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Sell non-physical items with Square Online

Who is this article for?
  • Sellers with general items permissions. Set permissions in Square Dashboard.
  • Square Online subscribers.
  • About non-physical items

    Creating items to sell non-tangible products (like online event tickets) is similar to the process of creating tangible goods (like bottled wine). The main difference is that you don’t need to set a fulfillment method for these item types. Instead, you can send an email to your customers with additional information on how to redeem their purchase.

    Non-physical items include the following types:

    • Event: Sell tickets to events, and include an address/online link and times.

    • Digital: Lets you sell a digital file for download, like an ebook or song, that you can manually send to the customer.

    • Donation: Allow anyone to send donations for any cause of up to $5,000.

    • Other: Best for items you will fulfill manually.

    Before you begin

    • You can create and manage non-physical items from your Square Dashboard.

    • The following legacy item types are currently only available to Square Online sellers who had already created them in the past. Current sellers without these item types in their catalog won’t be able to create them. Improvements to these item types will come at a later time and will be made available to more sellers in the future.

      • Membership: Collect membership dues and registration fees for clubs and classes.

      • Service: Best for services for hire such as massages and hair styling.

    • Due to the different delivery methods for these item types, buyers must purchase them separately from items that can be shipped, picked up, or locally delivered.

    Step 1: Create a non-physical item

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Items & orders > Items > Item library.

    2. Click Create item.

    3. Click Change in the item type menu and choose a non-physical item type.

    4. Complete your item details and select Save.

    Step 2: Set up item availability regions

    You can control where non-physical items are available for purchase in your fulfillment settings.

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Settings > Account & Settings > Fulfillment > Non-physical.

    2. Click Edit by the item type you want to manage.

    3. Select either Available worldwide or Available in select countries. If choosing select countries, click Add countries to choose the ones you want, then click Done.

    4. Click the option to edit any applicable subregions (like states, provinces, and territories) of any countries you've selected. Not all countries will have this option.

    5. Click Save.

    Step 3: Email customers with redemption details

    When customers purchase your non-physical items, you'll have to manually email them with details about redeeming their purchase. Emails could include a digital event ticket or a download link.

    To send these emails automatically, check out our partnership with SendOwl in our Square App Marketplace.

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