How Can I Sell My Book Directly to Customers?: PayHip | Tips to Sell More Books To Readers
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ส.ค. 2024
- This week I’m sharing the next installment in a 4-video series on how authors can sell their books directly to customers through different platforms. I’m going to cover 4 different methods, there are dozens and dozens out there, but I am going to only focus on those that I have actually tried so I can share first hand knowledge of set up, pros, and cons.
I originally heard about PayHip through Joanna Penn, she has been a big advocate for this platform. And because they have a free option, I saw no downside in testing it out for myself.
How to set it up
The set-up was super simple. I created a login, entered that I would be selling a digital download product. (You can use my signup code to get started: payhip.com/?fp...)
Now you can do sales of physical items that would be shipped out and maintain inventory on this system. But I wanted to see success with the digital sales first. So I have all of my eBooks available for sale on this platform.
Uploading the books, their cover art, and the different eBook versions was easy. I was also able to group my books by collection and add promo codes.
Pros
Ease of use! Easy for me to figure out and I walked through as a customer as well and that was easy to understand as well.
PayHip takes a 5% transaction fee, that’s it! So I am netting way more on this platform than I would on any of the other retail sites or aggregators.
Really easy to create promo codes and incentives for additional sales. I don’t get that option with KDP when I publish wide to do discount codes and then collect information to promote the next book in the series to the reader. With PayHip, you can do that.
Cons
It’s another system to maintain and update. So with each platform I add, it’s another thing to manage and promote. But it is also something to say…
Many customers probably aren’t familiar with PayHip. Customers who already have their info saved in Amazon and trust Amazon will prefer to purchase on that system. PayHip is a site they don’t know so they have to overcome that hurdle.
*NOTE: PayHip does not provide 1099s for US authors for end of year taxes*
Are any of you using PayHip? If so, post in the comments what your experience has been. Do you like it? Yes/No? Thoughts? Let’s keep the conversation going.
If you have found this information helpful please let me know if the comments and be sure to give this video a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe and ring the bell. This helps TH-cam know that this video was helpful and can get it in front of more authors like us, it will also help make sure you are notified every time I have a new video go live.
Now you can get back to writing your book!
My PayHip Link: payhip.com/MKW...
Want to sign up for PayHip for your own books?: payhip.com/?fp...
*Based on the questions I've received on this video and others, I wrote a book to help you learn how to expand the distribution for your self-published book outside the Amazon Ecosystem. Check out Going Wide today: 1mkwilliams.co...
Music from: www.bensound.com/ E.R.F.
How You Can Support This Channel and My Work:
Like, Subscribe, and Comment on this video!
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter: mailchi.mp/52c...
Follow me on my other channels: FB | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
/ 1mkwilliams
/ 1mkwilliams
/ 1mkwilliams
/ 14420756.m_k_williams
Buy Me A Coffee: www.buymeacoff...
Check out my books and purchase them or request them at your library: 1mkwilliams.com or payhip.com/MKW...
Need help with your book?
You can actually do 1 on 1 coaching with me, learn more about the services available here: mailchi.mp/663...
GET ORGANIZED WHEN YOU SELF PUBLISH WITH MY BOOK BIRTH CERTIFICATE: mailchi.mp/80f....
Get my Top 5 Things To Consider if you are looking to narrate your audiobook here: mailchi.mp/e8e...
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you, but it can help me continue to create and put out more content. Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!
Here is the full playlist of videos on different options to sell your book direct to readers: th-cam.com/play/PL5wG4jOiELp36td6HpcIvGPZl16glOfMJ.html
Ok thanks, if it's not too much trouble if you can it would be good if you subtitled the videos since I don't speak English. thanks
I literally started using Payhip two weeks ago for selling my printables and I can honestly say that I’ve at least gotten waaaay more Views there than on Etsy. So I got rid of my Etsy shop. No sales yet on Payhip but I did receive a sale of my work on Ko-fi😊
Congratulations! Glad you found a better platform :)
I've never gotten ANY SALES on payhip
@@XxŁucîdÐreämerxX I still haven’t received any sales on Payhip. Got rid of it too. Way too buggy. I received a few donations for my work on Ko-fi though. So far I think I made 65+ dollars through Ko-fi😀
🎉😂 congrats how can you tell how many views you have ?
@@treg6848 there is a dashboard on the login page
@M.K. Williams, thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge. I would like to ask some questions: 1) what is your recommendation for printing option? 2) do you also sell digital only books on payhip 3) based on your experience, do you think payhip is big enough platform to reach potential buyers for books
For my books I have them as print on demand through IngramSpark and KDP (KDP is less expensive) I sell my eBooks, audiobooks, and print books on Payhip but most of my sales are got the ebook. In general, having your book listed on Amazon, B&N, and other retailers is best for discovery, but you can market your Payhip listings to your existing audience. Best of luck with your book!
@@1MKWilliams Thanks a lot !
I just found out from another TH-cam video that Payhip no longer allows vendors to sell Rebranded PLR digital downloads or products on their platform. Do we need to provide a copy write certificate or application to Payhip BEFORE we submit a digital download or product? I wouldn’t want Payhip to kick me off of their platform just because they assumed that I was Not the author or creator. Otherwise both platforms sound great. Valuable content. I’m a new subscriber. Happy holidays 🎄. Thanks again for sharing!🙏
I had not heard that about Payhip's policy but I'm not surprised. I don't recall having the certify or provide additional documentation proving that I own my books. However, if there were to be a contested duplicate you could easily prove that you own your book. I'm glad you found this video helpful. Best of luck on your author journey!
Great video. I've had PayHip for a while for ebooks and audio but so far haven't seen any sales even though it's on my Twitter header. It's an area I want to be able to use more.
Keep at it, I find that if I make it easy to find everywhere I start to get more sales on that platform
@@1MKWilliams I think it's trying to build up some momentum. I'm doing an event in a couple of weeks so I've had some special postcards made up with a PayHip discount code to see if that drives some traffic
Nice, straightforward presentation. Thanks!
Couple of questions:
1. Do you have to first buy your domain before you set up your Payhip site?
2. Does Payhip host the site, or do you need to register with a hosting site first?
Thanks
So I have an author website separate from PayHip. I don't have a custom domain on the platform.
Currently using and I love it.
That is awesome to hear!! 🎉🎉🎉
@Paris Acquah I drive traffic to the site everyday so I’ve make sales every couple of days.
Very helpful review after seeing a lot of bad PR on Payhip. I'm looking for the right partner here for publishing my books.
Glad you found the review helpful!
Where do you make your physical book to sell? You publish and buy from Amazon to resell on Payhip?
Correct, my books are published on Amazon KDP and IngramSpark. I can order author copies through either service and then resell
I’m considering using this for our children’s book/video do you know what sort of files are accepted and what maximum file sizes are ? Is it possible to upload an mp4 video ?
Hmm I've never tried to upload a video file. For the book you can upload a PDF or an eBook file. For audiobooks I've been able to upload a ZIP file that housed all the MP3 files so you could potentially do that with the book and video file together
Hello everyone ,
I published my digital book two days ago but I didn't get any sales
What are the reasons of that ?
Thanks for this method Pay hip. where's the other 3 playforms ? How do you market your books from this site payhip ? Can you be an affiliate & make money from it ? Can customers use PayPal or stripe on this site? Are there water marks on them they or you put on ebooks so they aren't selling them as theirs own ? Are the deliveries emailed to them & apps or other options ? I'm tired of Amazon taking most of the money . They do have a new feature to show your series I found out this week but I don't know about how to give discounts on kdp .I'm ready o try out different platforms that take less. Thanks again. Yes I look forward o using payhip .I want to sign up by next week or April if not this weekend thanks
Hi! Lots of great questions. I'm not sure I can answer them all in this format. I do have a book on going wide , selling your books outside the Amazon ecosystem, that should answer for the set up and marketing questions you had in this comment: 1mkwilliams.com/going-wide/
Really helpful video, thank you!
You're welcome!
I’ve recently started with payhip! I love it and it’s simplicity! But yes because people are not familiar with it, they are skeptical to purchase. Do you have any updates with payhip?
Hi Danielle, So far so good. I have not had a lot of sales on the platform but there have been some and I'm happy to keep a larger share of the royalties than I would with Amazon. Having the additional option for readers to purchase on Payhip has been a net positive.
Great information. Thank you.
You're welcome!
I’ve had it for a few years and the lack of sales and traffic has me thinking to abandon it. I’ve promoted, taken percentage off, used refer codes, all of it... and nothing. No one is going there for any of my titles. Perhaps my advertising is weak (seeing how I have no budget for it at all), but how are you corralling customers to purchase from it?
Hi Jeff, My % of sales from PayHip is super small as well. But once I have the book set up on the system, there really isn't any additional work for me. I've been able to leverage it to host my "free digital extras" for my fiction books and those have been getting a lot of traction. I don't mind having it up and running since it isn't much for me to manage now that it is set up and I like that I can still get my free side-stories out to readers this way. How often are you promoting this channel for your sales? I always try to say "you can get my book anywhere that you find books or you can buy it from me directly" and then I link to PayHip. Then its up to the reader to decide.
It looks good but I don't have social media to get the sales?
So I’m trying to sell physical products but I’m not sure how the whole process works. How do you handle shipping? Will you explain to me?
Thanks so much for this video! Just what I was looking for - super detailed and helpful 😊 Just so it’s 100% clear in my brain - you didn’t have to get a paid membership to sell, right? PayHip just takes 5% of each sale? Correct?
Glad it was helpful! Correct, you can use the version of PayHip where you don't pay any monthly fee, only a transaction fee. If you have a high enough volume of sales, it may make sense to upgrade to their subscription service to save on the fees.
Right! Thanks once again. @@1MKWilliams
Me again with one final question 😅 Did you determine pricing your work with the help of an accountant, or on your own? I’m wondering if I need to sell my cookbook for a certain dollar amount to not only cover Payhip’s fees but also local and international taxes and still have profit!@@1MKWilliams
Oh, another question: do Payhip's sales reports break down by item, or just a total sales figure?
Yes, you can see which items sold, the total amount, the country, the referring traffic, etc.
Hey there thanks for this video, it's super helpful. But my question is how do I get traffic to payhip if I don't have an audience or following of my own since I'm just starting out with templates and ebooks. Is it that payhip is similar to etsy where they promote your products/service offers to who is on that platform?
Hi Janeen, Congrats on getting your business up and running. It doesn't appear that PayHip does any promotion on their platform, you'll be directing anyone in your network there and building your audience. You do have the option to link your PayHip account to your email service provider so people can opt in to your newsletter when they purchase. Best of luck!
@@1MKWilliams thank you so much will do so 👍🇯🇲
In what way does Payhip do the taxes for you? Can you elaborate on this point . Does a specific plan give you this option or every pricing plan?
Hello, it is my understanding that they handle the sales tax on each transaction. I have not used them for a full year yet so I haven't received the 2020 end of year tax documents. Once I do I can provide an update!
@@1MKWilliams Thanks
Really good 😃
Do people all over the world get the books published in Payhip ? How much traffic and selling can anyone expect from Payhip ? Can you please help me...
Hi, I'm still relatively new on this platform so I don't have a great amount of data on sales. I believe anyone globally can make a purchase from this app, but it is up to the author to market it to a global audience. This is a platform used for direct digital download sales so it is not exclusively a self-publishing platform, however it can be used to sell you digital books, print copies, and even subscription services. I hope this helps.
@@1MKWilliams Yeah, Thanks as even you are also a novice, I can not expect a lot. Any way Thanks for help.
Thanks for the help . Can I upload my original book (not derived from internet nor another reference ?)
Yes
Hello MK, have u read the terms page of payhip after logging in which says 2. Licence to redistribute and sub-licence your content? I'm concerned about this. What's your opinion?
It's not something I am overly worried about
@@1MKWilliams it basically means they also own the content that we upload and can sell it or license it to anyone else as their own content. I just read it yesterday. Now i'm thinking whether to upload my premium content or not. What's ur opinion on this?
Hi MK im planning to publish my book on Payhip this year, i would just want to ask how was your experience on Payhip so Far after 4 months, did you use paypal to collect payments did you have any problems with them? Your reply would be a great help,..
So far Payhip has been great. Easy to upload/manage and payments go instantly from Payhip to my PayPal account but users can use whichever method they like for payment. Overall not a lot of purchases but got a few. Best of luck with your book!
Hulo ,am selling plr ebooks on payhip , but how do I market my books to get sales
do you have to promote your website link with payhip or do they have a physical website store?
Great question. I promote my direct link on my website and elsewhere. I believe if a reader googles "my name + payhip" the link will also show up but there isn't one homepage directory to my knowledge.
Hello, your explanation is very good. I am new to bookmarking, I have not yet published my book but I would like you to give me a recommendation. since I'm finishing my book. I am from Venezuela and I would like you to help me. Thanks, good day to you.
Hi Luis, Best of luck as you finish up your book. Are you planning to only sell it directly or do you have specific retailers in mind for distributing your book?
@@1MKWilliams Hello, possibly do it directly. what options do you give me?
@@nuestrametaeselcielo Hi Luis, great. Direct sales are an excellent option. I have an entire series of videos on how to sell directly: th-cam.com/play/PL5wG4jOiELp36td6HpcIvGPZl16glOfMJ.html . For printing and distribution, I would recommend IngramSpark (I have more information about them available on this playlist th-cam.com/video/UUxmhD0FGQs/w-d-xo.html
How do you get more buyers on Pay hip? 🌹
My best advice is to start telling your readers that they can get your book there too. So many authors default to just say "my book is on Amazon." Tell them they can buy it direct as well
Hi I want to sell logos but I am confused how to sell them on payhip can you guide me. Customers approach me directly through payhip by visting payhip or I have to promote my store through social media platform ?
Hi Ambreen, Anything you would list on PayHip you would need to promote through your own channels. You may be better off trying to sell logos on a site like Fiverr where people can search for logo designers. track.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=221077&nci=7416
@@1MKWilliams thank you for your advice and for your replying also
I'm confused, is this like etsy that customers can search for an item and buy it directly or do I have to do the marketing myself? I want to create something that sell by itself and I don't have to worry about it.
For PayHip you would do the marketing to drive users there yourself. It is not a marketplace like Etsy.
I'm curious...if you are selling a digital version of a book can it then be read on any e-reader?
Great question. Each e-reader has different requirements. Namely, the Kindle works best with a .Mobi file and other devices work best with .ePub. You can read an ePub file on a kindle. When I sell the eBooks via Payhip I provide a zip file with the ePub, Mobi, and PDF. That way the end user has what they need
@@1MKWilliamsinteresting. I'll have to look into how to create each of those files. Thank you for the info.
I plan to do a video on that topic later this year. But, if you have a writing software like Scrivner or Vellum they should have an option to save in these formats. Another option would be Self-Publishing with Smashwords or Draft2Digital as they provide the converted files.
@@1MKWilliams I've used Draft2digital before. I didn't realize I could get files from them to use for something like this. Really glad I found your channel. :) I see I have much to learn. lol
I have a doubt for everyone, I want to know if it is possible for customers to view the content in real time, but they will not be able to download it or store it on their devices, is it possible? if yes please help. urgent
Yes, when you create the listing you provide the files the user can download and can set a limit for how many times they can download it.
@@1MKWilliams but if they share with someone who didnt pay?
Can you sell activity books on payhips?
I don't see why not.
@@1MKWilliams Okay am currently uploading them I will let you know how it turn out. Thanks
Hi can I be able to sell my Film on payhip pls help me , I'm in Africa, South Africa i see everything is about Dollars I'm using Rands In South Africa please help me 🙏
Hmm I'm not sure I've never tried to sell films. I would suggest reaching out to their customer service team. Best of luck!
So, payhip is only for ebook setup and not for printed books for saling on an author website?
Hi Regina, So PayHip was initially designed to sell digital products (like eBooks or memberships). I currently list my print books for sale there as well and any author can do this as well, but you will have to handle the shipping and inventory. I hope this helps! - MK
@@1MKWilliams Okay, thanks. I appreciate it!
Can we sale books paperbacks on payhip and how?
Hi Umair, Yes, you can sell physical products, like paperback books, on payhip. You would list the book as a physical product and complete information on shipping charges, weight, and how many you have in inventory. I would suggest having some books in inventory before you list them so you know how many you have for sale right now so that customers don't have to wait for you to stock up before you send them your book. Best of luck! - MK
@@1MKWilliams mam last night i have uploaded 15-16 books but still no views
@@umairfarooq1506 wow! That is a lot of books! You'll need to advertise and promote that you have books there to your audience.
@@1MKWilliams mam do you have any info about kindle I have to ask something ?
@@umairfarooq1506 yes, I have a whole series of videos on KDP Amazon KDP: How to Self-Publish On Amazon | You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers: th-cam.com/play/PL5wG4jOiELp0wrFzE4srfzKTo3x4KJ7tq.html
Are you useing payhip?
Yes : payhip.com/MKWilliamsPublishingLLC
How was the withdrawal process?
Good video
Withdrawal process, as in getting payment from Payhip?
@@1MKWilliams wow you replied quick imma sub for that.
Yes how long did it take before your sales appeared in your paypal?
@@instituteofindices7452 within 10-15 minutes in most cases, super fast!
@@1MKWilliams thank you so much
Im definitely spreading the word about your channel
@@instituteofindices7452 thank you! Happy to help
But mam my products are not getting any views yet...
Sorry to hear that, I find that I need to promote all the different platforms for my books regularly. I try to do one post monthly that highlights the availability on payhip, google, apple, etc. Best of luck.
@@1MKWilliams hmm I understand
Have you tried to sell hard back
Hi Dominique, Yes, I sell one of my books in Hardcover : The Infinite-Infinite which is part of a time-travel sci-fi series. I plan to release each book in that series (still to be written) with a hardcover option. As for my other sci-fi series I am going to wait until all three are released and then do a hardcover option with a boxset. I have my paperback and hardcover for sale on PayPal and have had people purchased signed copies of the hardcover in the past. (Actually more people seem to prefer the hardcover for signed copies than the paperback.) Are you planning to release a book in hardcover soon?
Payhip sucks