Sell digital art online downloads, commissions and limited files from your own site.
Digital artists sell three different things and usually try to sell them through one marketplace listing: the finished piece as a printable file, the working files for other artists, and their time as commissions. Each has a different buyer and a different price, and none of them needs a marketplace once you have an audience that follows you.
Overview
EmbPay is a checkout for artists who already have that audience. Put it on your portfolio, your link-in-bio or your community server, and sell the print file, the PSD pack or the commission slot as separate products with their own prices. Payment is by card into your own Stripe account, and downloadable pieces are delivered by an expiring link the moment the payment clears.
How digital art are priced in practice.
Printable downloads of a single piece sell for a few dollars to the low tens; layered source files and brush sets for tens to low hundreds; commissions are priced by your rate and scope, often as a deposit and a balance.
Separate the products and the pricing sorts itself out. The print file is the volume seller and a natural entry point; the source file is for peers and is worth much more; the commission slot is scarce and can carry a quantity limit so you only sell what you can deliver this month. Split-pay lets a commission client pay a large piece in instalments without you chasing a balance.
Pricing options that fit
- One-time — a print file or a source pack.
- Split-pay — a commission paid in two or three instalments, charged automatically.
- Quantity limit — a fixed number of commission slots per opening.
One product can carry up to six pricing options; the buyer chooses at checkout. Full detail in subscriptions, split-pay and pay-what-you-want.
Selling digital art with EmbPay takes three steps.
- 1
Create the product
In the dashboard, add a product with a name, description and price. Choose how it is delivered: upload a file, point to a hosted URL, issue a licence key, or show instructions after purchase.
- 2
Package your digital art
For a printable piece, upload one high-resolution file at the aspect ratios you support, or a zip of several sizes. For source files, zip the layered file with the brushes and the colour palette; EmbPay hosts one file per product up to 500 MB, which covers most PSD and Procreate files with their assets. A commission slot has no file at all: use the instructions-only delivery type to tell the buyer what to send you next.
- 3
Share the link or embed the checkout
Every product has a hosted page you can link from anywhere, and an embed snippet for your own site. Connect your Stripe account and buyers can pay; until then the page says the product is not on sale yet.
The parts of EmbPay digital art sellers actually use.
Every item here is enforced in code, on the free plan unless it says otherwise.
Commission slots that close themselves
Set a quantity on the commission product and the checkout stops taking orders when the slots are gone. Reopen by raising the number. No more editing the bio to say “closed”.
Instructions-only delivery
A commission has nothing to download, so choose the instructions delivery type and write what happens next: the brief form to fill in, your turnaround, how revisions work. The buyer sees it after payment and in the receipt.
Source files for peers
Sell the layered file as its own product and offer it as a one-click upsell after someone buys the print. Accepting charges the same card; declining can fall through to a cheaper brush set.
Your name on the checkout
Four checkout templates and a layout editor, so the payment page matches your portfolio rather than looking like a generic store.
What a sale costs you: Stripe's fee, and nothing else.
EmbPay platform fee
On every plan, including free. There is no per-sale percentage and no per-order charge anywhere in the payment path.
0%
Stripe processing
Billed by Stripe on your own account, as on any card payment. Usually 2.9% + 30¢ for a US domestic card; other countries differ.
Stripe's rate
Monthly
Free covers two products. Pro adds unlimited products, licence keys and API keys. Neither takes a cut.
$0 or $29
Work out the exact Stripe fee for your country and price with the Stripe fee calculator.
Selling digital art: the questions we get.
Can I sell a limited edition of a digital file?
You can cap how many copies the checkout sells, using the quantity limit. EmbPay does not number or stamp individual copies, so “limited” means limited in sales count, which is worth saying plainly to buyers.
How do commission deposits work?
Two clean ways: a split-pay option that charges the total in two or three automatic instalments, or two products, a deposit and a balance, where you send the balance link when the piece is approved. Split-pay is less admin; two products give you control over when the second charge happens.
Do I lose the sale if the buyer closes the page?
No. The download link is in the confirmation email and in the buyer's customer hub. The checkout success page is not the only copy.
What stops someone reselling my source files?
Nothing technical, on any platform. EmbPay's download link expires on the schedule you set, which stops the link circulating; the licence you state on the product page is what governs use.
Is there a marketplace where buyers will find me?
No. EmbPay is a checkout for artists who bring their own audience. If you are relying on a platform's browse traffic today, keep that listing and use EmbPay for the followers who come to you directly.
Start selling digital art on the free plan.
No card required. Build the product and rehearse the checkout in test mode, then connect your Stripe account to be paid.
Also selling posters and printables, clipart, photos or digital stickers? Or see everything you can sell with EmbPay.