Plenty of teachers built their first audience on Tes. It's where UK teachers go looking, and it takes care of payments, VAT and downloads. So it's natural to feel nervous about selling anywhere else.
But if you've got a loyal following, a big catalogue and a growing sense that you're giving away a lot of each sale, your own website is worth thinking about. Here's how to do it calmly, step by step.
1. Leave Tes, or add your own website alongside it?
For most established sellers, the answer is add, at least to begin with. Tes is good at one thing your own site can't easily match: putting your resources in front of teachers who've never heard of you.
Your own site is good at different things. You keep far more of each sale (Tes pays a royalty of 60% to 80% of the VAT-exclusive price, which we explain in Tes royalties explained). You can offer memberships, bundles and discounts your way. And the people who buy are your customers, not the platform's.
A common pattern is to keep selling single resources on Tes as a shop window, and use your own site for memberships, bigger bundles and repeat buyers.
2. What you can take with you from Tes
It's worth being clear about this early, because it shapes everything else.
Yours to bring
- Your original resource files, at full quality (your own masters, not downloaded copies)
- Titles, descriptions, preview images and cover designs you made
- Your sales history, so you know which resources sell best
- Any customer or member lists from elsewhere, such as Payhip or your newsletter
What stays on Tes: the buyers. Tes is the seller of record, so the people who bought from you there are Tes's customers. Your sales area shows what sold and where, but not a list you can email. That's why the next step matters so much.
3. Start building your own list now
The single most useful thing you can do, months before any website, is start collecting email addresses from people who like your work. A few ways teachers do this:
- A free sample on your Instagram, Facebook page or Pinterest, in exchange for an email address.
- A short newsletter with a tip, a freebie and what's new. Once a fortnight is plenty.
- Your bio and highlights on social media, pointing to your sign-up rather than straight to a marketplace.
Before adding links or promotions inside resources you sell on Tes, check Tes's current author guidelines, so you stay on the right side of its rules.
4. What your teaching resources website needs
A shop for teaching resources isn't quite like any other online shop. Teachers come back again and again, often in a hurry, looking for one thing. The essentials:
- Payments to your own Stripe account, so money reaches you directly and nobody takes a percentage.
- A member area where people can find everything they've bought, any time.
- Search and filters by age, key stage, subject or topic, so a big catalogue stays easy to browse.
- Memberships and one-off sales side by side. Our guide to memberships or one-off sales covers pricing both.
- VAT handled properly. On Tes, Tes deals with VAT. On your own site, it's on you, and selling digital products to buyers outside the UK can bring extra rules. An accountant can tell you what applies.
- Someone looking after it: hosting, backups, security updates and help when something breaks.
You can build this yourself with a shop builder or WordPress, or have it built for you (here's how that works with us). Our comparison of Payhip alternatives for teachers runs through the options, and Where your platform fees really go compares what each costs per sale.
5. Launching your site well
The launch is mostly about telling people, clearly and more than once.
- Email your list a week before and on the day, with a reason to visit, such as a launch bundle or a free resource for members.
- Update every link you control: your social bios, Pinterest boards, Facebook group and email signature.
- Pin your new pages on Pinterest. Teachers save pins for months, so new pins keep sending people to your site.
- Keep Tes going while your site finds its feet, and look again in six months at where your sales come from.
If you also have members on Payhip or another platform, bring them across in the same move so they don't have to sign up again. Moving off Payhip without losing a single member explains how.
6. Quick answers
Can I take my Tes customers with me?
Not directly. Tes is the seller of record, so Tes buyers are Tes's customers. You can bring your own files and product details, and build your own list so future buyers come to you.
Should I close my Tes shop when I launch?
Usually not straight away. Many sellers keep Tes as a shop window for new buyers and use their own site for memberships, bundles and repeat customers.
Do I need to charge VAT on my own website?
On Tes, Tes handles VAT. On your own site it's your responsibility, and sales to buyers outside the UK can bring extra rules. Speak to an accountant before you launch.
Rent the marketplace for reach. Own the place your regulars come back to.
