SendOwl
The Ultimate In-
depth Review on
Pricing and Features
Looking to connect with your online customers more than ever before—and rake in a truckload of cash in the process? Well, who doesn’t?! This is the implied/interpretive promise of SendOwl – an eCommerce platform that goes out of their way to help you sell digital products.
The owl-obsessed software company—which was founded by George Palmer a decade ago in 2010—acts as the seamless link between you (the online seller), your payment providers and your customers/prospects.
SendOwl puts you in a position to sell directly to customers and receive payment in the same fashion. Whether you are a solopreneur, a small business, an internet marketer, or a high-volume seller, SendOwl uses its rich feature-set to make digital sales as easy as digitally possible.
With the nitty-gritty all taken care of for you, you have plenty of time to make sure that your products and their presentation are unlike any other on the internet.
Starting at $9 a month, each SendOwl pricing tier appeals to a certain kind of seller—with the $39 Business package being the crème de la crème of their pricing package. In addition to a standard 30-day free trial, SendOwl gives you the chance to see each module in action with a plethora of individual demos available. Want to see how subscriptions work? There’s a demo for that. Video streaming? You can demo that too.
Now that you have a rough idea of what SendOwl is all about, let’s see what the platform can really do. This includes an in-depth SendOwl review, an analysis of the SendOwl pricing structure, the best alternatives to the eCommerce platform, and everything in-between.
The end goal is to hold SendOwl to their bold claim that they are “The only ecommerce platform that cares about conversion rates, ease of use, and owls.” Well, I don’t question the last part on owls—but the rest is up for debate.
So, read on for an in-depth review of SendOwl pricing plans and features. The content in this article is based on hands-on experience, reviews from online users, and a deep internet search (over 30 open browser tabs kinda deep).
Unpopular opinion: I don’t know about you, but something about SendOwl’s mascot gives me Harry Potter vibes. Think about; the messenger owls; the lightning bolt symbol that resembles the iconic scar on Harry’s forehead; a red cape—but maybe that’s just the Potterhead in me talking. Oh wait, the SendOwl was actually inspired by Harry Potter’s pet owl, Hedwig.
What Problem Does SendOwl Solve? – The Platform’s USP
Do you sell online? If you’re interested in a SendOwl review; you probably are. If you just happened to stumble on this article; think of it as fate—as you can’t afford to not (yea, yea, I know I used a double negative) sell online in this day and age.
According to industry estimates by Statista, there are over 2 billion people who purchase items online as of 2020—and the number keeps growing. There’s a world of opportunity on the internet and it’s up to you to grab it by the lapels by selling items online.
Source: Statista
The only problem is that you’re not the only one who’s seen the lucrative opportunity that lies in eCommerce. The competition is stiff and standing out is a figuratively fierce battle for the fittest. To thrive you need the right approach and tools to give you an edge.
As an online seller, you dream of the perfect partner; the perfect platform. You want to focus on delivering the best digital products directly to your beloved customers without worrying about the link in-between. You want to sell as many of your digital goods as possible and then sell some more.
Enter SendOwl – your possible (key word being “possible”) knight in shining sales numbers. According to the company’s homepage, you can “Create products to sell in 20 seconds…Get customers to buy in 20 seconds.” They even go on to claim that their sellers have collectively made over $1.3 billion in sales.
At face value, subscribing to SendOwl looks like a heaven-sent eCommerce solution for aspiring online sellers. But does it really offer value for money in a real-world setting? Do the features of the SaaS platform warrant the SendOwl pricing level?
SendOwl Pricing
A key part of a SendOwl review—or any SaaS/product review for that matter—is the pricing.
As hinted earlier, the standard SendOwl pricing structure starts at an affordable price of $9/month for the Basic offer. The other offers include a Standard plan ($15/month), a Premium Plan ($39/month), and a Business Plan ($39/month). Here’s what each of these SendOwl pricing plans offers individually:
Basic SendOwl Pricing Plan:
If you’re looking for a shopping cart platform to test the waters before upgrading to a more feature-laden option, SendOwl’s Basic plan is a good starting point. For a relatively low price of $9 per month, you can list 10 products, you get 1GB of storage and limited customizations. You’d be relieved to learn that it’s not just a glorified plan to lure you into upgrading. The Basic plan offers great value on its own.
Standard SendOwl Pricing Plan:
If the Basic plan just doesn’t cut it for your growing eCommerce business, you can scale with the Standard SendOwl pricing plan for $15 per month. For this, you get 30 products, 3 GB storage, affiliates, PDF Stamping, and the ability to customize your cart to your heart’s desire.
Premium SendOwl Pricing Plan:
With 100 products, 5GB storage, a cart abandonment feature, video streaming, upsells, and 1 subscription for $24—the Premium plan strikes a sweet spot when it comes to features vs pricing. No wonder it’s their most popular plan.
Business SendOwl Pricing Plan:
The highest pricing plan goes for $39 per month—offering 250 products, 150 GB, 3 subscriptions, and an option for multiple users. And if the Business plan is still not enough to accommodate your first-growing/established online business, you can give SendOwl a call to increase your limit.
The SendOwl’s pricing plans are pretty straightforward, right? Well, not entirely. The waters get murky the more you delve into the platform. For example, they offer a 30-day FREE Trial (which is a welcomed option), a completely different “Self-Hosting” Pricing Plan, and a Subscription plan.
30-day FREE Trial of SendOwl
How does testing a relatively powerful eCommerce platform for 30 days with No Costs and No Credit Cards? It’s obviously an amazing deal for both serious window shoppers and those of you who live for the freebies.
The “No Credit Card Required” part of the deal is like a cherry on top of an already scrumptious cake. I’m pretty sure most typically take a sharp about-turn the moment a Free trial requests your credit card information.
The 30-day FREE Trial is available for all SendOwl pricing plans—meaning you’re better off going for the most advanced offer to test SendOwl at its full might.
Self-Hosting Pricing Plans
With the Standard Pricing Plan, the product file is uploaded to SendOwl—whereby they protect it. But what if your product is already stored elsewhere? If this is your situation, you can opt for the Self-Hosting pricing plan—which is cheaper than the Standard prices.
Although it has a starting price of $19 per month, it offers significantly more features—including 500 products. The highest offer is priced at $79 per month for up to 7,500 products.
Subscription Pricing Plan
If your eCommerce store is more subscription-based than product-based, the Subscription pricing plan is made with you in mind. The pricing ranges from $24 per month to $99 per month—depending on the number of subscriptions, products, and storage.
All factors considered; beginners are likely to have a hard time figuring out which pricing plan is which. The prices are reasonable and the FREE trial is great—but SendOwl should work on making their pricing structure easier to understand.
Features and Capabilities – The SendOwl Review
Multi-Language:
SendOwl understands the need to have an inclusive storefront where all your customers can be catered for in whatever language is native to them at checkout.
Payment Options:
With a variety of payment options, none of your customers will be limited to one method, and this convenience is bound to go down well with them, prompting return visits.
Choose Where to Sell:
Whatever marketing avenue suits you best, SendOwl will let you pursue it. Sales can be made via blogs, social media or your website.
Simple, Modern, Responsive Checkout:
The checkout system can make or break your sale volume. Simple and straightforward does the trick for many customers, while modern and responsive are pretty much a requirement at this point. Responsiveness builds a good reputation and improves perception. SendOwl also knows how heartbreaking cart abandonment can be and helps rescue the otherwise doomed would-be orders and buys.
Discounts:
Everyone loves a good discount. SendOwl facilitates running promotions on your storefront by offering targeted and trackable discount codes, while also letting you set expiry periods to prompt your customers to take action within limited periods.
upsells:
SendOwl can boast of being one of the few platforms that offer upsells, both pre-checkout and post-payment to ensure that your sells potentially get you more sales.
Affiliate System:
Your products may be so good that some customers might want to overpay. In such a case, you may opt to leave the pricing relatively dynamic, with a set minimum of course. You will, at the very least, protect your margins. This leaves the door wide open for those who are feeling philanthropic!
Gifting System:
SendOwl has a gifting system that even includes personalized messages and future delivery dates, you know, for those special occasions. It is always a good thing when customers associate your products with that feel-good feeling when gifts are exchanged.
Staggered Sales:
The flexibility of SendOwl platform comes into full view with features like the Drip functionality. Instead of having a one-off sale, products can be released in bits over a select period of time to keep the customers coming back for more. This feature is available for subscriptions, one-off, and bundled products.
SUBSCRIPTION:
Subscriptions are becoming the go-to for big and small business alike. Charging a recurring fee to access a product or service is an appealing business model, and SendOwl makes it easy to set up for your digital products.
Security:
Cybersecurity is front and centre with SendOwl, and the security of yourdigital files is assured. Secure delivery, PDF stamping, and video streaming are all to ensure that your efforts benefit you and only you.
Scalability:
One hallmark of a great platform of any kind is scalability. Your business may start small but may grow leaps and bounds and SendOwl will grow with you. No matter the sales traffic, SendOwl will facilitate it.
Increased Conversions:
Editable order emails, reinforced branding, and custom checkout fields are all features with customer conversion in their sights. Everything is personalized, streamlined, fully informative, and your brand is at the centre of it all.
Affiliate System:
You do not have to sweat in an attempt to figure out how to set up an affiliate marketing system. The owl has your back. SendOwl handles all the technical stuff and leaves you with one job, finding people to sell your digital goodies for you.
SendOwl Review – Pros and Cons
PROS
The interface is easy to use and relatively straightforward.
The customization options offered by the standard pricing option going forward can go long way in optimizing your eCommerce efforts.
SendOwl supports multiple currencies—which is convenient for online sellers in different corners of the globe.
It facilitates flexible payment models—including trials, plans, and subscriptions.
SendOwl comes with a handy affiliate management feature to take your selling to the next level—but don’t expect advanced functionality.
The software has decent support for integrations.
SendOwl supports one-click upsells and bump offers.
Useful support for coupons and discounts
CONS
SendOwl lacks an A/B testing functionality. This is one of the most significant cons due to the value it could offer and the fact that most competitors have the feature in place.
The customer support is a slight let down. They don’t offer phone support or live chat for those emergency moments that could cripple your online business.
If you transact in cryptocurrencies you might be disappointed by the limited level of support.
acks a forever free option like some of its competitors.
SendOwl Alternatives – The Top 3 eCommerce Platforms to Sell Digital Products
While SendOwl might sound like a good option by now, it not the only option. It’s worth considering SendOwl alternatives that would give the owl-obsessed software a run for its money—especially if some of the cons discussed above are deal-breakers.
Here are the best eCommerce platforms to sell digital products and your possible options if SendOwl doesn’t tickle your fancy.
If you’re into simplicity, powerful features, and popularity, you love Sellfy. The software solution is packed with tons of features and a thriving online community of creators from all corners of the globe. It’s even embedded with a visual builder that allows you to get your store up and running in no time—even without coding skills
Like most other eCommerce platforms on this list, Sellfy has a 14-day FREE trial to test out its feature before you decide whether you’ll buy one of the plans—which start at $29 per month billed monthly all the way to $129/month. Please note that Sellfy places a limit on the annual sales in each pricing plan. Earnings that exceed $200,000 per annum in sales necessitate a custom quote.
Payhip
With hundreds of thousands of sellers banking on Payhip to facilitate the sale of their digital products, Payhip is easily one of the best eCommerce platforms for digital sales.
The platform shines when it comes to helping users leverage the power of social media to boost their sales. It is also responsive for mobile phone users. But perhaps the most lucrative feature of Payhip is it “Free forever” plan that’s limited—but still gets the job done. Other pricing options include a Plus plan ($29/month) and Pro plan ($99/month). One of the downsides to Payhip is their limited customizability.
Podia
Much like SendOwl, Podia is a platform that specializes in digital goods—from digital memberships, online learning, to courses. It covers a large chunk of the sales environment such as messaging tools, email marketing, and building an online storefront.
The Podia pricing plan has two options—starting at $39 per month and a premium option for $79 per months. You also get unlimited hosting with the pricing packages. And to make the deal sweeter, Podia comes with a 14-day FREE trial.
User Reviews and Testimonials
According to SendOwl’s annual survey in 2016, 9 out of every 10 sellers recommended the SaaS platform to friends. But very few people would take a company for their word without irrefutable proof.
For this reason, I’ll take the word of people who have seen actionable benefits from SendOwl and those who have seen the worst of the platform – i.e., unbiased online user reviews. Here are some credible testimonials lifted from reliable online review platforms:
Positive User Reviews of SendOwl
Most users admired the eCommerce platform’s pricing structure and features.
Negative User Reviews of SendOwl
Although most reviews were positive, some user found fault in SendOwl’s billing structure and customer service.
Getting Started with SendOwl
Do you sell any of the following products?
If so, then SendOwl is meant for you. But keep in mind that the list above is not exhaustive. You can still use the platform to sell tangible products—despite their marketing campaigns that position them as a digital-forward company.
Whether you go with the 30-day FREE trial or you decide to cash in immediately, below is the step-by-step process you’d take.
Connect your payment gateway of choice. This is the first thing you see in the welcome dashboard. It can be PayPal, Bitpay, or Stripe.
Next, you add your first product. You can sell several products as a bundle, a service, a subscription service/product, or a physical product.
The third step calls upon your creativity—as you’re required to customize your different download page, email, checkout, etc.
Promote your product through the various options—including affiliate and email marketing, to name a few.
Generate reports, review the analytics dashboard, and strategize.
What is the Takeaway from this SendOwl Pricing Review?
Based on this SendOwl review, it’s easy to see why the platform attracts the attention it does. While it’s generally a great buy, I have to admit that there a few kinks that need to be ironed.
In other words, most of you will love the platform’s balance of features and pricing—but a few will be disappointed. To find out where you lie, consider giving the 30-day FREE trial a shot.
Affiliate Disclosure: Please note that the review or the Sendowl contains affiliate links. I am an independent affiliate of Sendowl products and not an employee. The review and opinion highlighted in this article are my own and they are in no way official statements by Etison LLC or Sendowl.
Gary is the founder and owner at Digital Review Boss & Snappy Sales Video, a Brighton-based video production companies, who has a deep obsession with making videos as often as possible and how to optimise websites for brand awareness and conversions.