Summary: This article will provide general information on what Item Support is, and what’s expected of you as an Author offering Support.
Please Note: Item Support is only relevant to you if you are selling Theme and Code Items.
For more information, please read the full Support Policy.
What is Item Support?
Many Envato Market items can be described as “what you see is what you get”; for example, a photo or background graphic. These are straightforward and easy for customers to use. However, complex items like themes and plugins often require detailed documentation and comprehensive FAQs alongside the item as customers are more likely to need help with the features and functionality. There is no one better placed to provide that assistance than you, the author who created the item! Offering item support means you will be available to the buyer to iron out any potential issues they have in using the item.
Most ThemeForest and CodeCanyon authors can choose whether or not to offer Item Support to customers. If you choose to support your item, you are committing to provide your customer with a minimum of six months of support (from the date of purchase). Item Support does not apply to your items on Elements.
You can set your item support choice at an account level or at an individual item level. You can also select how you will provide support (eg. through item comments, via an external URL or via email) and set your expected response time. For more information on setting your support preferences refer to this article.
How long is support included for?
Items that are sold as 'Supported' automatically come with 6 months of support included in the List Price for a customer. Customers can choose to upgrade, extend or renew item support;
- A support upgrade is 6 months of additional support that can be purchased at the time of buying the item.
- A support extension is 6 months of support that can be purchased at any time after the initial purchase of the item, provided the current support period hasn’t expired.
- A support renewal is 6 months of support that can be purchased after any existing support for an item has expired.
The cost of item support will be calculated automatically as a percentage of the item price, as below.
What is expected of you if you offer support?
To avoid any confusion between you and your customers about your support obligations, our full item support policy clearly outlines what is and what is not included.
As an author of supported items, you must be available to:
- Answer technical questions about features and functionality.
- Help with third-party assets sold with the item (eg. bundled plugins).
- Assist in fixing issues.
You are not required to install or customize your items or assist with hosting or third party software.
As a minimum, all items (supported and unsupported) must work as described, be protected against major security concerns, have version upgrades (at your discretion), and be kept up to date with the most recent update available on Envato. Before selling items on ThemeForest and CodeCanyon, please read the Support Policy in detail so that you have a clear understanding of your obligations to your customers.
|
What's included |
Supported items | All items |
|
Updates to ensure the item works as described and is protected against major security concerns |
✅ | ✅ |
| Discretionary version updates | ✅ | ✅ |
| Availability of you, the author of the item to provide item support | ✅ | ❌ |
| Technical questions about the item's built-in features, functionality and third party plugins | ✅ | ❌ |
| Assistance with reported bugs and issues | ✅ | ❌ |
| Help with included third party assets (e.g. image sliders, contact forms) | ✅ | ❌ |
Tips for providing great support
Make sure you understand the buyer's issue or request before providing an answer. If it’s unclear or you're not sure, ask some clarifying questions such as:
- “Sorry, but I’m not sure I fully understand your question, do you mean ….. ?”.
- “Are you able to provide me with some screenshots or examples of the issue you’re having?”.
- “Can you please help me understand a bit more about XYZ??”.
You may have been asked the same questions many times before, however it’s likely this is all completely new and unknown to the buyer. Be mindful of how you communicate and explain the solution, even if it seems obvious or straightforward to you. Not all buyers will be experts, that’s why they’re coming to you for help!
- Consider adding common questions to the FAQs to your item’s Support tab or in the documentation included with your item.
- Manage buyers expectations by ensuring you have set your expected response times in your item settings, and clarify with customers what you can and can’t help with
- Keep your response times within or as close as possible to what’s indicated on your item page.
- Having no response time set creates uncertainty; set a response time that is realistic and that you can maintain effectively.
- Make sure you resolve any issues that a buyer has raised within a valid support period, regardless of whether the resolution time extends beyond the support period.