In a word: Yes.

There are three different ways that you can sell digital products using the Shop Kit Plus.

1. The first way is to setup the digital product just like you would your physical products. Then when you receive an order, email the digital files to the buyer.
2. The second method is to use the Products For Download section of Mals. Premium account holders can upload a maximum of 350 digital product listings. The products themselves are stored on your server.
3. The third option is to purchase Linklok for Mals. This system provides secure digital downloads to your customers.

I don’t recommend any of these methods.

1. The first methods is a pain in the rump if you get more than the occasional sale. And if you’re only getting the occasional sale, is it really worth it?
2. The second method is not secure, because you are sending direct links to your products.
3. The Linklok method is secure — but is a pain in the rump for me (or you!) to setup and update.

So what do I recommend?

I discovered WAHMcart a few months ago and have been using it myself for my information products (Presenting Your Products and Mals Advanced Shipping) . It is perfectly suited for the secure sales and internet marketing of digital products, such as ebooks or patterns.

You can use WAHMcart on more than one site. You can also use it in conjunction with your existing Shop Kit Plus installation, enabling you to sell physical and digital products on one site.

For example, you would add your digital products to the Shop Kit Plus, just like you would a physical product, except you would leave the price set to zero.

Then you would change the order button settings in Catalog Setup to only show when a price is set.

Finally, in the product description for your digital products, you’d include the order button code generated by WAHMcart. You and your customers would have the best of both worlds.

WAHMcart also comes with a built-in email marketing system that includes sequential autoresponders. You can even have a newsletter for each product. Or a newsletter for people who are interested in a specific product — and when they order, the system can move them over to the customer list for that product.

The downside? WAHMcart is $30 per month.

In my opinion, as a happy WAHMcart and SKP, user: It’s well worth it.

But don’t just listen to my opinion: Try out the 14-day trial for $1 yourself…

UPDATE: If you are just starting out, you may wonder why you’d need the SKP and WAHMcart. The reason I recommend these two is because the SKP includes a WYSIWYG HTML editor that makes it a breeze to manage your pages. You can even use the category and product system as a online catalog. Just turn off the cart features in the SKP and include the WAHMCart order buttons in the product description.

Now, if you want to use HTML pages or a Wordpress blog to power your site, with a WAHMcart backend, you can do that, too. You’ll just need a plain jane hosting account, like the ones we offer at Watersweb Hosting.

1. If you are using Paypal, you must have Paypal setup properly in Mals.

   To do this, login to Mals, click Cart Set-Up and click Paypal in the left column, Under Payments.

   Make sure you have Website Payments Standard selected at the top (if you have a Premium account, either of the two settings below the second one will also work, depending on your needs).

   Under Paypal Account ID, make sure you have your correct Paypal address entered.

   And last, but not least, under Paypal Responses, make sure you have the SECOND (2nd) option checked, the one that reads: return the customer back to the cart. See the notes below…

   Then check the Paypal IPN checkbox.

2. You must have the Remote Call section of Mals edited correctly.

   To do this, login to Mals, click Cart Set-up and the click Remote Calls at the top right column of the page.

   In the textarea of this page, enter the temporary URL of your finish.php page. It will look something like this:

   63.247.132.129/~YOUR-USERNAME/go/finish.php
   (Refer to the left column of your cpanel for the correct IP address.)

   If you are not sure what you should put there, please PM me or contact me through the Watersweb Helpdesk.

   Then click Update Record.

3. You must have Auto Return turned on in Paypal.
   1. Click the My Account tab..
   2. Click the Profile subtab.
   3. Click the Website Payment Preferences link in the Selling Preferences column on the right. The Website Payment Preferences page opens.
   4. Click the Auto Return On radio button.
   5. Enter the Return URL that will be used to automatically redirect your buyers in the Return URL field.
   6. Review the Return URL requirements.
   7. Click Save.

   The Return URL is the Paypal page that you setup in the Basic Mals/Paypal setup instructions:

   Create a Thank You Page

   1. Create a web site page called “thankyou.php”, using the add page feature within the Shop Kit Plus administration.
   2. On this page, type out the following text:
      

      Thank you for your payment. Your transaction has been completed, and a receipt for your purchase has been emailed to you. You may log into your account at https://www.paypal.com to view details of this transaction.

   3. While you’re on the edit window in the storeadmin, on this page, select no from the dropdown menu that asks if you want the page link to show. Please make sure that you do NOT deactive the page.
   4. (Note: Mals does not require you to enter a thank you page here - but if you plan to use PayPal outside Mals, you will need to add this page.)

Read this thread on our forums for Paypal integration screenshots.