PayHip
sell direct, keep more
Sell your books straight to readers, and keep the difference.
PayHip is a storefront for selling ebooks, audiobooks and box sets directly to your readers, with the delivery, the receipts, the EU VAT and the file protection all handled for you. It is for authors who want a shop of their own that isn’t renting space from a retailer, without building a whole website to get one.
Chapter 01
Why I recommend it
Why I recommend PayHip.
Retailers are wonderful for reach and quietly ruthless about ownership. PayHip is where you sell the same book to the readers who already came looking for you, and keep far more of what they pay.
When a reader buys from Amazon, Amazon keeps a cut and, more importantly, keeps the customer. You never learn who bought the book. Selling direct flips both of those: a bigger share of the price lands with you, and the reader’s email lands on your list, so the next launch starts with people you can actually reach. For a backlist author that difference compounds fast.
What makes PayHip worth recommending over “just build a shop” is that it handles the tedious, easy-to-get-wrong parts for you. The file is delivered automatically the second someone pays, so nobody is emailing you at midnight asking where their book is. Every PDF can be stamped with the buyer’s details to discourage it being passed around. EU VAT is calculated and filed on your behalf, which is the exact bit of admin that stops most authors selling direct at all. You get coupons, pre-orders, and a built-in affiliate system without touching a line of code.
I point authors here when they want a front door of their own without committing to a full e-commerce build. It won’t replace the retailers, and it isn’t meant to. It sits alongside them and catches the sales that were always going to come to you directly anyway.
Chapter 02
What you can sell
The shop you didn’t think you had time to build.
It isn’t only ebooks. The direct channel is where the things retailers can’t hold come into their own, so here is what authors sell through it.
Ebooks & audiobooks
Delivered the moment a reader pays, in every format, with no retailer taking a cut of the sale you brought in yourself.
Box sets & bundles
Repackage a finished series into one buy. This is the one the retailers make awkward and PayHip makes easy.
Signed & special editions
Limited runs, pre-orders, and the special editions readers will pay more for, sold to the people most likely to want them.
Memberships & serials
A paying reader club or a chapter-by-chapter serial, billed monthly, for the readers who want the next thing early.
What PayHip handles for you
- Automatic deliveryThe file reaches the buyer the second they pay, without you touching anything.
- PDF stampingEach copy carries the buyer’s details, so a shared file traces back.
- EU VAT, handledCalculated and filed for you: the admin that stops most authors selling direct.
- Coupons & pre-ordersRun a launch discount or take orders before the release with no add-ons.
- No code, no website requiredA working shop set up in an afternoon, embedded on your site later if you want.
You bring the book and the readers. It handles the shopfront, the delivery and the taxman.
Chapter 03
The honest bit
What it costs.
PayHip has a free plan you can open a shop on today, where they take a small percentage of each sale, and paid monthly plans that shrink or remove that fee once you are selling enough to justify it. Payment-processor fees from Stripe or PayPal apply on top, the same as anywhere you take a card. The sensible path for most authors is to start free, sell a few direct, and only move up a tier when the maths says the subscription costs less than the per-sale fee. Their pricing page has the current tiers, since those get adjusted from time to time.
Chapter 04
Set it up, or hand it over
Set it up yourself, or have me build it in.
PayHip
Open a free shop, list your first book, and start selling direct this afternoon.
A store built into your site
If you would rather it lived on your own website, the e-commerce build sets up direct sales, payments and delivery for you.
The retailers keep their cut. This is the shelf where you keep yours.
Give your readers a front door
Ready to sell a book without the middleman?
Open a shop of your own, list your first title, and start keeping more of what your readers pay. PayHip is free to start, so there is nothing to lose by trying it on one book.
I earn a commission if you sign up through this link. I only recommend tools I would sell my own books through.