Selling films and videos
Sell a short film online.
Low prices, no per-sale fees, more than one way to buy.
Short films sell at low prices, and low prices are exactly where per-sale fees hurt most. This guide covers what a short realistically sells for, how to package it so buyers pay more than once, and how to keep the fee from swallowing the sale.
Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month
By uncompressed.io · Updated October 2026
Short answer
How do you sell a short film or movie online?
Sell it from a shop page with a purchase, a cheaper rental and a free preview, and group it with your other shorts in a bundle so buyers pay once for more. At short-film prices a fixed fee per sale can take a quarter of the price, so a flat-fee platform with 0% commission, such as uncompressed.io, keeps the most.
- Sell a purchase and a cheaper rental
- Group several shorts into a bundle
- Avoid fixed fees per sale on low prices
- Add a free preview cut
- Check festival rules before selling publicly
- 0% commission on uncompressed.io
The fee problem
Why fixed fees hurt shorts
on a USD 3.00 short
USD 0.80
Gumroad takes
10% + USD 0.50 per direct sale
27%
Of the price
before card processing
USD 0.00
uncompressed.io takes
0% commission; Lite plan USD 9.00 a month
Vimeo OTT lists the same 10% plus USD 0.50 per transaction. A fixed fee is fair on a USD 20 film and harsh on a USD 3 one. Once you sell more than about 12 copies a month at this price, a USD 9.00 flat plan costs less than the per-sale fees.
The routes
Where shorts make money
and what each pays
Most shorts use these in order: festivals, then a curated channel or your own shop, then a free release. The streaming platform is included with every paid plan for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and stays included for them afterwards; after that date new activations add USD 39 a month.
Packaging
Four ways to sell a short
so buyers pay more than once
Purchase and rental
A purchase to stream forever, and a rental with a viewing window at a lower price. The rental is the easy yes for a stranger.
Bundle
Your shorts together at one price, with optional files such as the script, a director's commentary or stills.
Membership
If you make shorts regularly, a monthly or yearly tier gives members the whole collection and every new one.
Coupon for launch
A percent or amount off for the first week, limited by uses and expiry, shared with your mailing list.
Set it up
Five steps
in an afternoon
Upload the export
Streamed as exported, with no additional re-encode.
Price it
A purchase, a rental and the rental window.
Add a preview cut
Thirty to sixty seconds that shows the look of the film.
Build a bundle
Group it with your other shorts once you have three.
Share the link
Social bios, your site and every festival laurel post.
Who should pick something else
uncompressed.io for creators, in one table
Read from the live price list. Verified 2026-10.
| Commission on sales | 0 percent, at any volume. Buyers pay into your own payment account; your card processor's fee applies. |
|---|---|
| What you can sell | Purchases (stream forever), downloads, rentals with a viewing window, memberships with monthly or yearly tiers, bundles and series. |
| Member tools | Free trials per tier, coupon codes, gift memberships, refunds and free access from your earnings page. |
| Your storefront | A shop under your name at yourname.uncompressed.io/on-demand, or on your own domain. Buyers need no account. |
| Picture quality | Films stream as you exported them: no re-encode of video or audio, with an optional lighter copy for slow connections. |
| Viewing hours included | Lite 1,000, Pro 5,000, Max 15,000, Studio 25,000 hours a month, then USD 29 per extra 20,000-hour block. Playback never pauses. |
| Plans | Starter free (5 GB, one film at a time); Lite USD 9, Pro USD 39, Max USD 99, Studio USD 219 a month; yearly is one month free. |
| Leak Shield (optional) | Every buyer gets their own invisibly marked copy; the open web and torrent indexes are searched; a confirmed leak names and blocks the buyer and sends the takedown. USD 99 a month or USD 1,188 a year, any paid plan. |
| Inclusion window | The streaming platform is included with every paid plan for members who switch it on before 31 December 2026, and stays included for them afterwards; after that date new activations add USD 39 a month. |
Plans and add-ons: pricing. The whole cluster starts at the creator platform guide.
Questions
Frequently asked
How do I sell a movie online?
Put it on a page where viewers can pay to stream or download it, set a purchase and rental price, add a free preview, and share the link with your audience. A video shop such as uncompressed.io does this with 0% commission, paid into your own payment account.
How much can I sell a short film for?
Most shorts sell for a few dollars, often USD 2 to 5 for streaming. The price matters less than the package: a short alone at USD 3 earns little, while five shorts as a USD 10 bundle or a membership earn more per buyer.
Will selling my short online hurt its festival chances?
It can. Many festivals ask for premiere status or limit public online availability. Check each festival's rules before you sell publicly, and consider selling only after your festival run.
Is it worth selling a short film at all?
As income alone, rarely large. As a way to build a paying audience for your next film, yes: every buyer is someone who paid for your work and is likely to pay again.
What fee should I avoid on a cheap film?
A fixed fee per sale. Gumroad's USD 0.50 per direct sale plus 10% takes USD 0.80 of a USD 3 sale, more than a quarter. A flat monthly plan with 0% commission takes nothing per sale.
Can I sell my short as part of a collection?
Yes. A bundle sells several films for one price, and you can include optional files such as a script or stills.
Put your short on sale today.
Purchases, rentals, bundles and memberships come with every paid plan (Lite USD 9, Pro USD 39, Max USD 99, Studio USD 219 a month), with 0% commission paid into your own payment account.
Sources
- 1.Gumroad pricing (read 12 October 2026)
- 2.Vimeo OTT pricing breakdown, Vimeo help center (read 12 October 2026)