You create a product, deactivate the shipping option for physical products, turn off quantity tracking and attach the PDF via the free Digital Products app. After payment, the customer receives an email with a download link. Watch the VAT rate: in Germany, e-books are generally subject to 7% VAT, not 19%.

Can I sell digital products via Shopify in Germany?

Yes, without restriction. Shopify works for digital products in Germany just as it does for physical ones. You need a regular plan from Basic upwards, legal texts including a cancellation policy for digital content, and a solution for consent to the early expiry of the right of withdrawal. Without this consent, the customer can still withdraw for 14 days even after the download.

How do I prevent customers from sharing the download link?

You can’t prevent it completely. But you can set a download limit per link in the app, for example three downloads. In case of misuse, you deactivate the customer’s link. A note on permitted use in the file itself also helps, for PDFs for example with the name or order number on every page. For that, you need a specialized app.

Do I need shipping settings for digital products?

No, if you deactivate the physical product option on every digital product. Then checkout doesn’t ask for a delivery address and doesn’t charge shipping costs. If you sell digital and physical products together, shipping costs only apply to the physical items. How to set them up is explained in the article Setting up shipping in Shopify.

Does the digital products app cost anything?

Shopify’s Digital Products app is free and has no bandwidth limit for downloads. But you need an active, paid Shopify plan. In development or paused stores, downloads at checkout don’t work. For courses with a members’ area, license keys or watermarks, there are paid third-party apps.

What’s the difference between digital products and “digital dropshipping”?

With your own digital products, you create the content yourself or hold the rights to it. “Digital dropshipping” usually means reselling other people’s content via PLR licenses or template packs. Legally, the license is decisive: without a demonstrable right to resell, you infringe copyrights. Economically, it’s difficult because many sellers offer the same content.

Do I need a license to sell my own e-book?

No. If you created the content yourself, the rights are yours, and you don’t need a PLR or any other license. However, a short usage note for your customers in the product description and the file makes sense, for example “for personal use only, sharing and reselling not permitted”. You only need a license if you use other people’s content, images or fonts, and then you must comply with their terms.

As of: October 2026. This article is not legal or tax advice. The numbering in § 356 BGB changed on June 19, 2026. If you use older template wording, check whether it still fits.