Lately I have been exploring some options on how I will sell my latest library. Now, apparently there aren`t many stores through which you can sell your SFX libraries but there are at least three out there that I would like to mention. You can consider this sort of a review of services. As an alternative you also have an option to host your own store and everything that comes with that. I will leave the last part for some other time.
What are your options?
As mentioned there are at least three online stores/services that can host your SFX libraries online. A sound effect, Wild track sound library and Sonniss.com. All three are good places to start but interestingly I had three different experiences with each.
All three websites are based on WordPress but as I have noticed two of these (A Sound Effect and Sonnis) use Amazon S3 for the delivery of products. WildTrackSoundLibrary uses Dropbox for delivering SFX libraries.
The process of submitting your products is pretty straight forward but you have to know a bit of WordPress in order to get around. If you are familiar with it, then you should have no problem adding products using Sonnis and WildTrackSoundLibrary. A Sound effect uses different approach and in all honesty I find it best. By request you can get a backend access otherwise the manager will upload the file and add all of the required info to the website.
In the case of Sonnis and WildTrackSoundLibrary you gain an access to the vendor account. Both use different approach for adding a product to their store. Sonnis has a bit more modern look in the backend and front end as well and it is fairly straight forward. Uploading is a breeze and I haven’t experienced any issues. WildTrackSoundLibrary uses (for those who understand WordPress) a WooCommerce plugin which again is fairly easy to use. You cannot upload your product directly though as the upload limit is standard 2 MB, so you have to use a file sharing service such a WeTransfer or similar in order to send it to WildTrackSoundLibrary team so they can upload it for you.
Overall all three providers have similar approach and work well as a service.
What about the support?
In both ASoundEffect and WildTrackSound the support was great in helping me getting the product out there. Never the less, both turned out to be quite supportive. I haven`t tested the Sonniss support yet, but I will and will report back.
Pricing?
All three services will take 20 % (80/20) on each sale you make, which is in my books perfectly fine. A Sound Effect will, if you opt in for hosting option (meaning they will host the samples for you) take additional 10 % (70/30).
The pros and cons of using services
Luckily for us there are more pros than cons of using such services. Major pro is of course the already established customer base which drastically affects your sales. Having said that, this is also somewhat of a downside if the website doesn’t reach enough views. You on the other hand still have to take care of the marketing part. In terms of views I would rank A Sound Effect on the first place, Sonniss second and WildTrackSounds third.
Another pro of using such service is also that you do not have any hosting fees or that you have to worry about new EU VAT policy as they will take care of it for you. I did notice some difference where the calculation was a bit of. A Sound Effect changes VAT according to your location as well as WildTrackSound but in that case the VAT might have different calculation. Sonniss changes the VAT accordingly at the checkout.
The one downside I find personally is that all three use WordPress which is prone to hack attacks due to its popularity. The files are secure through S3 or Dropbox though. I don’t think we should worry about that in all honesty, as these attacks are rare, especially in this segment but it’s worth mentioning it.
Conclusion
All three services are in their beginning stages and I am glad they are because we can still affect how they will perform in the future through our suggestions and talking about it openly. All three are good and you cannot go wrong by picking one or all three.
Fact sheet
| Service provider | Customer base | Payment | Backend access | File security | Uploading | Pricing |
| A Sound Effect | Big | Instant (Paypal) | Yes by request | S3 | Using service to send big files to the manager or your own S3 account | 80/20 with your own S3 hosting70/30 with ASE hosting |
| WildTrackSounds | Small | Instant (Paypal) | Yes | Dropbox | Big file sharing service | 80/20 |
| Sonniss | Big | Instant (Paypal) | Yes | S3/Dedicated Encryption | Through backend/ FTP | 80/20 |