Gumroad: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''''Gumroad'''''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gumroad – Sell what you know and see what sticks |url=https://gumroad.com/ |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=gumroad.com}}</ref> is an [[e-commerce]] platform that allows [[Content creation|creators]] to sell products directly to their [[audience]]. The platform was founded by Sahil Lavingia in 2011 and is based in [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]]. Gumroad enables creators to sell digital products, such as [[Ebook|e-books]], [[music]], [[Video|videos]], and [[software]], as well as [[Goods and services|physical goods]]. The platform provides creators with tools to create custom [[Landing page|landing pages]], track sales, and process payments. Gumroad's primary focus is on serving independent creators, such as [[Writer|writers]], [[Musician|musicians]], and [[Designer|designers]], who want to sell their products without going through [[Intermediary|intermediaries]].

== History ==

{{advert|date=October 2021}}

[[File:Sahil Lavingia.png|thumb|Founder Sahil Lavingia in 2010]]Sahil Lavingia built the first iteration of Gumroad over a single weekend in 2011. Sahil is a self-taught [[Programmer|developer]] who has said in an [https://www.nocsdegree.com/how-the-founder-of-gumroad-and-pinterest-employee-2-learned-to-code/ interview] that he learned coding by searching through each problem he hit on [[Google]]. Lavingia, who was previously the first designer hired at [[Pinterest]] and the designer of [[Turntable.fm]], was 19 years old at the time.<ref name="fastcompany1">Holmes, David. [http://www.fastcompany.com/1835159/whos-next-pinterest-designer-sahil-lavingia-and-his-new-e-commerce-site-gumroad/ "Who’s Next: Pinterest Designer Sahil Lavingia and His New E-Commerce Site Gumroad"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214232924/http://www.fastcompany.com/1835159/whos-next-pinterest-designer-sahil-lavingia-and-his-new-e-commerce-site-gumroad/ |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''[[Fast Company (magazine)|Fast Company]]'', 25 April 2012.</ref><ref name="techcrunch1">Tsotsis, Alexia. [https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/08/gumroad-gets-1-1-million-from-chris-sacca-max-levchin-and-others-to-turn-any-link-into-a-payment-system/ "Gumroad Gets $1.1 Million From Chris Sacca, Max Levchin and Others to Turn Any Link Into a Payment System"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704223554/https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/08/gumroad-gets-1-1-million-from-chris-sacca-max-levchin-and-others-to-turn-any-link-into-a-payment-system/ |date=2017-07-04 }}, ''[[TechCrunch]]'', 8 Feb 2012.</ref><ref>Shontell, Alyson. [http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-interesting-teenager-in-silicon-valley-2012-4 "The Most Interesting Teenager in Silicon Valley"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214231609/http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-interesting-teenager-in-silicon-valley-2012-4 |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''[[Business Insider]]'', 2 April 2012.</ref>

The idea for Gumroad came to Lavingia when he wanted to sell a photorealistic icon he had created and realized that the amount of effort it took to sell an item directly to [[Consumer|consumers]] was considerable. He decided to build a service that would make the process as easy as sharing [[web content]].<ref name="fastcompany1"/>

In February 2012, while still the sole member of Gumroad, Lavingia announced a $1.1 million seed round from a notable group of [[Investor|investors]] including [[Accel Partners|Accel]], [[Chris Sacca]], [[Max Levchin]], [[Ron Conway|SV Angel]], [[Josh Kopelman]], [[Seth Goldstein]], [[Naval Ravikant]] and [[Danny Rimer]].<ref name="techcrunch1"/>

Three months later, it was announced that [[Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers]] had led a $7 million Series A round for Gumroad. The investment was the first made by former [[Twitter]] engineering head Michael Abbott as a KPCB partner.<ref>Gannes, Liz. [http://allthingsd.com/20120507/kleiner-perkins-leads-7m-funding-for-payments-upstart-gumroad/ "Kleiner Perkins Leads $7M Funding for Payments Upstart Gumroad"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023011038/http://allthingsd.com/20120507/kleiner-perkins-leads-7m-funding-for-payments-upstart-gumroad/ |date=2014-10-23 }}, ''[[All Things Digital]]'', 7 May 2012.</ref>

On September 8, 2014, [[Twitter]] announced its first commerce product, the ''Buy Now'' button, in partnership with Gumroad,<ref>Brustein, Joshua. [http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-08/twitters-new-buy-button-heres-how-it-will-work/ "Explaining Twitter’s New ‘Buy’ Button"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214231105/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-08/twitters-new-buy-button-heres-how-it-will-work/ |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]'', 8 September 2014.</ref> the ''Buy Now'' and Gumroad partnership was discontinued on January 7, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Twitter is phasing out the "Buy" button, will continue to offer donations|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2017/01/17/bye-buy-on-twitter/|access-date=2021-09-22|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-08-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820034149/https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/17/bye-buy-on-twitter/|url-status=live}}</ref>On September 30, 2014, Gumroad released its first mobile product, a utility [[iPhone]] [[IPhone apps|app]] that acts as a mobile library for content purchased via Gumroad.<ref>Ifeanyi, KC. [http://www.fastcompany.com/3036420/fast-feed/online-marketplace-gumroad-launches-an-iphone-app/ "Online Marketplace Gumroad Launched An iPhone App"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214232222/http://www.fastcompany.com/3036420/fast-feed/online-marketplace-gumroad-launches-an-iphone-app/ |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''[[Fast Company (magazine)|Fast Company]]'', 30 September 2014.</ref><ref>DBW. [http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/new-gumroad-iphone-app-helps-authors-sell-ebooks-direct/ "New Gumroad iPhone App Helps Authors Sell EBooks Direct"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215000630/http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/new-gumroad-iphone-app-helps-authors-sell-ebooks-direct/ |date=2014-12-15 }}, ''Digital Book World'', 30 September 2014.</ref>

== Creators on Gumroad ==

Many major and independent musicians have sold products via Gumroad, including [[Eminem]],<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Eminem on Gumroad|url=https://gumroad.com/eminem|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407174713/https://gumroad.com/eminem|archive-date=2016-04-07|access-date=|website=Gumroad}}</ref> [[Bon Jovi]],<ref>[https://gumroad.com/l/vuxsp "Bon Jovi’s Gumroad Page"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214233114/https://gumroad.com/l/vuxsp |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''Gumroad''</ref> [[Garth Brooks]],<ref>[https://gumroad.com/garth "Garth Brooks’ Gumroad Page"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214231435/https://gumroad.com/garth |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''Gumroad''</ref> [[David Banner]],<ref>Popper, Ben. [https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/17/3239985/gumroad-music-david-banner-girl-talk-commerce "Girl Talk goes Gumroad: a web payment startup woos pop stars"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023184823/http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/17/3239985/gumroad-music-david-banner-girl-talk-commerce |date=2016-10-23 }}, ''[[The Verge]]'', 17 August 2012.</ref> [[Ryan Leslie]]<ref>[https://gumroad.com/ryanleslie "Ryan Leslie’s Gumroad Page"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214231255/https://gumroad.com/ryanleslie |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''Gumroad''</ref> and others.

[[Magnolia Pictures]] distributes a curated selection of [[Film|films]] via Gumroad.<ref>[http://www.magpictures.com/magnoliaondemand/ "Magnolia Pictures"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121105508/http://www.magpictures.com/magnoliaondemand/ |date=2014-11-21 }}, ''Magnolia Pictures''</ref> [[Landmark Theatres]] also curates a selection of films distributed via Gumroad, including ''[[Jiro Dreams of Sushi]]'', ''[[Man on Wire]]'', ''[[Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson|Gonzo]]'', ''[[Page One: Inside the New York Times]]'', and ''[[Jesus Camp]]''.<ref>[http://www.landmarktheatres.com/landmarkselects/ "Landmark Theatres"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214232954/http://www.landmarktheatres.com/landmarkselects/ |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''Landmark Theatres''</ref>

[[Bestseller|Best-selling]] [[Author|authors]] like [[Tim Ferriss]],<ref>[https://gumroad.com/timferriss "Tim Ferriss’ Gumroad Page"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214230125/https://gumroad.com/timferriss |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''Gumroad''</ref> [[Chris Guillebeau]],<ref>[http://blog.gumroad.com/post/98251399343/chris-guillebeau-on-his-new-nyt-best-seller-writing "Chris Guillebeau on His New NYT Best Seller, Writing, and the Road"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926061432/http://blog.gumroad.com/post/98251399343/chris-guillebeau-on-his-new-nyt-best-seller-writing |date=2014-09-26 }}, ''Gumroad Blog''</ref> and [[John Green]]<ref>[http://johngreenbooks.com/things-i-can-do/ "Things I Can Do"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214234215/http://johngreenbooks.com/things-i-can-do/ |date=2014-12-14 }}, ''John Green’s Blog''</ref> also publish their books on Gumroad.

== Controversies ==

=== NFTs ===

On February 5, 2022, [[cartoonist]] [[Box Brown]] replied to a now-deleted tweet from CEO Sahil Lavingia about a project that uses [[non-fungible tokens]]. Brown was concerned if such plans were true. Gumroad announced via Twitter that it did not currently have plans to implement NFTs on the platform.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=gumroad|number=1489850811479846912|title=If and when we do anything related to crypto/NFTs, you’ll hear it from us first. For now, no plans.|date=2022-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Menegus|first=Bryan|title=Gumroad faces backlash over alleged NFT ambitions|url=https://www.engadget.com/gumroad-box-brown-nft-sahil-lavinglia-210047306.html|work=Engadget|publisher=Yahoo|date=2022-02-08|access-date=2022-02-08|archive-date=2022-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208210402/https://www.engadget.com/gumroad-box-brown-nft-sahil-lavinglia-210047306.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In response to the controversy related to NFTs, Gumroad's competitors such as [[Itch.io]] and Ko-Fi, confirmed that they do not have plans to use NFTs.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=kofi_button|number=1490034035317514244|title=We've been getting a lot of questions about NFT's again today… and to reiterate, it's firmly in the ‘No Flipping Thanks’ column ✌️}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet|user=itchio|number=1490141815294414856|title=A few have asked about our stance on NFTs: NFTs are a scam. If you think they are legitimately useful for anything other than the exploitation of creators, financial scams, and the destruction of the planet the we ask that please reevaluate your life choices. Peace ✌️}}</ref>