How to Sell a PDF on Shopify for Free [No Limits]

If you have a Shopify store, then you’re on the right track. Or even if you are looking to set one up and are just investigating if you can sell PDFs using Shopify. The good news is that you can sell pretty much anything on Shopify, from digital to physical products.

Shopify’s app store is vast, with over 8,000 apps on there. That means you have an endless amount of integrations and support for many types of stores.

This method I am showing you today is if you want to upload and sell PDF files on your Shopify store.

Video tutorial

Is it possible to sell PDFs on Shopify?

The short answer is yes, you can sell PDFs on Shopify. You will need to install an app called Fileflare from the Shopify app store. It’s built by Shopify Experts who know exactly how to build an app correctly.

Shopify does have its own version, but it’s super buggy, has many limitations, and has no upgrade options for when you scale your store.

Can I upload a PDF to Shopify?

Yes, you can also upload a PDF or eBook to Shopify using the Fileflare app. The Fileflare app acts as an add-on to Shopify’s Orders and products system, giving you the ability to upload and attach digital products.

Use-case 1 – To sell to your customers

If you want to upload a PDF to Shopify with the goal of selling it and no size limits, you will need to install the Fileflare Shopify app. Upload your PDF and then attach it to your Shopify products. This will allow your PDF to be sent directly to your customer after they have purchased.

Use-case 2 – For hosting files on your live web pages only

Using this method, you cannot deliver the PDF to a customer after they have ordered. It’s strictly just for hosting the PDF on web pages this way. You are also limited to 20MB maximum upload.

You can directly upload to your Shopify account by:

  1. Going to your Shopify admin
  2. “Content”
  3. “Files”
  4. Clicking the “Upload file” button

What makes Fileflare so good for this?

Fast support

This is crucial. This could make or break a business. How painful is it when you just can’t get an answer from the company? Especially when you are running a 24/7 business selling goods on Shopify.

It’s crucial to have quick support with Shopify apps because stores never sleep.

Clear guides

Plenty of guides will help a lot. People can easily get confused or stuck, so an app with plenty of help and tutorials will be perfect so you never get stuck.

Fast download speeds

Download speeds are important. The sole purpose of your digital product app is to deliver digital downloads. If your customer struggles to get the downloads, then you need to upgrade to a better app.

Fortunately, Fileflare uses top-grade servers (the same as what Shopify use) to deliver the fastest possible speeds.

You can also check out our other project for sending digital files over the web.

Reliability

If the Shopify app you are using is constantly down, then it’s time to move on. You can’t risk your store being down at any point if you sell all day, every day.

Of course, most tech will have the odd bit of downtime; even Shopify has downtime. But minimizing this as much as possible will be a dream.

Protection features

This is one of the most important steps when selling PDFs. You need your customers to understand that you are running a business, and they are not allowed to share digital products with others for free.

The Fileflare app has methods in place to prevent and make it difficult for customers to share digital products.

Read our digital download protection guide for more tips and tricks.

How to upload a PDF to Shopify & deliver it to customers

I am assuming that you already have a Shopify store and have products set up on your Shopify “Products” page. If you haven’t, then you will need to do this first. You can sign up for a free trial of Shopify here.

This is because the Shopify products need to be imported into the digital assets app. The app works alongside your Shopify store as an add-on.

Step 1 – Install Fileflare from the app store

If you currently use a different Shopify app, then you can easily migrate over by checking our migration guide. If you’re new, continue below.

Click here to go to the Shopify app store page.

  1. Click the “Get app” button
  2. Follow Shopify’s steps to install and approve the app
  3. Choose the free version or get a trial of a paid plan

Step 2 – Upload your PDFs to the Shopify app

  1. Go to the Fileflare app from your Shopify dashboard by clicking “Apps” > and then click the app

  1. Go to the “Assets” page
  2. Click the “Upload new assets” button
  3. Upload your PDF files

Step 3 – Attach the PDFs to your Shopify products

Assuming you already have products set up in your Shopify store, all we need to do is attach the uploaded PDFs to your Shopify products.

We don’t need to go creating products again. All of your Shopify products are automatically imported from your Shopify product list directly into the Fileflare app.

Once a file is uploaded, simply click on the blue link for the PDF, then search for the product that you want to attach to the PDF to.

 

Step 4 – Customise your settings

Now you are set and ready to sell! This means that your digital products will be sent to your customers if they purchase any of the products with digital files attached to them.

Now, all you need to do is customise your settings and add protection features.

You can do a wide range of things, from customising email templates, setting IP address limitations, using your own email address to send the downloads, customer account downloads and much more.

 

Summary

Now you understand how easy it is to upload PDFs to Shopify and sell them to your customers. This is the easiest solution in the Shopify ecosystem.

Please contact us if you need any help with super fast support.

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