Getly
A buyer looking at a template, a font, a photo pack or an e-book asks one question before the price: what am I allowed to do with this? Can I use it in a client project, in something I sell, on a product with my own logo? A listing that answers in one line saves the buyer a message to you, and saves you a refund request later.
Most listings do not answer it. Measured 26 September 2026 across active listings on Getly, 47.26% have no licence type set at all, and among those only 15.08% mention a licence anywhere in the description. Put together, about two listings in five say nothing about usage rights, anywhere on the page. New listings do better, because the product form now asks for a licence: of listings created in the last 30 days, 17.43% have none.
This guide walks through fixing that in two parts: the licence type, which Getly shows next to the price, and a short licence section in your description for the details the type cannot carry. One note first: this is a practical guide, not legal advice. If your product has unusual rights attached (licensed characters, client-owned material, music samples), talk to a lawyer about the wording.
Step 1: Know what the five licence types mean on Getly
On the Category step of the product form there is a required Licence field with five options. Each one is shown to buyers in plain words on the product page, in the details box beside the price, and in the product's questions and answers. This is what each one promises, as the page words it:
| Type | What the buyer reads | Share of active listings |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Use it for yourself, not in work you sell or hand to a client; no resale or redistribution of the file. | 20.19% |
| Commercial | Use it in your own business and in things you sell; no resale of the file itself. | 25.06% |
| Extended | Commercial plus client work and products with unlimited sales; no resale of the file itself. | 4.96% |
| Public domain (CC0) | Anyone may use, change and redistribute it, even without credit. | 0.81% |
| Custom terms | The seller's own rules, spelled out in the description. | 1.72% |
| Not set | Nothing is shown. | 47.26% |
Choose the type that matches what you actually intend, not the most generous one. A buyer will hold you to it. If none of the four standard types fits, choose Custom terms, and then the description section below stops being optional: it is the only place a buyer will find your rules.
Step 2: Set the type on every live listing
- Open Products in your dashboard and open a listing to edit it.
- Go to the Category step and find Licence. Below the select there is a short guide to all five types; clicking a row sets that type.
- Save. The licence line then appears in the details box on the product page.
If a listing that buyers have already downloaded has no licence, your dashboard shows it as a task, so you do not have to hunt for it. Start with the listings that are already selling: those are the pages real buyers are reading today.
Step 3: Write a short licence section in the description
The type answers the big question. The description answers the small ones that decide a specific purchase: how many projects, whether a client may receive the final design, whether print runs are limited. Keep it to five lines. Here is a template you can copy and edit:
Licence
You may: use this in [personal projects / your own business / client projects], including [example: social posts, printed flyers, a product you sell].
You may not: resell, share or redistribute the original files, alone or in a bundle, or upload them to another marketplace.
Limits: [none / up to N end products / print runs up to N copies].
Credit: [not required / appreciated / required as "Design by NAME"].
Questions: message me through Getly before you buy if your use is not listed.
Three rules make this section work:
- Match the type. If the listing says "Personal use only" and the description says "use it in client work", the buyer does not know which to believe. The two must say the same thing.
- Use examples, not categories. "Commercial use" is abstract. "You can print it on mugs you sell" is something a buyer can check against their plan.
- Name the one thing you forbid. For almost every digital product that is reselling or sharing the source file. Say it once, plainly.
Step 4: Handle the special cases
Things you did not make yourself. If your product includes a font, a photo, a sound or an icon from somewhere else, your licence cannot give the buyer more rights than you received. Say what is included and under which terms, or leave it out and tell the buyer where to get it. Our guide to font licensing covers the most common case.
Several licence levels. If you want to sell a personal version and a commercial version, list them as separate listings with the price difference visible, and say in each description what the other one adds.
Free products. Free is not the same as "do anything". Of free active listings, 37.14% have no licence set. A free file with a clear licence is the one another creator can safely build on.
Step 5: Check it the way a buyer would
- Open your product page logged out, or in a private window.
- Find the licence line in the details box. Does it match your intention in one reading?
- Read the licence section in the description. Could a stranger decide, without messaging you, whether their use is allowed?
- Check that price, licence and description tell the same story. A $2 file with an "Extended" licence is fine if you mean it, but make sure you do.
Five minutes per listing is enough. The payoff is fewer pre-sale questions, fewer "I thought I could" refund requests, and a page that looks like it was written by someone who has thought about their buyer. You can set the licence while listing a new product; there are no listing fees, and sellers keep 80% of each sale by default.
