Why doesn't the website have a shopping cart?

There is no shopping cart on the site, which I understand is inconvenient, because it means you have to buy products one-by-one rather than adding them to a cart.

Currently each product page has buttons powered by Gumroad, which you can use to purchase individual items, but Gumroad doesn't currently support a shopping cart for multiple items.

So in some ways using Gumroad as the backbone for the store has some drawbacks, but I still went ahead with it. Let me explain why:

I built this site using Squarespace, because it was the most efficient way to create a modern website for someone like me who doesn't have any coding skills. I had two choices when setting up the site, use Gumroad (where my products were already being hosted) which doesn't offer a cart, or use the built-in Squarespace selling solution which does, however SquareSpace is an inferior platform to Gumroad for selling digital products because it places too many restrictions on what you can sell and how.

For example, on SquareSpace the total size of any product can't exceed 300mb, you can only have one file so everything must be zipped, and the customer must download within 24 hours after which the link expires. There is no way to update products.

On Gumroad things are much better: you can sell multiple files, the maximum size is 16GB, customers have permanent access to what they have bought so they can download again at any time, and I can issue updates and bug fixes.

So while the initial shopping experience with the Gumroad solution is inferior, I think that in the long term it's still much better for the customer. It's even better if the customer opens a Gumroad account, and I will explain in more detail why you should consider this.

If you create a Gumroad account everything you buy from me will be stored in a library in the cloud, which you can download at any time. It also means that when I update a product with new features or bug fixes you will be notified and can download the update. You will never lose access to what you bought, so if you misplace the files or lose them in a computer failure you can simply download them again with no hassle. 

Now I completely understand that for many people opening a new account with some random service can seem like an unnecessary chore, I get that and I often feel that way too. But think of it this way: by opening an account with Gumroad what you are really doing is opening an account with richardyot.com, to host any the content you buy from me. With the side-benefit of also then having accounts with anyone else that sells content via Gumroad.

Why should I join your mailing list?

By joining my mailing list you will always be kept informed of new releases and discounts. I really try my best to respect my customers and keep the emails to the absolute minimum. This means I only send emails out for very specific reasons: when I release new content, or when I run a sale or promotion (which is roughly twice a year).

Also, if you have bought a kit or some training, I occasionally update these with additional features and content, or bug fixes, in which case only the people who have bought that product will get an email notification to let them know about the update. Essentially the emails I send are intended for your benefit, not mine, because I put my customers first, always.

If you want to know when I release new content, and so take advantage of the early bird discounts I always offer, you should be on the mailing list - that way you won't miss out.