I’ve bought a frankly embarrassing number of video templates, presets, and LUTs over the years. Honestly? Half of them are gathering digital dust in a folder I open twice a year. But the other half — the good ones — I reach for constantly, and somewhere along the way I got obsessed with figuring out what separates the two. I’ve also studied the sellers who make their living from this stuff. It’s a quieter corner of the digital product world. Less hype than prompt packs, less glamorous than courses. But real talk: some of the steadiest income I’ve seen creators pull in comes from right here. If you’re an AI video creator who also edits — and most of us do both — you’re probably sitting on assets other editors would pay for. Let me show you how this market actually works.
What Sells: Templates, Presets, LUTs, or All Three
First, quick definitions. Buyers use these terms in a very specific way, and mixing them up is basically a neon sign that says “amateur.”
Templates
Pre-built project files. After Effects compositions, Premiere Pro sequences, DaVinci Resolve projects — stuff the buyer customizes with their own footage and text. I’ve bought templates for things I could have built myself. Animated titles. Transitions packs. Lower thirds. Logo reveals. I just didn’t have three hours, and the client needed it yesterday. That’s the whole value proposition: they solve a time problem. Your template gets them there tonight. Not the files. The hours back.
Presets
Saved settings — color grades, effects stacks, animation presets — applied to footage with one click. I’ve got a folder of these collected over the years, and I reach for the same five constantly. Presets sell on consistency and speed. A YouTuber who wants every video to look the same will pay for a pack that nails the look instantly instead of grading from scratch every time. An editor who needs one transition style across 50 clips will pay good money to not build it 50 times. Nobody dreams about presets. They just quietly save hours.
LUTs
Look-Up Tables. Basically color grading formulas — a LUT transforms the colors of footage in a predictable, repeatable way. I’ve used them to match AI-generated clips to real footage and to speed up my color workflow when deadlines get stupid. They’re the simplest product of the three. Just a .cube file. But they sell surprisingly well when they’re genuinely distinctive. The catch: the market is drowning in generic “cinematic” LUTs. You know the ones — teal and orange, moody, nothing special. Specificity wins. Every time.
Should You Sell All Three?
I’ve watched sellers do fine with just one. But the strongest offerings I’ve seen bundle them. A “YouTuber’s Editing Pack” with templates for intros, presets for consistent grading, and LUTs for the final look? That’s a complete solution. It feels finished. And it justifies a higher price without you having to argue for it. If you’re starting out, though, don’t launch all three at once. You’ll spread yourself thin and none of them will be excellent. Pick the one you know best. Nail it. Then expand. Depth first, breadth later.
Making Assets Other People Can Actually Use
Here’s where most template sellers fall flat. They build assets that work perfectly on their own machine, in their own project, with their own footage. Then a buyer tries to customize it and everything falls apart. I’ve been that frustrated buyer. Text layers buried five compositions deep. Changing the duration breaks every animation. “Easy customization” that apparently requires an After Effects degree I don’t have. One star. Refund requested. Here’s my checklist — earned the hard way.
Design for the Least Technical Buyer
Assume your buyer knows less than you. Way less. (Not a dig — it’s just reality.) I’ve learned to design templates where the customization points are impossible to miss:
- Clearly labeled layers (“EDIT THIS TEXT,” not “Text_Layer_07_final_v2”)
- Color controls in one place — not scattered across 20 layers
- Duration that’s easy to extend or trim without breaking animations
- Font links or embedded fonts. Nothing kills a template faster than missing fonts.
Test on a Clean System
Before I list any template, I test it the way a buyer will experience it. Fresh project. No custom plugins they might not have. Default settings. If your template needs third-party plugins, say so loudly in the listing — upfront, not in paragraph four of the FAQ. Nothing breeds bad reviews like hidden requirements. My “buyer simulation” checklist: new user account, standard software install, follow only the included instructions. If I get confused, buyers definitely will. And confused buyers don’t leave five stars.
Make It Flexible, Not Fragile
The best templates adapt gracefully. Change the text from 5 words to 15? The animation still works. Swap a landscape clip for portrait? Doesn’t break. Different frame rate? Close enough. Building that flexibility takes extra work — expressions, responsive thinking, testing edge cases you’d rather ignore. I budget about 30% of my template-building time for this, not just the initial design. It’s the difference between 5-star reviews and refund requests.
Version Compatibility
Software updates break templates. I’ve bought ones that only work in specific software versions, and finding out after paying is genuinely frustrating. So be explicit: “Works in Premiere Pro 2024+.” “After Effects 2023 or later.” When a major update drops, actually test your stuff and update your listings. Buyers check this before they buy — I do, because I’ve been burned.
Documentation Is the Product Too
I’m going to say something that might surprise you: I’ve seen documentation matter more than the asset itself. Think about it from the buyer’s side. They’re staring at your template, excited but a little anxious. Can they actually use this? Good docs answer that before it forms. Anxiety becomes confidence. Confidence becomes 5-star reviews. Here’s what I include with every template or preset pack.
Quick Start Guide
One page. “Do this, then this, then this, and you’ll have a customized result in 5 minutes.” I’ve learned that if a buyer can’t get a win in the first 5 minutes, doubt creeps in fast. The quick start prevents that.
Full Documentation
Every customization option, explained. What each control does. What happens if you change X. The common gotchas. And here’s my trick: I write this as I build the template, not after. Documenting after the fact means forgetting half the details. Your buyers will thank you.
Video Walkthrough
A 5–10 minute screen recording showing the template in action and how to customize it. This cuts support requests dramatically. Buyers would rather watch than read — always — and seeing it done once removes about 90% of confusion. Don’t overthink production value. Clear audio, visible cursor, deliberate pace. That’s all it takes.
FAQ From Real Questions
After your first few sales, you’ll get the same questions on repeat. Turn those into an FAQ. I’ve watched sellers cut their support time in half just by anticipating the common confusion points. Update it whenever a new question comes up twice — that’s a pattern, not a fluke.
Where Template Buyers Shop
Template buyers shop in specific places, and I’ve mapped the main ones. Nothing theoretical here — just what I’ve observed about each channel.
Dedicated Template Marketplaces
Sites built specifically for video templates and assets — the big names in motion graphics marketplaces. The upside is obvious: built-in buyer traffic from editors who are actively shopping. The downside? Commission cuts, and real competition. What I’ve noticed: these marketplaces favor sellers with big catalogs. One template gets buried. Fifty templates create a presence. If you’re going this route, plan for a catalog, not a single product.
General Marketplaces (Etsy, Creative Market)
Broader audiences, less targeted. I’ve seen LUT packs and preset bundles do well here, especially ones marketed to content creators rather than professional editors. The buyers are often YouTubers and social media creators who want professional-looking results without professional skills. The advantage: less competition from hardcore motion designers. The disadvantage: these buyers need more hand-holding — see the documentation section above, it matters double here.
Your Own Site / Gumroad
Best margins. Most control. Zero built-in traffic. The trade-off is real, but I’ve seen sellers do well here with a YouTube channel or social presence showing their templates in action. Every tutorial using your template is an ad for it — an ad that costs you nothing. This works especially well for niche templates. If you’re the go-to person for “real estate video templates” and your content proves it, buyers will come to you directly. No marketplace middleman.
What I’d Avoid
I’ve seen people try to sell templates on Fiverr — wrong model entirely, that’s for services, not products — and in social media DMs, which has no buyer protection and looks unprofessional. Stick to channels built for digital product sales.
Versioning and Updates Without the Headache
Software updates. New features. Buyer requests. Here’s the thing nobody tells you: templates aren’t “done” when you list them. They need maintenance. Ongoing, slightly annoying maintenance. Here’s the system I use to handle it without losing my mind.
Version Number Everything
v1.0, v1.1, v2.0. Boring. Essential. When a buyer reports an issue, the first question is “which version?” — and I want to answer it instantly. Put the version number in the product files and the documentation. It turns confusing support threads into simple ones. Five minutes of discipline now, hours saved later.
Batch Your Updates
Don’t push an update every time you fix a typo. I’ve found batching updates — quarterly, or when a major software version drops — is more efficient and way less confusing for buyers. “Version 2.0: compatible with 2026 software, 5 new templates added, bug fixes.” That’s a compelling update. Five tiny updates in a month? That’s noise. And noise trains buyers to ignore your update emails.
Communicate Updates Clearly
When you update, tell buyers what’s new and whether they need to do anything. I’ve seen sellers push breaking changes silently and face an absolute revolt in the reviews. Don’t be that seller. A simple changelog — even an email saying “v2.0 is live, here’s what’s new, your old version still works fine” — prevents about 90% of update-related complaints. Over-communicate. It costs you nothing.
Support Backward Compatibility When You Can
If possible, keep old versions available. Some buyers are on older software and genuinely can’t upgrade — locked workstations, old licenses, whatever. I’ve seen sellers maintain “legacy” versions alongside current ones. Extra work, yes. But it stops you from alienating buyers who’d otherwise be happy customers.
Pricing Against Free Alternatives
Okay, the elephant in the room: there’s a mountain of free templates, presets, and LUTs out there. YouTube is packed with “FREE 50 LUTS” videos. So how do you charge money when free alternatives exist? I’ve thought about this a lot — it’s the question every template seller has to answer — and here’s my honest framework.
Free Isn’t Your Competition (Exactly)
Free assets compete on price (zero), but they usually lose on everything else:
- Curation: 500 free LUTs means 490 you’ll never use. A curated pack of 20 excellent ones saves hours of sorting.
- Quality: Free assets are often untested, undocumented, and unsupported. I’ve downloaded free templates that were straight-up broken.
- Specificity: Free packs are generic by necessity. A paid pack for a specific niche or style has no free equivalent.
- Support: When a free template breaks, you’re on your own. Paid products come with someone who’ll actually help.
- Updates: Free assets get abandoned. Paid products get maintained. Or they should.
Your pricing needs to reflect these advantages. Don’t compete with free on price — compete on value.
Price for the Time Saved
I’ve found the most compelling pricing logic is time-based. If your template pack saves an editor 10 hours, and their time is worth $50/hour, that’s $500 of value. Charging $49 for it is a no-brainer. Frame your marketing around this math — not the number of files, but the hours saved. Actually, wait — it’s more like this: buyers don’t buy files. They buy the deadline they can now hit. Price that.
Tier Strategically
I’ve seen this structure work well: a free “lite” version with 5–10 assets (it competes directly with free alternatives, but funnels buyers to you), a standard pack at a fair price, and a pro bundle with everything plus bonuses. The free tier isn’t charity — it’s marketing that pays for itself. For more on pricing strategy, see my guide to pricing digital products.
The Bottom Line
Selling video templates, presets, and LUTs is an underrated business. It’s less hyped than prompt packs or courses, but I’ve seen it produce steadier income for creators who treat it seriously. The formula: make assets you’d actually use, make them bulletproof for beginners, document obsessively, price for the time saved (not the file count), and keep updating. Do that consistently and you’re building a real asset library business — not just selling files, but selling reliability. Start with what you know best. If you live in Premiere, start there. If you’re a color nerd, lead with LUTs. Depth in one area beats shallowness across three, and you can always expand once the first product proves itself.