Selling virtual products on Taobao was the very first project I took on when I started online business. Years later, it still works. The golden rush may be over, but you can still make decent money. Best of all, this is a lifelong, long-term, stable business. And it costs almost nothing — meaning once you start, there's no risk of losing money; the only question is how much you earn.
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My journey selling virtual products on Taobao
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Looking back at my Taobao journey starting in 2009, I sold design software like PS, CAD, and UG. Early Taobao was a "wild growth" market with almost no rules, and I did great. Over time the platform tightened its management of virtual products, and there were crackdown periods. Yet despite the changing rules, this project keeps adapting and remains a promising long-term play.
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Why is it still worth doing now?
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Today, Taobao's policy on virtual products has loosened and is very friendly to newcomers. Let me share a few tailwinds:
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- No deposit needed, zero-cost store
For beginners, opening a store requires no deposit — the system only asks for it once you have orders. You can even choose deposit insurance: pay a few yuan to avoid the heavy deposit. This greatly lowers the barrier and is perfect for zero-basis folks. \
- Virtual course products almost never deduct points
Selling virtual products used to risk point deductions or even store bans due to piracy, but now this is handled leniently. Even if a virtual item violates rules, the platform just removes the listing without deducting points. That means you can upload lots of virtual products and accumulate experience fast. \
- Auto-delivery no longer requires running 24/7
Previously, auto-delivery meant keeping your computer on around the clock or buying cloud services. Now you no longer need to keep it running — the system handles delivery directly through auto-delivery software, so buyers