Payhip

Payhip is a direct-to-fan sales platform for selling ebooks, courses, memberships, and (via Bookvault) print-on-demand books directly to readers. It can be used for pre-orders to collect payments ahead of a launch, but unlike a true crowdfunding platform it has no dedicated pre-order feature — per Payhip's own Help Center, authors rely on manual workarounds (a placeholder file or a beta-content message stating the delivery date), then manually upload the final file and email buyers the download link when it's ready. There is no automatic future-release scheduling or auto-delivery. A standout feature is automatic digital EU/UK VAT collection and remittance, which removes a major compliance headache for authors selling internationally.

• Best for: Authors who want a low-fee storefront for their backlist and memberships; usable for pre-orders if you're willing to fulfill manually
• Key features: Memberships and subscriptions, digital EU/UK VAT auto-collection and remittance, affiliate program, large file hosting, Bookvault print-on-demand integration; pre-orders only via manual workaround
• Pricing: Free plan with 5% transaction fee; Plus at $29/month with 2% fee; Pro at $99/month with 0% fee; plus standard payment processing (Stripe/PayPal ~2.9% + $0.30). Plans differ only by transaction fee — all features are unlocked on every tier (no feature-gating)
• Tax compliance: Reports and pays digital EU VAT and UK VAT on the seller's behalf — a significant advantage for authors selling digital goods to European readers
• Pre-order caveat: Treat Payhip as a storefront, not a crowdfunding tool — collecting payment before launch works, but fulfillment is fully manual. Authors wanting automated pre-order delivery should pair it with a dedicated delivery tool or use a platform with native pre-orders
• Why authors choose it: Among the lowest fees for direct digital sales (0% platform fee on Pro), no feature-gating, automatic digital VAT handling, and built-in memberships and POD