I received this in my email a few days ago,

Q: Do you Know someone who can explain to a 70 year old how an ebook is put on a website for sale and downloaded, It mistyfies me – Edward

A: Hey there Edward. I believe that’s something I can help you with and will try to be gentle.

There are many ways to sell an ebook. Some are hopelessly easy and some more technical. The overall process is generally the same.

First, you create your ebook. Before you can offer it for sale, you need to put this file on a website by uploading it. Ok so we got that down, how do we collect payment and set it up so a customer gets to the download page right after payment?

This is where you’ll use a software or third party service to do all the grunt work. I highly recommend using a service if tech stuff is just not your cup of tea. These services really make it easy and they will even do the first part for you – store your book online – also referred to as file hosting. Consider them as a ‘digital fulfillment center’.

Ok let’s re-cap. Product – check, fulfillment – check, but how do you get the money? For that you’ll need either a merchant account, a PayPal account or both. The digital fulfillment center will be able to communicate with your merchant account or PayPal to verify payment details etc prior to sending a customer to the download.

So what are your next steps. I’d say get the PayPal and or merchant account and signup with a digital fulfillment system. Here are some options:

1. Clickbank – Very easy to use, you only need to pay $49 to setup. And they’ll take care of everything for you. Everything is web based and uploading is just a matter of browsing, selecting the file and upload. You don’t even need a merchant account or PayPal.

The down side is, the data they give you is minimal at best and fees can pile up.

2. Tradebit – I posted about them before. Since then, they’ve graciously allowed me a review account. I’ve checked it out and find it easy enough for someone new to all this. Fees are also very reasonable. You would however, need a PayPal account.

3. 1ShoppingCart – I’ve always called it the Rolls Royce of all systems to date. It’s very powerful and you can upload your ebook for them to deliver to customer after purchase, all web based. It is easy to understand but because of it’s many features you may need to spend a bit of time learning your way around it to get the maximum benefit.

You will need PayPal or a merchant account to use this.

Setting up a digital product for sale is a big topic. I encourage you to check out Information Product Sweetie. It will help you understand how to produce, market and sell your ebook. It covers much more than just the technical aspects although included is a whole bunch of step-by-step checklists how to set everything up and that can be very handy.

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