Whether you’re a designer, developer, or WordPress theme programmer, and you work freelance or prefer it at least, it’s good to get familiar with the Envato Market. Based on my simple experience with it, I’d like to share some tips and things that might help your work get accepted, or at least ensure that a rejection is only temporary.
Choose a Trending or Less Common Idea in the Market
The concept of your work is very important. One of the most common reasons for rejection is the abundance of similar works in the market. If you’re working on a file for GraphicRiver, try to avoid overused icons, social media elements, and web templates. If you’re submitting to ThemeForest, steer clear of Coming Soon pages, personal pages, and templates with overly popular ideas. Try creating a medical template, for example, and make it stand out with unique and different designs. Aim for niche markets and avoid news templates and personal blogs, where competition is fierce, leading them to scrutinize the smallest details of your work.
Pay Attention to Quality
Envato is looking for high-quality products, both in design and coding. Careful attention to your code’s structure and avoiding messy lines is crucial for acceptance. Focus on the aesthetics and professionalism of your work, both in design and coding. If you neglect this point, you’ll likely receive a rejection message like this:
“Unfortunately your submission doesn’t meet our current minimum quality requirements for the category it was submitted to. Please consider taking some time to familiarize yourself with our current library and quality levels of popular items before resubmitting.”
Which means your work doesn’t meet their quality standards.
Pay Attention to the Details
If you’re working on a design or artwork for GraphicRiver, make sure to check the Grids and Bleeds in your work, close paths, and even reduce the use of excess Dots in your designs.
Do they check even the smallest points and paths?
Yes, reviewers meticulously inspect every detail. If a line that should have only two points, for instance, has additional points, they might ask you to remove them or reject the work entirely. Approach your design as if you were creating something completely flawless and perfect. Even the naming of Layers in your work needs careful consideration. Group shapes into Groups and label them neatly according to their type.
If you neglect margins in your print work, you might receive a message like this:
“The envelope isn’t print ready when it is set up like this. You need to provide a template of an unfolded envelope with a die cut layer as envelopes are printed before they are folded.”
Or if you forget to label one of the files, you might encounter a message like this:
“The preview image set here is still incorrectly labelled. They should be labelled as such “xx_aname.jpg” where xx is a leading double digit number starting at 01.”
Rights, Libraries, and Fonts
Do not use unauthorized or pirated images, or even parts of other templates in your work. Reviewers thoroughly check the smallest details in your work. Yes, you can use free social media icons in your template as part of it, but if your work is entirely based on a free file, it will be rejected.
If you include fonts in your work, you might get a message like:
“Please remove the font file, and the license.txt from the main download file.”
Don’t leave your work without providing links to the fonts you used or the libraries included in your template. If you omit any details, you might receive a message like:
“Please also add the font link to the item description.”
Naming, Descriptions, and Images
Make your work stand out by showcasing it with attractive and distinctive previews, both externally and internally. Your description should clearly summarize the concept of your work and its value to the user, free of typos or grammatical errors. Ensure your work’s name is unique, not already in use in the marketplace, and accurately reflects the work. Mention the key features or files the user will get upon purchase, and if you provide technical support, mention that as well.
Do Not Offer Bonuses or Gifts with Your Work
The marketplace does not accept the idea of bonuses or promotional gifts with your work. If you plan to sell a web design, for example, don’t add free icons as a bonus. This might lead to rejection or a request to remove it. You might receive a modification request like this:
“Please remove the word “bonus” from the preview image and from the item description.”
Avoid Using Logos and Trademarks
Avoid using logos or names of other companies in your work. For instance, your work might be rejected if it includes logos of other websites or services, such as Apple, PayPal, Evernote.
Provide All Useful Formats for the User
If you’re offering vector work like business cards, icons, or ready-made shapes, ensure you provide all the formats that might be useful to the user. Don’t just stick to AI format; include EPS, PDF, SVG formats as well.
Ensure Compatibility with Older Software Versions
Don’t make your work compatible with the latest version of Photoshop only. Make it available for older versions like Photoshop CS4 and above. The same applies to libraries and software versions your work supports.
Update Your Work Regularly
Updating your work regularly is more important for the user than for the reviewer. Regular updates, even if they include new color options or multiple files, encourage the user to purchase your work and show that you care about your product.
Don’t Expect to Make Thousands of Dollars Immediately
No matter how great your work looks or how well it’s accepted, it doesn’t mean it will achieve hundreds or thousands of sales immediately or in a short time. Selling in Envato marketplaces requires patience, smart topic selection, and real effort in working on your products and their appearance in the marketplace. Competition is fierce, and the number of similar products sold daily is very large. So, focus on your work, its details, and enjoy the acceptance email and the ideas you plan to present more than the immediate financial aspect.
Of course, I didn’t cover every single point related to working on Envato marketplaces, but these are key points based on my personal experience and some conclusions from submitting works to them and understanding their acceptance or rejection process.
