Selling with the Direct Buy Button
No Logistics to Manage
Lulu handles the checkout process, taxes, printing, and shipping. All you need is a published project.
Embed it on Your Site
No plugins required, just add the Direct Buy Button short code to your website, blog, or landing page.
Share it Anywhere
Use a Direct Checkout link in your email newsletter, social bio, direct message, QR code, or event materials.
Print-on-Demand Books
Each book is printed on-demand and fulfilled globally. You’ll never have to manage shipping or inventory.
Direct-to-Reader Sales Made Simple
Use Lulu to create two unique ways to sell your book. Lulu manages the shopping cart and secure checkout is powered by Stripe so you won’t need to worry about inventory, taxes, or shipping.
Get a direct URL you can share anywhere by simply adding the link.
Embed a short piece of code on your site to create a buy button.
Safe & Secure Checkout Powered by Stripe
To use the Direct Buy Button, you'll create a profile with Stripe, one of the world's most trusted payment platforms. Stripe verifies your identity for secure payments and to prevent fraud, giving both you and your customers a safe checkout experience.
Grow Your Business with Reader Data
Access customer names, emails, shipping addresses, order history, and marketing opt-in status. Use order data for customer support and to build a dedicated list of buyers for future marketing efforts.
Buy Button Interactive Demonstration
Use the interactive demo page to see how buy buttons can be customized and styled. Test the cart and checkout experience before you create your buy buttons.
You’re 3 steps away from easy direct-to-reader sales.
STEP 1
Publish a Project
You must have a published project in your account to generate a Direct Buy Button. Learn how to publish a print book or calendar on Lulu.
STEP 2
Create a Buy Button
Click ‘My Stores’ to go to your Direct Dashboard and create a Direct Buy Button sales channel. You’ll connect to Stripe during this process.
STEP 3
Connect & Customize
Select a published project to connect to your Direct Buy Button. Customize the colors, fonts, and other details or copy a direct URL.
Watch the Direct Buy Button Tutorial
This short tutorial video outlines the steps to create your sales channel, register a Stripe account, and build a buy button.
Direct Buy Button FAQs
What is the Direct Buy Button?
The Direct Buy Button is a fast and easy way to sell your print books or calendars. With a published project, you can connect the buy button and offer that project on your website, social media profile, or through an email newsletter.
The Direct Buy Button offers a complete product experience, including your book’s cover image, title, author info, description, and a button to add your book to the cart. Checkout is powered by Stripe and managed by Lulu, meaning you will not have to worry about taxes or shipping. When a book is sold, Lulu handles printing and shipping, sending you revenue via your Stripe account.
You'll have access to all 3,000+ possible sizes, paper types, and binding options to create custom books, magazines, workbooks, guides, journals, and branded merchandise (like planners and calendars).
What Do I Need to Use the Direct Buy Button?
To create Buy Button or Direct Checkout link, you will need to have a published, printable project in your Lulu account. Ebooks are not currently available for Lulu Direct. You will need to select one of your published projects while setting up the Buy Button.
Need to learn more about creating a project on Lulu? Our Create page has short, easy to follow instructions to help you prepare you files and publish your project.
You will also need to create a Stripe profile during the initial set up. This requires adding personal information and bank account information in Stripe’s system to enable payments.
Are there any fees associated with using Direct Buy Buttons?
There are no fees for setting up a Stripe profile or creating the Buy Buttons or direct URL to sell your books.
When an order is placed, the customer pays Lulu via Stripe. We take the printing, shipping, payment processing fee, and fulfillment fee from the total payment. The rest is paid out through your Stripe account, based on our payout schedule.
What is the payout schedule for my sales?
The payout schedule is based on your account stage. There are two stages, which determine how fast payouts arrive and how much money gets held back as a reserve.
Standard - An account is considered Standard until it has accumulated $3,000 in gross order value. Standard accounts receive payment 14 days from the date of each order, for 95% of the order revenue. This is checked daily, and payouts are handled through your Stripe account. The additional 5% is held in reserve and is released after 30 days.
Verified - An account is considered Verified once gross order value exceeds $3,000. Verified accounts receive their payment in 7 days instead of 14, and the reserve is held for 14 days instead of 30.
The reserve is held to ensure you’re able to offer refunds when necessary. The reserve rolls over based on your account stage, so you will always be paid out the full amount you earned from each sale.
Why should I use a Direct Buy Button?
You should use the Direct Buy Buttons if you have an audience but don’t want to manage your own sales.
There are two unique ways to use this sales channel through Lulu:
Create a simple URL for your book. When a reader clicks this URL from anywhere, they’ll be brought to a checkout experience powered by Lulu and Stripe, allowing them to purchase your book directly from you.
Embed a buy button and product details on your website, blog, or a landing page. They can add the book to a shopping cart managed by Lulu and checkout using Stripe.
We handle collecting taxes, offering shipping methods, and fulfilling the order.
When you sell your books directly to your audience, you can capture your readers' email contact information for future marketing efforts. You’ll retain 100% of your revenue, only paying Lulu for printing, shipping costs, and processing fees. We’ll handle the packaging and shipping for you.
What are the benefits of the Direct Buy Button?
Lulu’s Direct Buy Button uses a simple line of code to embed a cart anywhere. You’ll also have access to a unique buy URL for your book, allowing you to sell from your email or social media platforms. Using a buy button has several benefits for your content business:
Retain 100% of your revenue
White-label shipping for all orders
Global shipping and fulfillment
Fully automated sales, printing, and shipping
Easily embedded code or direct buy link
When you use the Direct Buy Button to sell your book, customers buy from you directly. You control the price and know exactly how much you'll earn from every sale. With white-label receipts, your customers see your branding when they order your book.
How does Lulu Direct work?
Once you’ve published a project, you can use Lulu Direct to connect that project to your Shopify, Wix, or WooCommerce site. You can also take advantage of the Direct Buy Button, Direct Checkout link, and Order Import tool.
For the Direct Buy Button and Direct Checkout link, the cart and checkout use Stripe for secure checkout. After setting up your sales channel, the entire ordering process can be automated, freeing you up to create more content!
We take the printing and shipping costs, along with Direct fulfillment fee and payment processing fee, from the total payment. The rest is paid out through your Stripe account, based on our payout schedule.
Knowledge Base
Details about Lulu's fulfillment and shipping, along with guidance to help you make your project perfect. All from our dedicated support staff.