Ecommerce OS · Info Products9 min readUpdated November 3, 2026

How to Start and Scale an Info Product Business

Start and scale a course or coaching business: format, validation, platform cost, pricing, payment plans, rules from day one, what breaks at scale.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 15 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

Start an online course or coaching business by picking one format and one skill-based promise, then pre-sell it before you build it. Choose a platform on total cost per sale, and set your payment structure (one payment, payment plan or membership) from the first sale. Scale by raising revenue per customer and fixing payments before buying more traffic.

Ruzuku's median one-time course price is $150; courses with coaching or mentoring in the title have a $1,900 median (August 2026).
Shopify's free "Shopify Digital Products" app lists "Courses" and "Videos" among the products it can deliver (read November 2, 2026).
Kajabi starts at $179 a month and Teachable at $39, billed monthly; Teachable's Starter plan adds a 7.5% fee per sale (November 2026).
The FTC counts "earn a six-figure income" as an earnings claim; Stripe bans "get rich quick" schemes.
Visa forbids interest on merchant payment plans (rules of October 24, 2026).

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This guide is part of our playbook on the best ecommerce platform for info product businesses. The merchant account and compliance side of the launch is in how to start an info product business: payments and compliance.

The 4 stages of an info product business

Each stage has one goal and one bottleneck. Do not solve stage 4 problems at stage 1.

Stage	Goal	What usually blocks
1. Launch	One offer, one format, first paid buyers	Building the whole course before anyone pays
2. First customers	20 to 100 buyers from your own audience	NoList, no reason to buy now
3. Structure	A funnel that sells without you on every call	Platform fees, failed payments, refunds handled by hand
4. Scale	Paid traffic and more offers	One processor, disputes without proof, ad rejections

Fig. 1Four stages, one goal each

1. LaunchOne offer, one format, first paid buyers
2. First customers20 to 100 buyers from your own audience
3. StructureA funnel that sells without you on every call
4. ScalePaid traffic and more offers

Do not solve stage 4 problems at stage 1.

Stage 1: pick the format and the promise

Course, coaching, membership and ebook do not deliver, bill or carry risk the same way. Choose one to start.

Format	Delivery	Typical payment	Card category (MCC)
Self-paced course	Instant access to recorded lessons	One payment, sometimes 2 to 3 installments	Usually 8299, schools and educational services
Coaching or cohort program	Live sessions over weeks	Payment plan or one large payment	Usually 8299
Membership or community	Ongoing access, new content	Monthly or yearly	Stays in 8299 for most course memberships
Ebook or templates	Instant download	One small payment	5815, digital goods media

Fig. 2Four formats, and the card category each usually gets

Your first offerPick one format to start

Self-paced courseInstant access · usually 8299
Coaching or cohort programLive sessions · usually 8299
Membership or communityOngoing access · 8299 for most
Ebook or templatesInstant download · 5815

Your acquirer assigns the code; it describes what you sell and is never a way around a rule.

Watch out

Promise a skill, not an income. The FTC treats statements like "earn a six-figure income" or "earn your investment back within one year" as earnings claims6. If you promise to provide buyers with clients, accounts or an online store, the FTC's Business Opportunity Rule can apply, with a disclosure document due at least seven days before payment6.

Validate before you build

Recording 40 lessons before your first sale is the most common way to lose six months. Sell first, then build.

Write the offer on one page: the skill, who it is for, what is included, the price.
Show it to your audience: email list, social followers, past clients.
Pre-sell a first cohort at a launch price, with a start date and a clear refund policy.
Deliver it live to that cohort. Record the sessions.
Turn the recordings into the course, based on the questions they asked.

Sell first, then build.

A live first cohort also gives you real, typical reviews, with permission, for the sales page.

Choose the platform on total cost

Platform cost is the subscription, plus any platform fee per sale, plus card processing. Compare them on your expected monthly sales.

Option	Monthly plan (billed monthly)	Per-sale fees	Best for
Kajabi	From $179	2.9% + $0.30 with Kajabi Payments (US, Basic); 2% extra with a third-party provider on Basic1	All-in-one: course, email, pages
Teachable	From $39	7.5% on Starter, 0% above with Teachable Payments; cards 2.9% + 30¢ (US)2	Low starting cost
Thinkific	From $109	NoPlatform fee with Thinkific Payments3	Courses with payment plans and bumps included
ClickFunnels	Plans list 3 to 20 "Courses/Community" depending on the tier5	Processor fees	Funnel-first selling
Shopify + Shopify Digital Products app	Shopify plan + free app4	Shopify Payments or third-party fees	Brands that already sell physical products

Read on each vendor's page on November 2, 2026.

Fig. 3Where the platform bill starts

$179

Kajabi, monthly plan from

$39

Teachable, monthly plan from

$109

Thinkific, monthly plan from

7.5%

Teachable Starter fee per sale

Then add fees per sale and card processing.

Kajabi, Teachable and Thinkific pricing pages, read November 2, 2026.

The Shopify versus funnel question is detailed in Shopify or a sales funnel for your info product business?, and the full tool list in the info product business tech stack.

Price and payment structure

How buyers pay matters as much as the price. Each structure has its own rule.

Structure	When to use it	Rule to follow
One payment	Courses and ebooks under a few hundred dollars	Clear refund terms before payment
Payment plan	Coaching and programs over about $500	Visa: no interest, flat late fee only, separate agreement before storing the card8
Membership	Communities, ongoing coaching, content libraries	ROSCA: clear terms, express consent, simple cancellation9
EU buyers, instant access	Recorded courses sold to consumers	The 14-day withdrawal right ends only with prior express consent and acknowledgment10

Payment plans are detailed in payment plans for info products, and memberships in memberships for info product businesses.

The rules that apply from the first sale

Selling courses and coaching is legal. The rules that apply from the first sale are about what you claim and how you bill.

Earnings claims: no income promises in pages, emails or ads6.
Testimonials: real and typical; Google Ads requires a visible no-guarantee disclaimer on result testimonials11.
Processor rules: Stripe does not name courses or coaching, but bans "get rich quick" schemes, "deceptive testimonials" and "high-pressure upselling"7.
Subscriptions: consent and easy cancellation for memberships9.

The full picture is in is selling online courses legal?.

Stage 2: your first customers

Your first 100 buyers come from people who already know you. Paid ads come later.

Fig. 4Where the first 100 buyers come from

Your network and past clients
A direct message beats a funnel at this stage.
One free resource
(A checklist, a mini-lesson) that collects emails.
A short email sequence
That leads to the offer, with a start date.
Discovery calls
For coaching: they teach you the buyer's words for the sales page.
Ads only once
The offer sells to warm traffic.

Stages 3 and 4: what breaks when you scale

Growth exposes the parts you set up by hand.

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Fees grow faster than revenue	Platform fee per sale on top of processing	Recompare total cost; see the tech stack
Payment plan buyers stop paying	NoRetry, no reminder	Failed payment recovery
Disputes you cannot answer	NoLog of logins and lessons opened	Log access; see chargebacks
Account review after a big launch	One processor, sudden volume spike	A backup processor; see payment routing
Ads rejected	Income-style copy	Meta and TikTok ads
Founder on every call	Coaching sold 1:1 only	Group tier, recorded course as downsell

Grow revenue per customer, not only traffic

Before you double ad spend, raise what each buyer brings.

Order bump: templates or a workbook on the checkout. SamCart reports 30 to 40% take rates on its own platform13.
One-click upsell: group coaching or an advanced course after payment.
Membership after the course: a community or new monthly lessons.
Payment recovery: retries and reminders on failed installments and renewals.

The levers are detailed in how to increase AOV for an info product business and the info product sales funnel.

How Tagada helps

Checkout, renewals and routing for each stage

One funnel: "Checkout, one-click upsells, subscriptions and membership on the same funnel." Order bumps before payment, upsells after it.
Recurring revenue: automatic retries on failed rebills (24 hours, 48 hours, 96 hours, then 168 hours twice, by default)14, and events you can send to your course tool to manage access.
Processor choice: "Route to the processor most likely to approve it, retry on decline." Your cards stay in your vault: "Switch processors without re-onboarding customers."
Tracking: server-side events to Meta, Google and TikTok.

"If you sell something real, we will get you paid." TagadaPay lists "info products", "coaching" and "online courses" among the industries it reviews, with "enhanced review for regulated verticals". "Live in 24h. You own your vault."

Pricing starts "From 2.9% + $0.29", with "No setup fees, no monthly minimums"; "High-risk verticals and edge cases are priced case by case"15. Support is human, 24/7, on Slack Connect. Plans are on the pricing page.

Tagada follows Visa and Mastercard rules and the laws that apply to payments.

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Checkout, renewals and routing for each stage

Updated on November 3, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to start an online course business?

The platform is the main fixed cost. As of November 2026, Teachable starts at $39 a month with a 7.5% fee per sale on Starter, Thinkific at $109 and Kajabi at $179, billed monthly. Card processing, around 2.9% + 30¢ in the US, comes on top. A pre-sold live cohort lets you start before paying for production.

Should I start with a course or coaching?

Coaching or a live cohort is often easier to start: you sell your time, learn the buyer's questions, and record the sessions. A self-paced course scales better once you know what to teach. Many businesses run both: a course at one price and coaching as the top tier.

Do I need my own website, or can I use a course platform?

A course platform is enough to start: it hosts lessons, takes payments and sends emails. Your own domain and checkout matter later, when platform fees grow and you want bumps, upsells, payment plans and your own processors. See Shopify or a sales funnel?.

Can I offer payment plans from day one?

Yes, on higher prices. Visa rules forbid interest, allow only a flat late fee and require a separate agreement before the card is stored. In the US, more than four installments offered often can bring credit rules into play. See payment plans for info products.

Is selling online courses legal?

Yes. The limits that apply to most course and coaching businesses are on claims and billing: no income promises, real testimonials, clear subscription terms. Programs that promise to provide clients or a store can fall under the FTC's Business Opportunity Rule. See is selling online courses legal?.

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026

Tagada

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