Where to Sell: Marketplaces Compared
Selling AI Prompts
Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Where to Sell: Marketplaces Compared
A packaged listing from Chapter 6 needs somewhere to actually be found. The three broad options trade off discovery against commission in genuinely different ways — and most sellers who stick with this end up using more than one at once.
The Three Options
| Option | Best For | Typical Fee | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated prompt marketplaces | Getting your first sales fast in a niche buyers are already searching for | ~20% commission | Built-in, but shared with every other prompt seller |
| General digital-goods platforms (Gumroad, Etsy) | Themed packs, a nicer storefront presentation, broader (not prompt-specific) audience | Lower/flat fee, varies by platform | Weaker built-in discovery for "prompts" specifically — needs some of your own traffic |
| Your own storefront/website | Repeat buyers, full pricing/branding control, keeping 100% after payment processing | Payment processor fee only (typically 2–3%) | None built-in — every visitor has to be driven there yourself |
How These Actually Combine
Discovery and commission are directly in tension: a dedicated marketplace hands you an audience already searching for exactly what you sell, at the cost of a real cut of every sale, forever. Your own storefront keeps nearly all the money, but has zero audience of its own on day one.
A common multi-channel pattern
List on a dedicated marketplace first, specifically for discovery — it puts your work in front of buyers
who are already looking. Once a buyer finds you there and likes your work, direct repeat business (a
themed-pack bundle, a custom request) to your own storefront or a general platform, where the marketplace isn't
taking a cut of every future sale from that same relationship.
Read the actual terms before listing
Fees, approval requirements, and rules around what counts as an acceptable prompt listing all vary by platform
and change over time — treat the figures above as a starting comparison, not a locked-in reference, and
check the current terms directly on whichever platform you choose before listing anything.
Coming up next
Chapter 8 covers actually pricing what you list — single-prompt vs. bundle vs. subscription pricing, and
what genuinely justifies charging a premium.