This article has been contributed by Sandra Brooke.
There’s nothing like earning money doing something that you love. You may even be lucky enough to turn your creativity into an additional source of money.
Web designers and developers have the opportunity to share their talent and make a profit using online marketplaces.
Here are five popular marketplace platforms for selling design products, like templates, logos and fonts. Get ready to find out which one will become your perfect match.
Top 5 Online Marketplaces to Sell Graphic & Web Design Products
TemplateMonster
TemplateMonster Digital Marketplace has been around since 2002. Many people visit this site to buy a wide range of high-quality themes and templates. However, not everyone knows that it’s also a place where authors can submit other digital items.
What Products Can You Submit?
First of all, you are free to sell website templates. The marketplace accepts products for the following platforms:
- WordPress
- Joomla
- WooCommerce
- Drupal
- Shopify
- OpenCart
- Magento
- PrestaShop
In addition, you can share your HTML, Bootstrap, and admin templates.
Another category includes plugins:
- WordPress plugins
- PrestaShop modules
- Magento extensions
- JavaScript elements
A graphic designer can also become an author and sell the following items:
- logos
- fonts
- CV templates
- certificate designs
- illustrations
- patterns
- vectors
- backgrounds
- planners
- corporate identity
The marketplace also accepts presentation templates for:
- PowerPoint
- Keynote
- Google Slides
You may also submit stock video and audio files. Keep in mind that the marketplace is endlessly growing. In additions to these items, you can always send a request and ask to add some brand-new items.
To sell your templates on TemplateMonster, you need to create and verify your account. Then, scroll down and choose the “Become an Author” tab and set the name you want to appear on your page as an author. Start uploading archives with your products and fill in the necessary details, then wait for their team to review your products. If your digital items meet all the requirements, they will appear in the marketplace.
TemplateMonster Peculiarities and Benefits
- TemplateMonster has a network of two million members, so you can be sure that will be able to sell templates to highly relevant clients.
- The platform has a simple product approval system to save you time. Their team will check your work as quickly as possible. If there are any mistakes, you will get recommendations for necessary improvements.
- The marketplace offers high commission rates. Authors who sell exclusive products can earn a 65% cut. When it comes to graphics, it doesn’t matter whether you sell exclusive or non-exclusive products – either way, you will get a 65% commission.
- Shopify and OpenCart theme authors can take advantage of the author-driven policy. It means that they can set any price they want, starting from $29.
- They have a Facebook community and online guides about author-related processes, as well as a personal manager to answer any questions you may have.
- There are additional ways to increase your earnings, like adding your product assortment to certain customer subscriptions.
Affiliate Program Availability
TemplateMonster gives a chance to make more money as a TemplateMonster affiliate. If you want to self-promote your digital items, your earnings will be bigger. Commission rates are 30% or 65% as an author.
What Do Authors Say About TemplateMonster?
“We submitted a WooCommerce Theme and it took only 12 hours to get our first sale. It was impossible to believe it was such a quick submission process. It was an incredible experience.”
Aslam Hasib, Managing Director, ThemesHub
“I submitted my first item in December 2017. It was a PowerPoint template. I got my first sale in two days. What can I say? Perfect!”
Rezaul Karim, Graphic Designer, ContestDesign
“I started my journey with vector graphics. You cannot imagine how ugly it was. However, my skills have grown, and I sell over 5000 vector graphic items these days.”
Agata, Graphic Designer, AgataCreate
Disadvantages of TemplateMonster
- Like many other marketplaces, TemplateMonster doesn’t allow you to design your own product pages.
Etsy
Etsy is a highly popular marketplace, with almost 40 million buyers worldwide. Here, you are also free to list your assortment alongside other sellers. It’s a very popular platform that you can rely on in terms to present and promote your products. All you need to do to sell templates and other items is to set up an account. Then, upload your product info and images to start. Thanks to a basic eCommerce system, it’s effortless.
What Products Can You Submit?
Many independent sellers choose Etsy as their chosen platform due to the breadth of products they can list. In general, Etsy is better for those who have an interest in selling:
- handmade goods
- vintage and custom items
- unique gifts
- jewelry and accessories
- clothing and shoes
- home supplies
- wedding and party products
- toys
Designers can also sell templates for various purposes. These include, but are not limited to:
- planners
- resume templates
- Instagram templates
- CMS templates
Etsy Peculiarities and Benefits
- Etsy is a famous inventory where people are looking for different handmade goods. It has so many users that you may not even need to promote your products but instead, just rely on the massive number of users.
- There is a Standard Plan with no monthly charges. You will, however, need to pay transaction and listing fees.
- There’s a mobile app that makes managing your Etsy shop super easy.
- Etsy offers multiple advertising and marketing tools, such as coupons for your audience.
- Etsy’s help center is easy to use and gets straight to the issue or question you need.
Affiliate Program Availability
Anyone can apply for the Etsy affiliate program, except for voucher and cashback sites. If successful, each qualifying sale will earn you a commission.
What Do Authors Say About Etsy?
“Diversification keeps you from putting all your eggs in one basket. It guarantees that when times are slow in one area of your business, the other is still keeping the cash flowing.”
LePapierStudio, Source
“It’s really hard to find full-time employment in rural areas…. Most of the women who work for us have only been able to find part-time seasonal employment, you know, factories, fish processing, or hotels, I mean these girls are incredible. They can blow out 300 orders in a day, in the morning, without a problem.”
Bohemian Findings, Source
Disadvantages of Etsy
- As mentioned, you will need to pay transaction and listing fees. The listing fee is $0.20 and the transaction fee is $5. In addition, there’s a basic 3% + $0.25 payment as a processing fee. So, as your income starts to grow, these numbers might affect your earnings.
- Here, you will also not get the opportunity to design your product page. The layout is the same for all items.
Envato
You have proably already heard about Envato. This giant marketplace sells an impressive number of creative digital assets. It has many subdivisions where one can purchase plugins, video effects, stock footage, audio tracks, fonts, and other items. However, we are going to focus on ThemeForest where you can sell templates and themes.
What Products Can You Submit?
ThemeForest accepts different WordPress themes and HTML templates.
You can sell CMS templates for:
- Drupal
- Joomla
- Concrete5
- MODX
- Moodle
- Mura
- Webflow
- Weebly
There are also many eCommerce platforms for which you can create templates:
- WooCommerce
- BigCommerce
- Drupal
- Magento
- Shopify
- UberCart
- VirtueMart
Do not forget that you have the freedom to share UI templates, including:
- Figma
- Adobe XD
- Photoshop
- Sketch
Envato Peculiarities and Benefits
- Envato has impressive amounts of traffic. It gets millions of visitors per month, which means many people will view your assortment.
- The marketplace gives you a choice in terms of prices, so you can start with lower prices to attract attention in the beginning.
- When it comes to exclusive products, you are going to get higher revenue. If you decide to sell your items only on Envato, the cut will be 50%.
- It is possible to become an elite or power author, which gives you a chance to earn more benefits. These include special badges, interviews on the blog and inclusion on the wall of fame.
- It also offers a wonderful community. You can communicate with people who have the same interests, learn from their experiences, and improve your work.
- You can boost earnings by providing support for your digital items.
Affiliate Program Availability
Besides your opportunity to sell templates, Envato provides an affiliate program. It promises a 30% commission on any first purchase you refer.
What Do Authors Say About Envato?
“In 2009, we used to see a lot of ads displaying on several web design blogs promoting that authors of ThemeForest were earning $25k per month. I created a new account called VIP-Themes and uploaded an HTML template. I made a few dollars with it at that time. Later, I got busy with my regular work, so never had time to upload any new items. Later in the year, we faced a decline in our earnings. Then, we decided to work full-time for ThemeForest. I owe my success to Envato Market and hope it keeps helping people like us to achieve their dreams.”
Imithemes, Source
“We started working on website development in 2014, and now we have officially reached the goal of becoming an Envato Power Elite author. All our efforts in the past 4 years have come to fruition.”
Opal_WP, Source
Disadvantages of Envato
- First of all, selling non-exclusive products on Envato doesn’t get you much commission – as low as 12.5%. In addition, you might face other issues with pricing. Some authors offer extremely low pricing, which can effectively undercut you and limit your sales.
- You can get multiple rejections from the Envato team before your products are listed. Just be sure to learn all their standards before submitting your work.
- Once again, it’s not possible to change the design of your product page.
Creative Market
Now, it is time to find out more about Creative Market. Its community consists of different designers, illustrators, developers, and photographers. This place is popular among fellow people and other creatives.
What Products Can You Submit?
Creative Market focuses on various digital assets. You can sell templates, themes, graphics, and other items. Let us go through the most popular product types quickly.
Graphics:
- Icons
- Objects
- Illustrations
- Patterns
- Fonts
- Textures
Templates:
- Presentations
- Mockups
- Social media
- Cards
- Business cards
Web Themes:
- WordPress
- OpenCart
- Drupal
- Joomla
- Bootstrap
- HTML/CSS
Add-Ons:
- Illustrator
- Photoshop
- ProCreate
- Lightroom
Creative Market Peculiarities and Benefits
- The marketplace promises that you keep up to 60% from each sale.
- It’s not necessary to wait for a review each time you upload a new product.
- You are free to sell non-exclusive products. In other words, there are multiple places where you can share your assortment. In our opinion, it’s excellent not to have obstacles in the form of product exclusivity.
- You can set your prices for the products you want to share.
- Creative Market has a network of seven million members, meaning you have a large audience to view your items.
- You can manage your shop, thanks to different tools. For example, you can track statistics and get in touch with your buyers. There is also a simple support system.
Affiliate Program Availability
An affiliate program is available on Creative Market. After referring customers to the marketplace, you can earn a 15% commission on any single first-time purchase.
What Do Authors Say About Creative Market?
“By September 2015, I had designed 12 typefaces on Creative Market. Profit charts were up and… I had officially crossed over from making a passive income to making a living selling on Creative Market.”
Hustle Supply Co., Source
“I have consistently earned over a hundred bucks from my Creative Market shop over five months. It may not be much to some, but if you consider all that you can do with an extra hundred or a couple of hundred bucks, it’s not that insignificant. For example, this can cover my entire month’s morning latte from Starbucks!”
Studio Sugoi, Source
Disadvantages of Creative Market
- We have said that you can earn a 60% commission on CreativeMarket. However, it is better to get familiar with tax withholdings because they can cut into your revenue.
- The same design applies to all product pages.
Freepik
Freepik is the last digital marketplace that we are going to mention today. There are currently 4.5 million graphic resources available on Freepik. It’s easy to become a contributor and monetize your talent. All you need to do is to register for an account, then you can start sharing your artwork and earn money for it.
What Products Can You Submit?
This marketplace will be especially useful for those who want to sell the following items:
- vectors
- photos
- PSD files
- icons
Freepik Peculiarities and Benefits
- Freepik has 18 million monthly unique users and 50 monthly views, which is a pretty impressive number of visitors who might be interested in your work.
- It provides a user-friendly admin panel. You can upload your products, follow the review process, and track your earnings effortlessly. In other words, all the necessary processes are available in one place.
- Another advantage of Freepik for contributors is the opportunity to take part in different events. These include special programs and worldwide meetings, which give you a chance to boost your profile on the marketplace.
- It provides the formula to calculate the sum of money you will earn after subscription fees.
Affiliate Program Availability
Freepik offers a referral program. If you recommend a friend and he or she becomes a contributor using your referral link, you will earn $50. If they then refer their friends, your earnings will be higher.
What Do Authors Say About Freepik?
“Our earnings in Freepik have enabled us to invest in generating more resources, including upgrading equipment, hiring models, and working with many more individuals as their company expands.”
Kate Mangostart
“The fact that Freepik allows me to earn regularly and allows me to create virtually anything I want is what led me to join.”
Natalka Dimitrova, Source
Disadvantages of Freepik
- It seems to us that one single disadvantage of Freepik is also about the stable product page design. However, all other benefits might make you forget about this.
A Few Words in Conclusion
Now it’s time for you to check out each of these marketplaces choose the best one for your needs. We hope that you will manage to find a perfect place to sell templates and other digital items.
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About the author: Sandra Brooke is a TemplateMonster writer and fantasy lover. She adores everything connected with the newest technologies, French music, and Harry Potter.
The post Top 5 Online Marketplaces to Sell Graphic & Web Design Products first appeared on JUST™ Creative.
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