How to Price a Course for Families¶
You've already decided to list a course you teach. The harder question is what to type into the price field, and it's the question most teachers put off longest, because there's no rubric for it and no one at NavEd who will hand you a number. This post is the thinking to work through before you set one: the two pricing shapes NavEd Network offers, exactly what comes off the top, and how to land on a price you'd have been glad to pay yourself.
You set it. Nobody sets it for you.¶
On NavEd Network, the price is the seller's call, full stop. NavEd doesn't suggest a number, doesn't set a floor or ceiling, and doesn't change it once you've listed it. That's freeing and a little uncomfortable at the same time: there's no default to fall back on, and no chart telling you what a "writing course for ages 10 to 12" is supposed to cost.
Individual and Family: the two shapes¶
Two pricing options exist today: Individual, a single price for one child's seat in the course, and Family, a single price that covers more than one child from the same household. There's no subscription and no payment plan. A parent pays once, on the course page, and that's the whole transaction.
If your course runs for a set number of weeks with a defined amount of work in it, both prices are easier to reason about than an open-ended one would be. Think in terms of what you're actually delivering: a set of units, a set amount of your own grading time per student, and the shape stays the same whether one child from a family enrolls or three.
A Family price is worth offering whenever you'd welcome more than one sibling in the same course at once, and worth skipping if a second or third child from the same household costs you the same grading time a second Individual purchase would. There's no rule requiring a Family price to sit lower than two Individual seats combined. That's a decision about the work, not a discount you owe.
If you put up a free sample, it sits at the top of your course page where any family can watch it without an account or a card number. It won't change your price math, but it changes how much a stranger has to trust you before she pays. A course with nothing to preview is a harder sell at any price than one where a family already watched you teach a lesson herself.
What comes off the top¶
NavEd keeps 3 percent of what a course sells for. Stripe, which processes the card payment, keeps its own standard fee: 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction. Both come out of the price you set, before the rest reaches your Stripe account, on a 7-day rolling payout schedule. The section below runs the actual numbers at a few price points, not rounded estimates.
Nothing is owed if the course doesn't sell. Listing itself costs nothing, so a course sitting at zero sales costs you nothing beyond the time you already spent building it.
Setting a number you'd pay¶
There's no dataset here to lean on for what comparable courses charge. What's honest to say instead: think about what you would have been glad to pay, as a parent, for the specific thing you built. Not a generic "online course," but this course: the number of weeks it runs, what your own grading and feedback add to it, and what it would have been worth to you if someone else had built it for your kid.
Consider what a family already pays for instruction they can't get anywhere near them, whether that's a tutor, a specialized subject, or a teacher whose approach actually fits their kid. You already know what that's worth in your own community, because you've watched families choose it. Price for that same value, not for a download.
It's fine to start lower than you think you should, especially for a first listing with no track record yet. A first course with a fair price and an honest description does more for a first-time seller than a high price sitting unsold. You can always price your next course differently once you've seen how the first one lands. If you haven't built the course itself yet, our guide to selling a course you already teach covers that step first.
Running the math at a few price points¶
The two percentages apply the same way at any price, so it's worth running the numbers before you settle on one:
- At $50: NavEd's 3 percent is $1.50, Stripe's fee is about $1.75, and $46.75 reaches you.
- At $100: NavEd's 3 percent is $3.00, Stripe's fee is about $3.20, and $93.80 reaches you.
- At $200: NavEd's 3 percent is $6.00, Stripe's fee is about $6.10, and $187.90 reaches you.
None of that changes what a family pays. It only changes how you think about what a given price is actually worth to you once the fees are out. If you're weighing a Family price against selling two Individual seats separately, run both totals through the same math before you decide which one you'd rather list.
Revisiting the price on your next course¶
The first course you list is also the first data point you have. If it sells at the price you set, that tells you something about what this particular audience was willing to pay for this particular course, not necessarily every course you'll ever build. A shorter unit, a narrower age range, or a subject with less competition for a family's attention can each justify a different number, and none of that has to be decided today. There's no penalty for pricing your second listing differently than your first. Each course stands on its own price, its own description, and its own place in the list.
Price doesn't buy you a better spot in the list¶
Nothing about your price affects where your course appears. The course list is ordered by when a listing went live, not by price, rating, or anything a teacher could pay to change. A course priced low and a course priced high sit in the same kind of card, in the same list, decided only by the family reading the description and deciding what fits.
FAQ¶
What pricing options exist on NavEd Network?
Individual, for one child's seat, and Family, for more than one child from the same household. Both are paid once. There's no subscription and no payment plan today.
Who sets the price of a course?
The seller does. NavEd doesn't suggest a price, set a minimum, or change what you've listed.
How much does NavEd take when a course sells?
NavEd keeps 3 percent. Stripe's own card processing fee, 2.9 percent plus 30 cents, also comes out. On a $100 course, that's $3 to NavEd, about $3.20 to Stripe, and $93.80 to the seller.
When do I actually get paid?
Money reaches your own Stripe account on a 7-day rolling payout schedule, with NavEd's fee and Stripe's fee already taken out.
Does a higher price get my course ranked higher in the list?
No. The list is ordered by how recently a course went live. Nothing about price, rating, or payment changes where a course appears.
What happens if nobody buys my course?
Nothing is owed. Listing is free, and NavEd is only paid out of an actual sale, so a course that doesn't sell costs you nothing beyond the time you spent building it.
Built the course already? Setting a price is the last step before listing it.