In this guide, you’ll find a list of online platforms that allow you to self-host and sell your zines. These platforms cater to both physical copies and digital editions, giving you complete autonomy over the sales and distribution of your zines.
I’ve included some short notes about each platform and if I’ve missed any, let me know.
Big Cartel @bigcartel
This is free to use for less than 5 products.
Shopify @shopify
It’s pricey but good for big stores with lots of skus. There’s lots of support and apps/plugins too.
Woocommerce @woocommerce
It’s like Shopify, but more DIY in terms of how you build your shop and it integrates with WordPress.
Payhiphq @payhiphq
This is good for selling digital products.
Storenvy @storenvy
You can create your own store and list 20 products for free.
Gumroad @gumroad
This platform seems quite easy for anyone to set up and use. You can create your store on their platform or easily embed it on your existing site.
Depop @depop
If you can use Instagram, you’ll find this a breeze.
itch.io
This is a great place for selling digital only copies.
Ko-fi @kofi_button
Easy to set up and you can accept donations.
Patreon @patreon
Similar to Ko-fi, you can create subscription-only content.
Bandcamp @bandcamp
This is great for anyone making music zines.
Etsy @etsy @etsyuk
I’ve used Etsy in the past and it was easy to set up.
Ebay @ebay @ebay_uk
Like Etsy, easy to set up and manage products.
Via DMs
Don’t want to set up your own platform? Keep it simple!
2 Comments
Add Yours →I absolutely love this guide! Very helpful!
Another great option is Square (square.site). You can build a website and sell your products totally for free! You just have to pay the credit card processing fees but that’s the case for pretty much any platform you want to use to sell products.* And for $10 you can get the card swipe tool that plugs into your phone to sell your products in person, and it syncs up with your product inventory. I’ve been using it for just over a year and it’s a LIFESAVER.
*PS) If someone uses my referral link to sign up for square, they won’t have to pay processing fees for their first $1000 in sales!
https://squareup.com/i/THESOURCOL
Hi! Thanks for the list! Right now, I use itch.io to sell digital and physical copies of my zines. You can add a reward on the listing and there is an option for an address field. I just note that I only ship within my own country for the price that is listed. I then occasionally bundle the listings into a sale where I will ship like 5 or 6 zines at once.