Companion to the lessons "The honest money in courses" and "Platform arithmetic"
1. Founding Price vs Public Price
Line
Course example
Your course
Founding price
$149
Public price
$249
Presale revenue at ten seats
$1,490 before recording a lesson
The gap must be large enough to reward the risk on an unbuilt product; operator patterns include $297 presale against $497 later. Price bands from the pricing lesson: under $50 almost never right; $50–$200 right for a first course and presales; $200–$600 the workhorse band; $600+ needs results and access to you.
2. Units Needed to Hit a Target
Target
Net per sale (from section 3)
Units needed
3. Fee per Sale Across the Five Platforms (worked on a $150 sale; enter current pricing at your own check)
Two different formulas: Gumroad's 10% + 50¢ is all-in, processing already inside it. The hosted platforms charge a transaction fee plus 2.9% + 30¢ processing passed through as its own line (about $4.65 on $150), with monthly fees on top.
Platform
Entry monthly fee
Transaction fee
Kept on $150 (worked)
Kept at your price
Gumroad (checkout only)
$0
10% + 50¢ per direct sale, all-in
$134.50
Teachable Starter
$39
7.5% + processing
$134.10
Podia Mover
$49
5% + processing
$137.85
Thinkific Basic
$54
0% + processing
$145.35
Kajabi Basic
$179
0% + processing
$145.35
Marketplace comparison: on Udemy, coupon/referral-link sales pay you 97%, every other sale 37% (so a $150 organic sale keeps about $55), list prices cap at $199.99, the shelf runs on $12–$20 promotions, and you never get the buyer's email. Gumroad's Discover marketplace listings cost a flat 30% instead of the direct rate.
4. Launch P&L (revenue minus fees and refunds)
Line
Your launch
Gross revenue (units × price)
Platform transaction fees
Processing (2.9% + 30¢ per sale, unless inside an all-in fee)
Monthly platform fee for the launch month
Refunds (operators who deliver typically see under 5%)
Net
5. Crossover Volume for Graduating Platforms
Worked from the course: two sales a month on a fifty-dollar-a-month platform is a charitable donation to a software company; the same two sales through a zero-monthly checkout costs $31 total (10% + 50¢ per sale). At roughly ten to fifteen sales a month, the zero-transaction-fee platforms start beating the percentage checkout. Graduate then, not before. Presale on the lightweight checkout; move to a hosted platform when the public launch is real.