Insurance to sell Etsy digital products

leedslass22

Hi. I want to start selling digital products on eBay. Things like art prints and planner pages, that the customer can download and print at home, and digital planners, which can be downloaded and used on an iPad. I’m assuming I would need business insurance for this, but I’m struggling to find any that cover selling digital products (they all seem to be for tangible items.) I think I’ll probably have to call some up, but was just wondering if anyone was already selling digital items on Etsy, and what insurance provider they used. Thanks 

martindow

I wonder if insurance, assuming it is available, would be worth it.  You are possibly going to be vulnerable to people claiming they have not received items which you will not be able to defend as there would be no tracking to show.  Whether this is a major problem I've no idea but maybe you have to accept a percentage of refunds as a cost of doing business.

How an insurance company would compensate you I've no idea.  You still have the original print or planner page so I wouldn't be surprised if they would see anything to compensate beyond the eBay fee.  The excess on the policy would probably stop you claiming in any case and I suspect you would be better off self insuring - no premium to pay and refunding as and when.

Another thought - how do you stop someone who has bought one of your digital downloads from reselling it, possibly after making a minor alteration, and competing with you?

custardy

insurance against what?

leedslass22

martindow said:

I wonder if insurance, assuming it is available, would be worth it.  You are possibly going to be vulnerable to people claiming they have not received items which you will not be able to defend as there would be no tracking to show.  Whether this is a major problem I've no idea but maybe you have to accept a percentage of refunds as a cost of doing business.

How an insurance company would compensate you I've no idea.  You still have the original print or planner page so I wouldn't be surprised if they would see anything to compensate beyond the eBay fee.  The excess on the policy would probably stop you claiming in any case and I suspect you would be better off self insuring - no premium to pay and refunding as and when.

Another thought - how do you stop someone who has bought one of your digital downloads from reselling it, possibly after making a minor alteration, and competing with you?

Thanks for your reply. I meant to put selling on Etsy, not Ebay. Etsy have the digital product, and they send it out, so there shouldn’t be any problems in them not receiving it. In regards to people copying the planner, they could list it as is, and if I saw it I could report it to Etsy, but that’s about it. They could change it a bit if they knew what they were doing, but if they had the knowledge it’d be simple enough for them to create themselves.

leedslass22

custardy said:

insurance against what?

To be honest I’m not 100% sure. People are telling me I need business insurance if I sell on eBay and/or Etsy. When I’ve looked in to it though, the stuff they cover, like stock, someone getting injured in your home etc, they wouldn’t apply to me. The only thing I could think that they would cover, would be my laptop and ipad that I create the products on, and maybe if the digital products have a virus that infects their computer and causes major problems that I would have to compensate. That’s unlikely to happen though, as I have virus protectors, and I’m assuming Etsy have them as well. I don’t think I need it, but I was hoping someone on the forum already sold digital products and could say whether they had it or not.

soolin

leedslass22 said:

martindow said:

I wonder if insurance, assuming it is available, would be worth it.  You are possibly going to be vulnerable to people claiming they have not received items which you will not be able to defend as there would be no tracking to show.  Whether this is a major problem I've no idea but maybe you have to accept a percentage of refunds as a cost of doing business.

How an insurance company would compensate you I've no idea.  You still have the original print or planner page so I wouldn't be surprised if they would see anything to compensate beyond the eBay fee.  The excess on the policy would probably stop you claiming in any case and I suspect you would be better off self insuring - no premium to pay and refunding as and when.

Another thought - how do you stop someone who has bought one of your digital downloads from reselling it, possibly after making a minor alteration, and competing with you?

Thanks for your reply. I meant to put selling on Etsy, not Ebay. Etsy have the digital product, and they send it out, so there shouldn’t be any problems in them not receiving it. In regards to people copying the planner, they could list it as is, and if I saw it I could report it to Etsy, but that’s about it. They could change it a bit if they knew what they were doing, but if they had the knowledge it’d be simple enough for them to create themselves.

I know that Etsy allow digital downloads but I wasn’t aware they handled all the downloads for you, I only sell physical goods and of course I have to send them myself.  As for what insurance you need, I can’t be of much help as all my goods are physical, but perhaps a broker might help - although I can’t imagine you want anything other than the most basic .

forgotmyname

I would be thinking more along the lines of how long will it be on sale before someone rips it off and adds it

to a compilation CD on ebay etc.

Selling your work and many others for a fraction of the price. Or on one of the many free sites still around.