Facebook Shop and Digital Downloads

[ShopkeeperVicki]

I am very confused by Facebook policy regarding selling digital downloads. Do they consider them "real products" or not? My listings are for cross chart charts you buy, download, and then can print out. Some of my listings show up in the Facebook "shop" and others are rejected. I can't see any commonality between those accepted, nor those rejected. I have filed appeals, of course, but it is a week later and I have still had no response from FB.

Does anyone have any idea what I should do? Keep listing and hope that some get through even if others don't?

[Bo]

Hey there, @ShopkeeperVicki 

Bo here from Shopify Support! 

That is a really interesting question. One of the main product requirements for selling on Facebook is that the product must require shipping i.e. be a physical product. This would mean that you would not be able to publish digital downloadable products on Facebook. You can check out the full list of posting product requirements here. That said, you could set your digital products so that they require shipping, have no weight and set up a free shipping rate for them. This has worked for merchants in the past, however,  Facebook may not allow this workaround. It would be a good idea to check out and pose the question on Facebook forums to see if this would be an acceptable alternative.

All the Best,

Bo

[ShopkeeperVicki]

Could you check that link please? I'd be really interested in seeing it.

[Bo]

Hey there, @ShopkeeperVicki 

Apologies for that, the link should be working now. You can also check it out here. 

All the best,

Bo

[ShopkeeperVicki]

OK, so how about this....

I list two versions of each product: a PDF listing and a Print listing. The print listing can be sold via a Facebook Shop. If the buyer comes to the shop via Facebook, they are made aware of the higher cost print version that will be mailed and the lower cost PDF version that is available instantly.

(I have proposed this to Facebook when they rejected a listing, but of course I have heard nothing from them. They must be busy deleting the 5% of their accounts that are fake.)

Do you think this would garner their approval?

[Bo]

Hey there, @ShopkeeperVicki 

Apologies for the delay in response. I would not be able to determine this, have they gotten back to you regarding this?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Bo

[paulh]

Are there any news to this topic? we want to sell our digital products on Instagram....

[Bo]

Hey there, @paulh 

This would go against Instagram's conditions. Merchants selling on Instagram must Primarily sell physical goods. Your Instagram account must be a business that primarily sells physical goods. They are continuing to test this feature and hope to expand availability to more accounts in the near future. You can read more on this here. 

All the Best,

Bo

[MelissaV]

According to Facebook's rules you can't sell digital products in your FB or IG Shop (but you can advertise them in ads).  Frustrating  and I'm not sure the reasoning. https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/commerce/subscriptions_and_digital_products