Introduction
What are PLR digital products? Are they good or bad? And are they an easy path to make sales? We'll cover all of that in this blog post.
What is PLR?
PLR stands for Private Label Right. PLR is a licensing agreement that grants someone the right to sell an asset. Like a document, a template, an e book, a video or audio file, any digital product asset.
There has been an influx in PLR products available to buy in the last few years. But is it a good idea to buy PLR products to use in your business?
Pros of PLR digital products
PLR products can be good when you're using them as a starting point. To create your own content and to add your own magic touch.
For example, if you buy a PLR ebook template. This will save you time from starting with a blank page on the likes of Canva. Although a lot of YouTube videos would have you believe you can use a Canva template to create an ebook to then sell on. That's actually against Canva's terms and conditions.
So in this instance, buying a PLR Canva template for an ebook makes sense.
Cons of PLR digital products
So when is it a bad thing? As far as I can tell, there are two main ways that people use PLR digital products. They either buy them to directly then list on a marketplace like Etsy. Or they buy them to add as tools to a larger group program or course as part of the course materials.
Selling PLR digital products as they are on a marketplace like Etsy
So let's switch to customer mode for both of these scenarios. Starting with buying a PLR product to list it on a marketplace like Etsy. So I looked at several products that I know to are sold by PLR companies. I'm not going to share the product names or the sellers, because I'm not here to name and shame.
Knowing what some of the PLR products are that are sold. I put in relevant search terms to look for those products on Etsy. For one specific product that I searched. Nine versions of that same PLR product showed up on the first page of search results.
I have a tool where you can look at sales on Etsy. The first seller of the PLR product that showed up on search results had the majority of the sales. They had 43 sales on a product that they had priced at approximately 7. That's roughly 300 in revenue.
For the rest of the sellers of the same product. Who had managed to make it to the first page of search results on Etsy. Which is no mean feat. A couple of them had made 2 - 4 sales, but most had made no sales, and they had been listing for anything up to 10 months. A couple of businesses were even spending money on ads, who had not even made any sales on the product.
I feel for those people because the product is a beautiful product. But it's not original, because of the very nature of PLR.
For the customer, this is boring and confusing. To find all of these independent sellers who have the same product. Particularly on a platform like Etsy, which started for creatives and crafters.
If I didn't know what PLR was, I would likely think all the other sellers had stolen that product. Because the consumer doesn't know what PLR is, so it seems a little bit dodgy. My feeling is, unless you're the first one to list that product. You're not even going to get your money back on that PLR investment.
Using PLR digital products as a tool in an online course or group program
This can work better, particularly if the PLR products are templates. Because you can't resell existing templates that you find on Canva.
It's important to note that a lot of consumers, particularly in the business to business space. Take several courses on the same topic. I have seen comments in business Facebook groups. About people who have taken two programs and received the same tools in both programs. It's likely they were PLR products.
As a consumer, if you've paid for both programs. If the tool has been listed as a selling point on a sales page, you might be a little bit disgruntled about.
It's not a deal breaker. But it's definitely something to keep in mind if you were going to use PLR products.
Are PLR digital products an easy path to sales?
I would say no unless you get in there first. Or you're gonna use them as a time saving tool to add your own spin or content to them.
Digital product strategy
It goes back to strategy. A strategy is knowing your competitive edge. What makes you different to everyone else in your industry? What makes you different in the marketplace?
You need to have a unique selling point or a competitive edge to stand out from everyone else. And PLR is the exact opposite of this. It's selling the same thing as a lot of other people do.
There is literally no reason for anyone to buy from you over other people.
So if you can see my point, and if you want to know more about how to find your competitive edge. I recommend you read this blog post next.
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