Payments · Info Products7 min readUpdated November 2, 2026

Trial Offers for Info Product Businesses: Rules and Conversion

FTC, Visa, Mastercard and Stripe rules for course and membership trials, $1 trials and continuity offers, and when a refund guarantee works better.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 14 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

Free and $1 trials on memberships, communities and course libraries are legal, but they're negative options: show the full price and renewal before the card fields, get separate consent, remind at least 7 days before the first full charge, and allow online cancellation. Stripe prohibits trials "with unclear or hidden pricing". For a one-time course, a guarantee is often safer.

ROSCA requires clear terms before billing details, express informed consent, and "simple mechanisms" to stop recurring charges.
Visa's 13.5 dispute covers digital goods bought "through a trial period, promotional period, or introductory offer" when future charges weren't clearly disclosed (rules of October 24, 2026).
To defend it, you must show the buyer agreed and was notified "at least 7 days before the Transaction Date".
Negative option subscriptions under MCC 5968 sit in tier 3 of Visa's Integrity Risk Program; no education MCC does.
As of November 2, 2026, the FTC has proposed no new negative option rule since its March 2026 notice.

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On this page

This guide is part of our hub on info product payment processing. The general guide, for any business: free trials and negative option billing.

Which info product offers count as trials

Any offer where a free or low start turns into a recurring charge unless the buyer acts is a negative option. In this vertical, that's more than the classic free trial.

Offer	What renews	Main risk
Free trial of a membership or community	The membership, monthly or yearly	Buyer forgets; no reminder
$1 or low-price trial	The full-price membership	Renewal price not shown next to the $1
Continuity added after a tripwire	A monthly program attached to a one-time purchase	Pre-checked box or unclear upsell
"First month free" on coaching	Monthly coaching with no end date	Commitment or exit terms not disclosed
Payment plan	Nothing: fixed number of installments	Not a negative option, but Visa's installment rules apply

Most course platforms only support trials on subscriptions. Teachable labels its feature "Free trial (subscriptions only)" and emails students "7 days before their trial ends"9.

Fig. 1A membership trial, step by step, with the rule at each step

Sign-upROSCA: terms before billing details, express consent
Trial startsMastercard: confirmation with cancellation instructions
7 days before the chargeVisa notice; Mastercard reminder on trials over 7 days
First full chargeVisa: proof the buyer agreed to future charges
RenewalsROSCA and California: a simple way to cancel online

The reminder is the step most trials skip.

Illustrative example. Rules: ROSCA; California Business and Professions Code § 17602; Visa Core Rules, October 24, 2026; Mastercard FAQs, 2022.

The rules that apply

The FTC's 2024 click-to-cancel rule was vacated in July 2025. The FTC opened a new rulemaking in March 2026, and as of November 2, 2026 no new rule has been proposed2. ROSCA, state laws and card network rules set the requirements today.

Rule	What it requires
ROSCA	Terms before billing details; express informed consent; simple way to stop charges1
California	Express consent; online cancellation; notice before a trial over 31 days ends; consent records kept 3 years3
Visa	Proof the buyer agreed to future charges, and notice at least 7 days before the charge, to defend a 13.5 dispute4
Mastercard	Confirmation with cancellation instructions; a reminder before billing for trials longer than 7 days5
Stripe	Prohibits "Negative option marketing, negative option membership clubs and reduced price trials with unclear or hidden pricing"6

The FTC also enforces ROSCA hard on large players: Amazon agreed in September 2025 to a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds over Prime enrollment and cancellation10.

7 days

Visa's minimum notice before the charge, to defend a 13.5

3 years

How long California wants consent records kept

$1 billion

Amazon's ROSCA civil penalty, September 2025

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

Trials and disputes

Trials create the exact dispute Visa wrote 13.5 for. It applies when digital goods were bought through a trial or intro offer, "or as a one-off purchase", and the cardholder "was not clearly advised of further Transactions after the purchase date"4.

What wins
Proof that "at the time of the initial Transaction, the Cardholder expressly agreed to future Transactions", and that you notified them at least 7 days before the charge4.
What the buyer gets back
The amount is "limited to the unused portion of the cancelled service"4.
What it costs your account
Each one counts in your dispute ratio. See chargebacks for info product businesses.

Visa's Integrity Risk Program lists negative option subscriptions under MCC 5968 in tier 3, while education codes such as 8299 appear in none of its tiers7. A course business becomes "high-risk" through the offer, not the product. The MCC itself: MCC 8299.

Trial or money-back guarantee?

For a one-time course, a refund guarantee gives buyers the same safety without a recurring charge to explain.

	Free or $1 trial	Money-back guarantee
Fits	Memberships, communities, libraries	One-time courses, programs
Card charged	Later, automatically	Up front
Main rule	ROSCA, Visa 13.5, state renewal laws1 3 4	Honor it exactly as written
Main risk	Forgotten renewal, "cancelled recurring" dispute	Conditions buyers didn't see

A guarantee must be real. The FTC announced a settlement with Publishing.com in April 2026 and approved the final order on July 2, 2026 ($1.5 million)14.

The case addressed a refund policy presented as "a simple money-back guarantee for 12 months", alongside earnings claims and testimonials presented as authentic8. Conditions such as "complete every module first" belong next to the price, not in the terms.

A compliant trial, step by step

Show the full cost before the card fields: trial length, price after the trial, cycle, any commitment1.
Collect a separate consent, an unchecked box or a click tied to the recurring terms1 4.
Log it: text shown, page version, time, order; keep it 3 years3.
Confirm right away with terms, first charge date and a cancel link5.
Remind at least 7 days before the first full charge4.
Let members cancel online, the way they signed up1 3.
Confirm the cancellation and stop the next charge.

Based on ROSCA, California's renewal law, Visa's 13.5 rules and Mastercard's subscription FAQs.

Recurring billing rules beyond trials: how to sell info products on subscription. Keeping members after the trial: subscriptions and churn for info product businesses.

How Tagada helps

Membership trials with notice and online cancellation built in

TagadaPay runs the subscription side of the trial. "If you sell something real, we will get you paid." TagadaPay lists info products, coaching and online courses among its industries, with "enhanced review for regulated verticals"13. "Live in 24h. You own your vault."13

Subscriptions with trials, cycles, retries and automatic recovery, with a trialing status and an upcoming-rebill event for advance notice12.
Customer portal: members skip, pause, change frequency or cancel online, with cancellation at the end of the paid period by default and retention offers by reason11.
"Native 3DS2, device intelligence, and rules engine" to keep trial sign-ups free of card testing13.
24/7 human support on Slack Connect13.

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Membership trials with notice and online cancellation built in

Updated on November 2, 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

Is a $1 trial on a membership legal?

Yes, if the terms are clear and the buyer consents. ROSCA requires the renewal price and terms before billing details, express consent and an easy way to stop charges. Stripe prohibits reduced price trials "with unclear or hidden pricing". Put the full price next to the $1.

Do I need to remind members before a trial ends?

In practice, yes. To defend a Visa 13.5 dispute on a trial, you must show you notified the buyer at least 7 days before the charge. Mastercard asks for a reminder on trials longer than 7 days, and California has its own rule for trials over 31 days.

Can I add a free trial to a one-time course or payment plan?

Most course platforms don't support it: Teachable offers trials on subscriptions only. A payment plan has a fixed number of installments, so it isn't a negative option. For one-time courses, a clear refund guarantee usually does the job of a trial.

Does the FTC click-to-cancel rule apply in 2026?

No. The 2024 rule was vacated in July 2025, and as of November 2, 2026 the FTC has proposed no new rule after its March 2026 notice. ROSCA still requires a simple way to stop recurring charges, and California requires online cancellation.

Does a continuity offer after a tripwire count as a trial?

If it starts billing unless the buyer cancels, yes: it's a negative option under ROSCA. Visa's 13.5 also covers a "one-off purchase" followed by charges the buyer wasn't clearly told about. Use an unchecked box and show the monthly price clearly.

Sources

Checked November 2, 2026

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