How to set up a thread in the Digital Market

Create a new thread as you'd normally do. Type in the subject and type your post content as normal. Make sure the subject line contains a descriptive title. It could also include the type of product you offer - ebook download, streaming video, etc. - so people know what they're going to get before they open the thread.

Write up a description of the product you are selling.

In your post content, decide which part should be visible only to people with full access, and wrap that part in between [premium][/premium] tags. In other words, anything you put in between [premium][/premium] tags will be visible only to those who have paid for full access to that thread. In contrast, anything you put outside the [premium][/premium] tags, will be visible to everyone!

Possible-use case: you want to embed a youtube video that should only be visible to people who have paid for the access. On the same post, you want to add a brief introduction above that video, which should be visible to everyone, that would entice people to buy access to watch that video.  Your post content would look something like this:



Attachments such as e-books, podcasts, plans, etc. that people can pay to download:

If you want to attach a file and make sure that only people who have paid are able to download that file, you can do so. Basically, if the post contains the [premium][/premium] tags ANYWHERE in the text, ALL the files attached to that post will be downloadable only for people who have paid for access.

So, if we just attach a file to the above post in our example, since that post has premium tags already in the post, only people with full access to the thread will be able to download that attachment.

For Physical Items and Attached Content:

For a physical item, just place the tags where you want the little pay-window to show up. No need to attach anything or have any hidden content.

What if you don't have anything like a video or any other 'secret' text to wrap between the premium tags, but just an attachment that needs to be available only to people who paid for the access? Just insert an empty [premium][/premium] tag anywhere to the post, attach your product (ebook, pdf, video, etc.), and you're done!

Configure pricing. Click the "Paid Content" tab at the bottom, and check the "This thread can have paid-only content" checkbox.



Doing this will make more options visible. Check the boxes that you want to apply to the thread. If you select a rent option for a video, don't forget to set how many days it will be available for viewing. This is also the place to set your affiliate fee. This is the fee others can earn if they have a link to your product on their own website or blog. (See below to learn where to get the affiliate link.)



"Buy with Paypal, price $" - This is the price in USD people have to pay with Paypal to get forever access to all the premium content in this thread.
"Buy with pie, number of slices" - People with pie can handover this amount of pie slices to get forever access to all the premium content in this thread.
"Rent with Paypal, price $" - This is the price in USD people have to pay with Paypal to get one month access to all the premium content in this thread.
"Rent with pie, number of slices" - People with pie can handover this amount of pie slices to get one month access to all the premium content in this thread.

Pie Pie is something that Permies users can earn (or purchase) to be used for other things on the site. This is just an option, and you are not obliged to use it as a payment option. More about Pie will be added soon.

If you are creating the thread for someone else's product, there is a box to click for that, too: "This thread is created on behalf of another user". When you check that box, you can then add in their seller code so that the payments go to them instead of you. Learn how to get a seller code at the bottom of this thread..


When you have your content written, your video link placed between the [premium][/premium] tags, and all of your payment options selected, click the Submit button and you are done!

Physical Objects:

If you are selling a physical object that will be mailed, set the price of your item, as well as the total price when international or domestic shipping are applied.

 

Wherever you put your [premium][/premium] tags in your post, will become the place for people to purchase your object.  It will look like this to potential buyers:

You'll see you have the option to use [sales][/sales] tags. These are totally optional. You can use these around things that you might not want people to see after they've purchased. So, if you want to make it super easy for them to see the download or video that they purchased, you can hide a lot of your text and images behind [sales][/sales] tags so that they instantly see the [premium][/premium] message about where their download/video is, or any information you want to give them about the the product they just purchased.

If these tags are confusing to you, feel free to ignore them!

After you create your premium thread with video, this is how it will look to people visiting the thread, before they pay:



Double-check to make sure that "premium"/for sale content is not visible. You can also log out (or view the thread from a logged out browser), just to double check that hidden stuff is hidden.

Note: because you are the creator, there will be a link at the bottom of the white area which would let you see your own content. Click that link, and the black area will be replaced with the actual content - emulating how it would be visible for someone has paid for the full access.

At this point, there are three kinds of people who can see the actual content: you - the creator of the thread; people who have paid to get full access to your thread; and Master Stewards.


It really is a little bit like magic. If you have any questions, please post them below and we'll do our best to lead you through the process if you're having troubles.

Once the thread is set up, if you scroll down to below the post, you will see the affiliate link. If people want to help sell your product, and earn a little bit of money for it, this is the link they will use.

• Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation will make your thread look more professional.
• Using the tools at the top of the content window to bold text, increase size of headings, or making them colored, can make the thread more interesting.
• Including images, or video trailers or teasers, can be very effective. Ensure that your images are sharp and attractive.
• If you are selling access to a video on Youtube, remember to set the video to private on Youtube, so it can only be seen by people who have paid for the access link.
• If you are selling a download or physical object, you can enclose a message between the tags. Maybe a Thank you message, or any information you feel they need.

Images

Images must be 700px wide or less, and 72 dpi. Please name your images before uploading, using all lower case text and using dashes between each word (NOT underscores). For example:

rocket-mass-heater-plans.jpg

best-elderberry-jam-cold-fighting-immune-system-boosting.jpg

Other tools on Permies to promote your stuff

Take a look at this thread about Thread Boost - https://permies.com/wiki/61482/Thread-Boost-feature

This thread on how to promote your stuff on permies for free - https://permies.com/t/20020/Promoting-Stuff-Permies-FREE

If you have any other selling tips, please feel free to share them below.