How to create and sell your products using ConvertKit

ConvertKit’s email marketing platform provides so much more than email marketing, as crazy as that may sound.

Of course, it serves its main purpose well, especially for service-based freelancers, but it delivers so many more features.

In today’s competitive marketplace, software platforms need to pivot and complement their core proposition with other supporting functions – which is great for us, because it means we need fewer apps or platforms to manage our needs (which can also bring financial savings).

One of my favourite features of ConvertKit is its ability to create and sell products and services using its ‘Commerce‘ platform.

Using it is as simple as setting up a sales page, adding your product, and publishing it – then you’re ready to sell!

Plus, with ConvertKit, you have all the email marketing tools to help market and promote your product.

ConvertKit’s Commerce platform

Included with every ConvertKit subscription plan, is their ‘Commerce’ platform, designed to behave as an online shop from which you can sell your products and services.

The feature isn’t yet available in every currency or geography but does continue to be rolled out. The payment merchant used to connect the platform to your bank account is Stripe, but you do not need to have a Stripe account as this can be created for you during the setup process in Convertkit.

Supported countries

United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

(Click here to check the most recent list of supported countries)

Supported currencies

• GBP · Pound Sterling
• USD · US Dollar
• EUR · Euro
• CAD · Canadian Dollar
• AUD · Australian Dollar
• NZD · New Zealand Dollar

Selling fees in different currencies

The cost of using ConvertKit Commerce to sell in GBP is the industry standard of 3.5% + £0.20 processing fee per transaction.

Because of the exchange rates in different currencies, fees will vary.

Here are the fees per currency:

• GBP · Pound Sterling · 3.5% + £0.20
• USD · US Dollar · 3.5% + $0.30
• EUR · Euro · 3.5% + 0.25€
• CAD · Canadian Dollar · 3.5% + $0.30
• AUD · Australian Dollar · 3.5% + $0.30
• NZD · New Zealand Dollar · 3.5% + $0.30

Note: If you’re a UK-based creator who receives payouts in GBP but made a sale on a product using USD, you would incur the USD fee.

Creating your first Product on the Commerce platform

Before you can sell anything via Commerce, you must connect your bank account to the Stripe payment merchant so that ConvertKit can process your payments from your clients.

To start the process, click on the ‘Settings‘ menu option; (set up time about 5 mins)

Once in the ‘Settings’ screen, click on the ‘Commerce‘ link;

Now you’ll see, on the right-hand side of the screen, a button entitled ‘Set up payments‘;

Clicking on the button will bring you to this screen, where you’ll be asked to provide information about you and your business. It’s a click-along process that you can’t get wrong – just answer each question with the relevant answers and you’ll be set up in no time!

Choose the appropriate answer for your business; the ‘Individual‘ applies if you are a sole trader, and the ‘Company‘ option is for you if you have a company registered.

Next, complete the form with your personal details.

After completing all the steps, you’ll see in your Commerce Settings, your ‘Bank Statement Descriptor‘ – this is what will show up in people’s bank statements as the provider of the product/service.

Depending on your circumstances, it can sometimes take a day or two to have your details verified, however, in most cases, it happens more quickly than this.

Okay, that’s the painful part out of the way, and the good news is that you won’t be asked to do that again! (unless you change bank accounts!)

Now it’s time to create your first ‘Product‘.

Creating ‘Products’ in Commerce

Start by clicking on the ‘Earn‘ -> ‘Products‘ menu option;

On the ‘Products’ page, click on the button entitled ”

On the Product creation page, start populating the details of the product or service that you want to sell.

Add a name for your product, select a product type (a one-off payment product or a recurring subscription), add a price and currency, and how you want to fulfil the sale (i.e. downloadable product, delivery of a service, membership etc.).

Here’s an example of a Product taken from my Convertkit account; it’s a 1-2-1 Zoom call with me where I accelerate freelancers through the learning curve of email marketing with ConvertKit – it’s called “ConvertKit: 60-Minute Accelerator Session“.

When people buy this service, everything is taken care of by Convertkit and Stripe for payment, and the delivery of the service is then left to me to fulfil.

I have my ConvertKit configured to automatically email an invitation to my clients and they can choose a 60-minute slot that works best for them from my calendar.

Within the Commerce platform, we can also personalise the receipt for payment and the email that is automatically sent to the client after the payment has been processed.

Note: Payments for Products via the Commerce platform are normally processed each Friday by ConvertKit, so should arrive in your bank account shortly thereafter.

Additional options for your Products

There are several properties that you can configure to best accommodate the needs of you and your clients;

Product Details

Here, you can set/change the price and currency of your product and select what pricing method you want to use;

Next, choose the fulfilment option; a digital download, a newsletter, or something else – for example, my product (above) which is a Zoom session.

You can also add in other Products as ‘Upsells’ to the Product you’re selling. For example, you could sell a digital course and, as an upsell, offer a 1-2-1 call with you for an additional fee.

You can add discount codes if you want to give incentives to increase sales. You can add multiple codes and can offer fixed amounts or percentage discounts. You can also limit the number of times each code can be used.

And finally, you can configure the URL that you’ll share with potential clients, so they can click on it to learn more about it, and hopefully buy!

⚡️What to do now…

Log into ConvertKit and connect your bank account to Stripe. Once connected, create your first ‘Product’ and test the process by applying a 100% discount and buying it yourself.

If you hit any hurdles along the way, let me know and I’ll help you out. 👍