Being a theme author I’m always on the lookout for where I will be able to get the most value out of my latest theme or template.
It’s because of this that I would like to share my favorite 5 marketplaces which I usually spend most of my time in.
I have really only sold items on two of these marketplaces, but the others have some fantastic products to choose from as well, which is why I would highly recommend them as well.
So without further ado, here is the list:
1. ThemeForest: My good old friend. I have been a member since 2009 and have published 4 of my themes on this marketplace. The community is fantastic, the sheer volume of traffic the marketplace brings to my site is something that would take months to build if I was to do it on my own.
Selling on the ThemeForest marketplace has been a very rewarding experience for me. I especially love the badges you get once you achieve a specific level in sales, Interacting with the community in the forums and seeing the fantastic work other fellow authors create.
You can also buy any kind of template imaginable. ThemeForest doesn’t only focus on WordPress. They also provide, landing pages, site templates, email templates and so much more.
For more information I would recommend you check out the huge collection of themes here.
2. Mojo Themes: Though not as big of a player as ThemeForest, I do have my Patagonia responsive landing page template listed and it has made a few sales to date as well (at the time of writing this article).
Even though I’m fairly new to this marketplace, on thing which has stood out for me is the great level of support I received in response to my enquiries. Would highly recommend checking it out if you would like a different variety of themes.
3. WooThemes: Based in Cape Town these guys specialize in all things WordPress. The quality of these are superb, beautiful, elegant and clean. Definitely up there if you’re looking to buy a high-quality WordPress themed.
I’m actually unsure if one can sell themes on this marketplace, but if I do find out I’ll be sure to update this blog with the details you’ll need.
Once other thing to point out, is that WooThemes are the guys behind WooCommerce – this is a very popular eCommerce component which integrates seamlessly on the WordPress platform and allows you to sell any of your goods or services.
4. Elegant Themes: Even though I have not had much exposure to ET, I have heard great things about the kind of quality themes they produce.
What is interesting about Elegant Themes is their pricing structure. They have 3 packages which you can sign up for with their corresponding features which you pay on a monthly basis and get access to their whole theme collection.
5. Creative Market: I only came across CM recently. What I find very interesting about this marketplace is the fact that as an author you can set your own prices on your product.
I did submit an item to this marketplace but I wasn’t receiving much traction from the listing. That being said, the marketplace has some fantastic work and I would strongly suggest you take it for a spin and see for yourself.
Which One Is For You?
I suppose to answer this question it comes down to whether you’re thinking or buying a theme or are looking for a marketplace to showcase your work and sell.
If selling the work is your goal, then I would suggest ThemeForest. There review process is quite strict, and you may get rejected on your first few goes. Don’t let this discourage you. Just keep at it, take the feedback on board and go again. Sooner or later your will see your portfolio grow as well as your income.
If you have any other marketplaces that you would recommend and have had experience with, whether it be buying or selling items, then please feel free to share this below in the comments area.
Thanks for reading and all the best.
– Leo
7 replies on “My Top 5 Marketplaces to Buy and Sell Themes”
nice blog , I have a question ; I’m kind of Newbie in this websites fundamental thing(learning html/css and going to js and php) ,I want to learn how to make templates and sell them in these websites can you give me some tips or info on how to use these websites and how to get good in this work
Hi Yussuf,
One of the best tips I can give you is to get started, submit and even if you get rejected, keep at it. You will soon learn more and more about design aesthetics, how to improve these and in return get better as you go along. Like anything, the more you do the better you become at it. You can also check out my series where I walk through exactly how I go through the process – you can check it out here
Really useful info..
Recently, my team decided to have product in WordPress theme and trying to dive in ThemeForest.. Have been Rejected more than once, but we still have the willing to submit again. If you have time, please just look at our initial version here and maybe you have some thoughts on it.
Have a nice day.
Thanks for stopping by – glad you found the post useful.
I took a quick look at your theme and one of the first things that stood out was the page load. It took almost 2-3 minutes to download the whole page – considering the theme is fairly image heavy I would strongly suggest you look into this. Not a reason for rejection I don’t think, but just overall user experience.
Slider typography needs some work. The text is too spaced out and seems disjointed.
You do have some nice tab features, I would recommend try to not provide every feature under the sun, but instead focus on simplicity and intuitive design components. Less is more.
Hi Leo Acosta, i hope you are in good health. Nice blog and very useful and helpful for me. I want to ask one think that I upload my first PSD template in themeforest and my template has been rejected. So please help me for improvement and also tell me where is my mistakes in my design and how can i improve my design for upload in themeforest..
Here is my design screenshot please and check my design and tell me where i did mistake http://i.imgur.com/ewoifZf.jpg
Hi Naveed,
Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you found the blog useful.
Re your question, it is challenging to pin point exactly why your item may have been rejected. Some of the things that did stand out after reviewing your screenshot was typography. You can improve on the line height of your paragraphs, as well as making sure your content blocks have enough breathing room – this will make it more appealing on the eye and in turn make your content more readable. I also found it hard to read the text which is overlaid on top of the hero unit image. Make sure there is sufficient contrast here, once again, making it more readable.
I hope the above helps you out, if you need anything else feel free to let me know.
Thanks,
Leo
Thanks Leo..