How do customers get their digital product?

In this article:

Do I need to send customers their digital products?

Can I use my own email to send customers their link?

How customers access their digital downloads or streaming videos

How many times can customers download or stream?

Why would customers need more than one attempt?

Exceptions to the download limit

Can I limit the number of downloads or streams?

Why did my customer not receive their email?

The customer misspelled their email address

The delivery email bounced

The order is marked Pending by PayPal


Do I need to send customers their digital products?

No, we do that for you! Sellfy hosts your product files on a secure server and takes care of delivering your orders to customers, instantly.

See how the process works, below.


No, it's not possible to use your own email to send customers a link. Your product files are hosted on Sellfy and customers need to access the product files through Sellfy.

We generate a unique download link for each customer to access their product. The link is sent in the purchase email that is delivered to your customer's inbox after the payment is confirmed.

All purchase emails are sent from '[email protected]'.

Note: it's not possible to change the email sender or use your own domain to send purchase emails. All purchase emails are delivered by Sellfy.


How customers access their digital downloads or streaming videos

Once the customer pays you through Stripe or PayPal, we'll send them a purchase confirmation email and direct them to the purchase confirmation page. There, they can stream and watch or download the product files.

Customers can download or stream product files immediately on the Confirmation page. Or they can access these products at a later time, through the purchase confirmation email.


How many times can customers download or stream?

Note: Read here for information about how Sellfy helps protect your content from piracy.

There are 5 download attempts and/or streaming views for each individual product file.

This download limit spans different devices. So, if the customer wants to download the file on their smartphone and then on their computer, they’re able to do so, but they'll be limited to 5. If you were to offer a product that combines downloadable and streamable content, it will have 5 total views and download attempts.

Why would customers need more than one attempt?

Here are a few examples.

  • A customer might want to download files to different devices.
  • A customer replaces the device they had originally saved the file on and need to re-download it.
  • A customer has trouble with downloading a file or streaming.; poor or unstable internet connection can cause this.

We understand that piracy is a concern when selling digital files. But, we do our best to help and we want to share something encouraging. Nearly all the creators that use our service have no issues with piracy. Typically, customers are honest!

Exceptions to the download limit

Exceptions to this include the customer accessing the file(s) from the same device, in this the number of downloads or streaming views won’t be limited. This is great for customers that have purchased products like audiobooks that they wish to play many times.

The other exception would be subscription purchases. Downloads for subscriptions are only available during the time length of the subscription. In other words, a customer that pays for a monthly subscription will only have access to the files for the month regardless of whether they used all 5 downloads or streams. At the end of the month, previous download links are deactivated and the customer receives their new downloads.

Can I limit the number of downloads or streams?

If you have concerns about a disputed order or have an order with suspect behavior, you can manually block the customer from accessing their digital purchase. This is called restricting an order.

To restrict the customer's access, go to your Orders section and locate the order in question. Then, use the Quick Actions dropdown menu to choose the option to Restrict downloads. This will also restrict streaming access. See how this is done, below.


Why did my customer not receive their email?

Note: We encourage customers to thoroughly check their email inboxes. Sometimes emails end up in junk or spam folders.

Your customer may not have received their email if:

  • The customer misspelled their email address at checkout
  • The email could not be delivered due to an email bounce
  • The order is marked 'Pending' (or incomplete) by PayPal

The customer misspelled their email address

If the customer misspelled their email address during checkout, we're not able to deliver the purchase confirmation email to them. In these cases, it's simple to fix!

You'll go to Orders and select the customer's order that has the incorrect email address. Read more here.

The delivery email bounced

If an email bounces in the system it means that Sellfy was not able to deliver the email to the customer's inbox. The email was "bounced" back by the customer's email service. In this case, you can provide the customer with a download link manually or you can update the order with a new email address for delivery.
To get a manual link you'll:
  1. Go to Orders
  2. Select the order
  3. Select the Quick Actions drop-down menu
  4. Select Confirmation page
  5. Copy the URL
  6. Paste the URL into the email for your customer
If your customer still isn't able to find the email in their inbox please send an email with the order details to [email protected]

The order is marked pending by PayPal

Important! Sellfy does not process payments. Issues with Pending orders must be resolved with PayPal. You can use this checklist for general troubleshooting but we'd also recommend contacting PayPal.

When a customer's order is marked Pending, it means that PayPal has not yet processed the payment. This is a status set and controlled by Paypal. It happens from time to time and is due to specific security measures that PayPal takes to prevent fraudulent transactions.
You can try accepting the payment manually, but we recommend contacting PayPal to make sure that your account is set up to accept payments automatically. 
Once the customer's payment is Completed by PayPal, they'll automatically receive their download link and download access from Sellfy!
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