Sales Channel Scout: Compare Where to Sell

How it works

Sales Channel Scout turns "where can I sell this?" into a sourced comparison instead of a list of names and remembered fees. It researches live, screens out channels that cannot work for you, and marks every cell as verified (with the URL it opened) or unverified.

Phase 0 — Tools check. With web access it researches live. Without it, it says so and gives you a questionnaire plus a table where every cell is "unverified" and names the official page to open.

Phase 1 — Intake. Product and delivery form, your country, current channels, hard constraints (no monthly fee, no hosting), and how many channels you can maintain.

Phase 2-3 — Candidates and verification. 5 to 8 channels of different kinds, each checked on seller fee, recurring cost, payout rules and minimum, seller-country support, sign-up and tax forms, and listing steps.

Phase 4 — Screen, filter, rank. Dealbreaker screen (subscription or hosting required, payout minimum, country support, tax forms, product type), a one-time-download-friendly filter, and a ranking based on cost per sale from verified cells only.

Phase 5 — Output. Comparison table, screened-out list, ranking, and the next 3 actions you take yourself.

Sample output

Real, unedited output from running this Skill on a sample problem:

Summary: mode LIVE (WebSearch + WebFetch available), researched 2026-10-17, 4 channels (Gumroad current, Lemon Squeezy, Payhip, Etsy), 20 cells verified / 22 unverified.

## Assumptions
- Product: Notion templates, one-time download, $9-$29; cost example uses $19 (mid-range, my pick).
- Seller: individual in South Korea, no registered business; payout by Korean bank or PayPal; wants no monthly fee, no self-hosting; can maintain 2 new channels; current channel: Gumroad.

## Comparison table
| Channel | Type / merchant of record | Seller fee | Recurring cost | Payout (incl. minimum) | Seller-country support (Korea) | Sign-up and tax forms | Listing procedure | One-time-download friendly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad (CURRENT) https://gumroad.com | Storefront + Discover marketplace; merchant of record from Jan 1, 2025 [verified: https://gumroad.com/pricing] | 10% + $0.50 direct sales; 30% Discover sales [verified: https://gumroad.com/pricing] | None, "doesn't charge you a monthly fee" [verified: https://gumroad.com/pricing] | Direct deposit or PayPal, "varies by country"; minimum unverified [partial: https://gumroad.com/pricing] | unverified (supported-countries help page opened but returned only a heading) | unverified | unverified | unverified (not stated on pages opened) |
| Lemon Squeezy https://www.lemonsqueezy.com | Storefront (you bring buyers); "Lemon Squeezy is your merchant of record" [verified: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/pricing] | 5% + 50c per transaction [verified: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/pricing] | $0/m for ecommerce; email marketing paid beyond 500 subscribers [verified: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/pricing] | Twice monthly (1st and 15th), 13-day hold, minimum $50, small fees depend on method; bank payouts in USD per a search snippet only [verified: https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/getting-paid] | Bank payouts: "Republic of Korea (ROK)" is listed [verified: https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/supported-countries]. PayPal: "200+ countries" but Korea not named, unverified | Identity check may be asked when connecting a bank account [verified: https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/getting-paid]. Tax forms: unverified (tax-forms URL I guessed returned 404) | unverified | unverified (digital delivery not confirmed on pages opened) |
| Payhip https://payhip.com | Storefront; collects and remits EU/UK VAT and US/Canada sales tax on your behalf (page does not say "merchant of record") [verified: https://payhip.com/pricing] | Free plan 5%; Plus ($29/mo) 2%; Pro ($99/mo) 0%; PayPal/Stripe fees on top [verified: https://payhip.com/pricing] | None required, free plan "Unlimited products", no credit card needed [verified: https://payhip.com/pricing] | Sales deposited "immediately after a transaction"; methods and minimum not stated on the page [verified: https://payhip.com/pricing]; payout minimum unverified | unverified | unverified | unverified (help center has Payments and Sales Tax categories; articles not opened: https://help.payhip.com/) | unverified |
| Etsy https://www.etsy.com | Marketplace with own traffic; merchant of record unverified | unverified (official fees page returned HTTP 403; a third-party calculator claims $0.20 listing and 6.5% transaction, not used) | unverified | unverified | unverified (a search snippet attributed to help.etsy.com says Korea uses Etsy Payments via Payoneer; I did not open the page, it returned 403) | unverified | unverified | unverified |

## Dealbreaker screen
| Channel | Subscription/hosting required | Payout minimum vs sales | Korea supported | Tax-form needs | Product type allowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Squeezy | PASS ($0/m ecommerce) | PASS-with-note: $50 minimum; at $19 that is 3 sales per cycle, estimate | PASS for bank payout (listed); PayPal UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Payhip | PASS (free plan) | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Etsy | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |

## Screened out
None had an explicit FAIL. Etsy stays in only as a low-confidence candidate because every dealbreaker is UNKNOWN; resolve before sign-up.

## Ranking
Basis: verified cost per sale at $19, then number of UNKNOWN dealbreakers.
1. Lemon Squeezy: 5% + $0.50 = $1.45 per $19 sale (7.6%), verified fee cells only. Gumroad for comparison: 10% + $0.50 = $2.40 on direct sales.
2. Payhip: fee 5% = $0.95 plus PayPal/Stripe processing fees (amount unverified), so total cost per sale: unverified.
3. Etsy: cost unverified.

## Next 3 actions
1. Open https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/supported-countries and the PayPal country list it links to, to confirm which payout method works for your Korea account; then find the seller tax-forms page from https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/ and confirm whether an individual without a business registration can sell.
2. Open the Payments and Sales Tax categories at https://help.payhip.com/ and note the payout minimum, Korea support and whether Stripe or PayPal is required for your country.
3. In a normal browser (the fetch was blocked), open Etsy's fees page and the Etsy Payments eligible-countries page; only if Korea and digital downloads are both stated, consider it as your second new channel.

## Limits
Not financial, legal or tax advice; whether you need a business registration or how to report income is for your accountant or tax office. Fees and policies change, re-check on the official pages before acting. 22 cells are unverified and were not filled from memory. No account was created, no money moved, nothing listed.

Use cases

• Choosing a second sales channel for Notion templates, ebooks, presets or other one-time downloads
• Checking whether a platform supports sellers in your country before you invest time
• Comparing total cost per sale at your actual price
• Finding out which facts you still must confirm before signing up

FAQ

Does it sign me up or list my product? No. It never creates accounts, pays, or uploads. It reads public pages only.

Are the fee numbers reliable? Only the cells marked verified, each with the URL it opened. Everything else says unverified. Fees change, so re-check on the official page before acting.

What if my AI has no web access? It tells you, then gives a questionnaire and a table with every cell unverified plus the official page to check for each.

Is this tax or legal advice? No. Registration and tax questions are for your accountant or the authority.