Sell Digital Downloads on WordPress: 7 Steps (UK, 2026)

Quick answer

WooCommerce can sell digital downloads without extra plugins: mark the product as virtual and downloadable, upload the file, set a download limit and expiry, and choose a secure delivery method rather than “Redirect only”. Add a checkout tick box for the consumer cancellation rules, and check the VAT rules before selling to customers in the EU.

Digital products suit a lot of small UK businesses: a joiner selling garden-room plans, a bookkeeper selling spreadsheet templates, a personal trainer selling a 12-week programme, a photographer selling presets. There is no stock and no postage, and the product can sell while you are on a job. This guide covers the setup on WordPress, how to keep files secure, how customers get access after paying, and the two legal points UK sellers most often miss.

What sells well as a digital download

The best digital products package knowledge you already use every day. Good examples for small businesses include:

• PDF guides, checklists and how-to manuals.
• Templates: quotes, invoices, risk assessments, spreadsheets, social media graphics.
• Plans and drawings, such as shed bases, planters or garden furniture.
• Photo presets, stock photos, illustrations or printable art.
• Audio or video files, such as a training session or a guided routine.

Anything that needs ongoing access, such as a course released week by week or a members’ library, is better treated as a membership site than a one-off download. That is a bigger build with logins and permissions.

Your options for selling downloads

If you already run WordPress, adding downloads through WooCommerce is usually the simplest and cheapest long-term route. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison covers the platform choice in more depth.

Setting up a downloadable product in WooCommerce

1. Create a product and give it a clear title, description and image, exactly as you would a physical product.
2. Tick “Virtual” so no shipping is charged, and tick “Downloadable” to reveal the file settings.
3. Add the file. Upload it or link to it, and give it a sensible name the customer will recognise.
4. Set a download limit, such as five downloads, so a single purchase cannot be shared endlessly.
5. Set a download expiry, such as 30 days, after which the link stops working.
6. Write a “what you get” section listing the file type, size, number of pages and any licence terms.
7. Place a test order using a payment gateway’s test mode, and download the file as a customer would.

Choosing the file download method

This is the setting most people never look at, and it decides whether your files can be shared freely. WooCommerce’s documentation on digital and downloadable product handling describes three methods:

Use Force downloads or X-Accel-Redirect/X-Sendfile. Ask your host which one their servers support; the faster option matters if you sell video or large design files.

When customers get access

WooCommerce has a setting to grant access to downloadable products after payment. According to the same documentation, with it switched on, customers can download while the order is still Processing. Without it, they only get access when the order is marked Complete. Products that are both virtual and downloadable are completed automatically, but downloadable-only products need you to complete the order by hand.

In practice: mark digital products as both virtual and downloadable, switch on access after payment, and buy one yourself to confirm the download link appears on the thank-you page and in the order email.

Protecting your files

• Keep download limits and expiry dates sensible: generous enough for a customer who changes device, tight enough to discourage sharing.
• Never put the file in a public folder or paste its direct address into a page.
• State the licence plainly: personal use, single business use, or no resale.
• Add your business name and website inside PDFs and templates, so a shared copy still points back to you.
• Keep your own master copies offline as well as on the server, so a hosting problem never costs you the product.

Presenting a digital product so it sells

A download has one disadvantage against a physical product: the buyer cannot pick it up. The product page has to do that job instead. Show what is inside, not just the cover: a few sample pages, a screenshot of the spreadsheet in use, a short video flicking through the plans. List exactly what the buyer gets, in which file formats, and what software they need to open it. A template that only works in Excel will annoy someone who uses Google Sheets.

Explain who it is for and who it is not for, which reduces disappointed buyers. Add a short FAQ covering how the download arrives, how long the link lasts and what to do if it fails. Finally, make sure the product looks like it comes from the same business as everything else you do: consistent covers, fonts and colours across a range make a set of downloads look like a product line rather than a collection of files.

The 14-day cancellation rule for digital content

Consumers buying online in the UK normally have 14 days to cancel. Digital downloads are different, but only if you handle checkout properly. Under regulation 37 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you must not start supplying digital content that is not on a physical medium during the cancellation period unless the consumer has given express consent and acknowledged that they will lose the right to cancel. Once both happen and the download begins, the right to cancel ends.

The usual way to do this is a required tick box at checkout, with wording such as: “I agree that the download starts immediately and I understand I will lose my right to cancel once it does.” Keep the wording visible in the order confirmation too. This is not legal advice; take advice if your products or customers are unusual.

VAT on digital downloads

HMRC treats automatically delivered digital products as e-services. GOV.UK’s guidance on VAT for digital services to private consumers lists e-books and other digitised documents such as PDF files among the examples, and explains that a sale counts when the content downloads automatically, but not when there is a lot of manual work, such as a PDF emailed by hand.

The key point for small sellers is the EU. For business-to-consumer digital services, the guidance says the place of supply is where the consumer is located, and a UK business supplying EU consumers must either register for the Non-Union VAT MOSS scheme in an EU member state or register for VAT in each EU country it supplies. Many small UK sellers simply restrict digital sales to UK customers until volumes justify the paperwork. Prices change and so do rules, so check the current guidance before you launch.

Hosting, file size and speed

Large files put load on your server every time someone downloads. A few PDFs are no problem on ordinary hosting, but video courses or large design bundles may need a host that supports efficient file delivery, or files stored with a dedicated storage service. Our website hosting cost guide explains what different levels of hosting include, and our website management and hosting is £20 a month with UK hosting, daily backups and security monitoring.

Getting a shop built for digital products

If you want downloads sold properly from your own site, our e-commerce website is £499 one-off for up to 20 products on WooCommerce or Shopify, with Stripe and PayPal. Digital and physical products can sit in the same shop. If you already have traffic but no sales, read why an online store gets visits but no sales first. For budgets and running costs, see the e-commerce website cost guide, and all our prices on the pricing page.