Selling through Instagram - the fastest way

Selling your own products or services through Instagram has never been easier. Using Linktree, Stripe, and Make, you can set up a basic online sales "system" in one day without writing code and without any financial investment.

Quick Monetization Through a Link in Bio

Instagram only allows one active link in your profile, but by using it cleverly, you can quickly start selling your products or services. With the help of simple no-code tools – such as Linktree, Stripe, and Make (formerly Integromat) – you can create a mini-store accessible from your link in bio and automate the sales process. This toolkit allows influencers and creators to instantly monetize their community practically without building a full online store. Below, we discuss each of these tools, how to use them, and the monthly costs of the solution.

Linktree – Multiple Links in One Place

Linktree is a popular tool that allows you to add multiple links under a single URL. With it, you bypass Instagram's one-link limitation – when your followers click on your link in bio, they see a special mobile page with a list of links to various offers. In practice, you can place buttons like "Buy e-book", "Webinar ticket", "Join the course" etc., directing to payment pages. Setting up Linktree is quick and simple – in a few minutes, you create an attractive list of links to your content and products. The platform offers a free plan that should be sufficient for getting started (it allows, among other things, unlimited links), as well as paid plans with additional customization features. In the context of sales, it's important that Linktree does not charge a commission if links direct to external sites (like Stripe). So you can confidently use the free version to add payment links for your products without worrying about extra fees.

Stripe – Fast Payments and Automatic Invoicing

Stripe is a global payment platform used by giants like Google, Amazon, and Shopify. Over 1.5% of global GDP flowed through Stripe in 2024. For you, this means your customers will pay in a secure and trusted way (Stripe meets the highest payment security standards). Creating a Stripe account is free – there are no monthly subscriptions or account maintenance fees. Stripe earns only from transaction fees, which for sellers are approximately 1.5% + 1 PLN for card payments from Poland/EU and about 3.25% + 1 PLN for international cards (other methods like BLIK or Przelewy24 have similar rates).

How to use Stripe for sales? After registering with Stripe, you add your products or services (e.g., e-book, webinar access, event ticket) along with prices. Stripe allows you to generate a Payment Link – a unique link for quick payment for a given product, leading to a secured checkout page. You share this link with buyers (e.g., by placing it in Linktree), and Stripe takes care of the rest. The customer can pay by card, Blik, Apple Pay, etc., and you receive funds in your Stripe account, from where they can go to your bank account. It's worth emphasizing that Stripe can automatically send customers an email with a payment confirmation (receipt) or even a generated PDF invoice after purchase. This way, every transaction is immediately documented – you save time because you don't have to manually issue invoices or send confirmations. Stripe offers the option to enable invoice sending for one-time purchases (for a small fee), but in most cases, the free automatic email receipt is more than enough for the buyer to receive proof of purchase.

Make (Integromat) – Automating Product Delivery

After collecting payment, you still need to deliver the purchased product or access to the buyer – and this is where Make.com (previously known as Integromat) comes in. Make is an automation tool that connects Stripe with other services, such as Gmail, Dropbox, or a mailing system. This allows you to create a simple workflow: whenever a new payment appears in Stripe (e.g., someone bought an e-book), Make automatically performs the set actions – for example, sends the customer an email with a download link for the e-book or an attachment, adds their address to your mailing list, and sends you a notification. All of this happens without your involvement, saving time and providing buyers with instant delivery of the digital product.

Importantly, Make doesn't require programming skills – it has an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. You select ready-made modules (e.g., Stripe module: "detect new payment," Email module: "send message") and connect them into a scenario. The platform provides hundreds of integrations, so you can easily set up, for example, sending an email from Gmail or MailChimp after a purchase. Make offers a free plan allowing up to 1,000 operations per month (which in practice means handling about 1,000 orders or other automation steps per month) and up to 2 simultaneously running scenarios. This means most beginning creators can start without any fees. If your sales grow, the paid Core plan starts at about $9 per month (approximately 40 PLN) and provides a much larger operations limit (10,000+ per month) and no limit on active scenarios. In short: with Make, you ensure that every buyer automatically receives what they paid for, and the entire process from payment to delivery becomes hands-free.

How to Start Selling Fast – Step by Step

Below is a summary of the process using Linktree, Stripe, and Make for instant community monetization:

1. Set up Linktree: Create a free Linktree account and add the generated link to your Instagram bio. In the Linktree dashboard, create buttons/links corresponding to your offers (e.g., "Buy my e-book for 49 PLN", "Webinar ticket" etc.). Thanks to Linktree, your followers can see your entire offer and choose the product that interests them with one click on your bio.
2. Set up payments in Stripe: Register a Stripe account (you provide basic business information or as an individual, plus a bank account for payouts). Then add your products/services with prices in Stripe. Use the Payment Links feature – create a quick payment link for each product in Stripe. This link immediately redirects the customer to the Stripe payment page, so you don't need your own store website. Make sure in your Stripe settings that you have automatic email confirmations enabled for successful payments (so every buyer immediately gets a confirmation/invoice). You can also personalize the payment page (e.g., add your logo) and the post-purchase message, but this isn't necessary for the start.
3. Connect automation in Make: Go to Make.com and create a new automation scenario. Select the Stripe module as a trigger – e.g., "New Payment"/"Charge succeeded" for your Stripe account. Add another module, e.g., Email (or Gmail), which will send a message to the customer. In the email body, you can include a polite thank you for the purchase and a link to download the product (e.g., a link to a PDF file with the e-book on Google Drive or an attached file). Connect the modules so that after detecting a new payment, an email is automatically sent to the address provided during payment. Additionally, you can expand the scenario with other actions – e.g., adding the buyer to a newsletter, sending yourself a notification on Slack about a new sale, etc. When everything is set, launch the scenario and test it (Make allows you to simulate the flow to make sure the email with the link sends correctly).
4. Share your offer and earn: Once the above elements are ready, your sales "infrastructure" is in place. Now in your Linktree, attach the copied Stripe payment link under each button/offer. You can arrange these links in an attractive order and briefly describe them (e.g., "E-book: 10 ways to... – 49 PLN"). Then publish the changes – your link in bio on Instagram now leads to a mini-page with purchase buttons. When a user clicks and pays through Stripe, the payment is processed immediately, Stripe sends them an email confirmation, and Make delivers the purchased e-book automatically to their inbox. You, on the other hand, receive funds (minus a small Stripe fee) in your Stripe account, from where you can withdraw them to your bank. Without any manual involvement, you've handled the sale – you can focus on promotion and creating more products!

Monthly Costs and Available Plans

The main advantage of this approach is very low fixed costs – you can start selling practically for free, paying only commissions on actually completed transactions. Here is a breakdown of costs for each element:

- Linktree: $0 on the free plan (Free) – this plan offers unlimited links and many basic features, which is more than enough for most creators starting out. Paid plans are also available (Starter ~$5 and Pro ~$9 per month), providing additional customization options or advanced statistics, but they are not necessary for the "link in bio -> payment" integration. No sales commission when linking externally (Linktree earns only from optional subscriptions).
- Stripe: $0 per month – Stripe does not charge for account creation or maintenance. The only costs are transaction fees: approximately 1.5% + 1.00 PLN for card payments from the European Economic Area and approximately 3% + 1.00 PLN for cards outside the EEA. For example, when selling an e-book for 50 PLN, the Stripe fee would be approximately 1.75 PLN – a competitive rate for convenient online payment processing. Sending email confirmations is free; optional PDF invoice generation costs +0.4% (max 2 PLN) per transaction, but this is an opt-in feature. There are no hidden or fixed fees – you only pay when you earn.
- Make (Integromat): $0 on the free plan – the free plan allows up to 1,000 operations per month and maintains 2 active scenarios, which often covers the needs of a beginner seller (e.g., automatic delivery of up to 1,000 e-books per month). The free plan has a scenario execution frequency limitation (every 15 minutes), but this is usually sufficient – the buyer will still receive the email within a few minutes of purchase. If your sales volume increases, you can consider the paid Core plan at approximately $9 per month (about 35-40 PLN), which offers 10,000 operations/month and no scenario limits, or higher plans (Pro $16, Teams $29) with even larger limits and features for advanced users. For the start, however, no additional fees are needed – full sales automation can run entirely on free plans of all these tools.

Summary

Selling your own products or services through Instagram has never been easier. Using Linktree, Stripe, and Make, you can set up a basic online sales "system" in one day without writing code and without any financial investment. This fastest monetization method allows online creators – influencers, bloggers, trainers – to turn followers into customers with minimal effort. Remember to clearly communicate the value of your product to your audience and promote the link in bio in your posts/Stories. When the first customers start appearing, the automated process will handle the sale from payment to delivery, and you'll be able to focus on further growing your social media business. Good luck monetizing your community!

Sources: Official information and documentation of tools (Linktree, Stripe, Make) as well as external reports for data verification were used, including e-commerce blogs and tool reviews. The most important ones are: PrestaShop Blog (tips on link in bio), Wise article on Stripe in Poland (fee breakdown), Stripe documentation (automatic confirmations and invoices), and Polish reviews of Make (available free plan limits and paid plan prices). All amounts and rates current as of July 2025. Using the described free plans allows you to start selling without risk and test your market idea practically without costs – and in case of success, you can always scale tools as your sales grow. Good luck!