Payments · Info Products8 min readUpdated November 2, 2026

Is It Legal to Sell Info Products and Online Courses Online?

Selling courses and coaching is legal. Where the FTC draws the line: business opportunities, earnings claims, testimonials, memberships and plans.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 18 sources

Article summary

Legal, with rules

TL;DR

Yes. Selling courses, coaching, ebooks and memberships is legal in the US and the EU. The legal risk sits in four places: income promises, testimonials, recurring billing and payment plans. The FTC has fined and banned course sellers since 2024, always over earnings claims or business opportunities, never over teaching itself.

The FTC defines an earnings claim as any representation of "a specific level or range of actual or potential sales, or gross or net income or profits" (16 CFR 437, read November 2, 2026).
The FTC announced a $1.5 million settlement with Publishing.com in April 2026, over "false or unsubstantiated earnings claims" about self-publishing programs, and approved the final order on July 2, 2026.
An FTC order proposed in June 2025 bans Ascend Ecom from "selling or marketing any business opportunity or business coaching products and services".
As of November 2, 2026, the FTC's planned rules on earnings claims are on its regulatory agenda (August 14, 2026) but no proposal has been published.

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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: high-risk merchant accounts.

Watch out

This page explains rules; it is not legal advice. If you sell business, investment or income programs, or offer long payment plans, have a lawyer review your offer.

When a course becomes a "business opportunity"

A course that only teaches is not a business opportunity under the FTC's current rule. A program that promises to supply customers, accounts or a store can be.

The Business Opportunity Rule covers a deal where the seller asks the buyer "to enter into a new business," the buyer pays, and the seller says it will provide locations, "outlets, accounts, or customers, including, but not limited to, Internet outlets, accounts, or customers," or buy back the output1.

Offer	Inside the rule's current definition?
"Learn copywriting in 8 weeks"	NoTeaching only (our reading of the text)
"We build your online store and send you buyers"	Likely: the seller provides outlets or customers1
"Done-for-you Amazon store with guaranteed sales"	Likely, and the FTC has sued this model2

Fig. 1Three offers, read against the Business Opportunity Rule

"Learn copywriting in 8 weeks"No: teaching only (our reading of the text)No disclosure document under this rule
"We build your online store and send you buyers"Likely: the seller provides outlets or customersDisclosure document at least seven calendar days before payment
"Done-for-you Amazon store with guaranteed sales"Likely, and the FTC has sued this modelDisclosure document, and earnings claims under scrutiny

Supplying customers or outlets is what brings an offer inside.

FTC, 16 CFR Part 437; Operation AI Comply, September 25, 2024.

Sellers inside the rule must give buyers a disclosure document "at least seven calendar days before" they sign or pay1. In the Air AI case (March 24, 2026), the FTC charged a Business Opportunity Rule violation for missing disclosure documents4.

Earnings claims: the line the FTC enforces

Any income figure, range or lifestyle promise is an earnings claim. The rule's own examples: "earn enough to buy a Porsche," "earn a six-figure income," or "earn your investment back within one year"1.

Recent FTC actions against info product sellers all turn on these claims.

Date	Case	What the FTC alleged or ordered
Sept. 25, 2024	Operation AI Comply	Three business opportunity cases, including ecommerce courses up to "almost $2,000" and stores costing "tens of thousands of dollars"2
June 23, 2025	Ascend Ecom	Promise to "quickly earn thousands of dollars a month in passive income"; proposed ban on business coaching sales3
March 24, 2026	Air AI	Claims buyers "will or are likely to make substantial earnings"; $18 million judgment "largely suspended"4
April 2026 (final order July 2, 2026)	Publishing.com	"false or unsubstantiated earnings claims"; refund policy shown as "a simple money-back guarantee for 12 months"; $1.5 million5 18

The Publishing.com order bans any earnings claim without a "reasonable basis"5. That is the working standard: if you show a number, have the data behind it.

Fig. 2Four FTC actions against info product sellers, 2024 to 2026

Sept. 2024 · Operation AI ComplyEcommerce courses up to "almost $2,000"
June 2025 · Ascend Ecom"Passive income" promise; proposed coaching sales ban
March 2026 · Air AI$18 million judgment, "largely suspended"
July 2026 · Publishing.com$1.5 million; no claim without a "reasonable basis"

Every one turns on earnings claims, never on teaching itself.

FTC press releases, September 25, 2024, June 23, 2025, March 24, 2026 and July 2, 2026; Federal Register, 91 FR 20456.

Testimonials and reviews

Student results are testimonials, and federal rules apply to them.

Results that are not typical
If a testimonial shows results that are not typical, the advertiser must disclose "the generally expected performance"6. A "results not typical" line is not enough.
Reviews presented as genuine
The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials was published on August 22, 20247. Publishing.com was charged for presenting reviews as genuine when they were not5.

Payment providers say the same thing in their own words. Stripe prohibits businesses that "use deceptive testimonials" or "fake testimonials"13.

Memberships and payment plans

Recurring billing and installments bring their own rules, at the federal level and from card networks.

Format	Rule
Membership or monthly coaching that renews	Disclose all material terms before taking billing details, get express consent, provide a simple way to stop (ROSCA)8
Same, California buyers	Express consent, online cancellation, annual reminder (contracts from July 1, 2025) (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17602)16
Payment plan billed by you	NoInterest; a late fee must be "a flat fee"; express consent to a separate agreement (Visa)9
Long plans or plans with finance charges	A merchant can become a "creditor" if credit is "payable by written agreement in more than four installments" or carries a finance charge, and it does so "more than 25 times" a year (Regulation Z)10

Installments or fewer, without interest: outside Regulation Z's creditor definition

Times a year a merchant must extend such credit to be a creditor

Flat fee

The only late fee Visa allows on a payment plan

A plan of four payments or fewer, without interest, stays outside that Regulation Z definition. Beyond that, state lending and collection laws can also apply: check with a lawyer. How to run plans in a checkout: payment plans for info product sellers.

Selling to the EU

EU buyers can usually cancel an online purchase within 14 days. For digital content and services, the right can end early, but only if your checkout asks for it.

What you sell	When the withdrawal right ends
Course with instant access (digital content)	Once delivery has begun "with the consumer's prior express consent and his acknowledgment that he thereby loses his right of withdrawal" (Directive 2011/83/EU, art. 16(m))11
Coaching program (a service)	Only once "the service has been fully performed," with the same consent and acknowledgment (art. 16(a))11

The directive was amended in 202211. Check the current text with counsel before you write your checkout wording. Cross-border payments: international payments for info product sellers.

What processors and ad platforms add

Payment and ad platforms enforce the same line as the FTC, often faster.

Platform	Rule on income promises
Stripe	Prohibits "'Get rich quick' schemes" and "sites that promise fast and easy money"13
Visa	Dispute condition 13.5 covers "Business opportunities in which the Merchant suggests that an income will be generated"9
Google Ads	Bans "Making unrealistic promises of large financial return with minimal risk, effort or investment"14
Meta	Prohibits "Offers of opportunities of unrealistic financial reward for unclear or minimal effort"15

Tagada follows Visa and Mastercard rules and the laws that apply to payments. The full rule set for staying approved: info product merchant account compliance.

Status of the FTC's new rules

The FTC has announced plans to tighten the rules twice, and neither is in force.

Business Opportunity Rule review: notice published November 25, 202212.
Earnings claims rule: notice published March 11, 2022; a "proposed Earnings Claims Trade Regulation Rule, to be codified at 16 CFR 462" is on the FTC's agenda of August 14, 202612.

As of November 2, 2026, no proposed or final rule has been published in the Federal Register. Articles that say coaching is "now covered" describe drafts. The current rule and Section 5 of the FTC Act already reach deceptive earnings claims1 5.

How Tagada helps

An account reviewed for course sellers, not just allowed by law

"If you sell something real, we will get you paid." TagadaPay reviews info product businesses with "Enhanced review for regulated verticals"17. Its prohibited list includes deceptive marketing on trials, subscriptions and cancellation.

Subscription controls: Tagada manages memberships with retries, pause and cancellation from a customer portal.
Advance notice: an "Upcoming rebill (advance notice)" event lets you remind members before each charge.
One application: "One KYC. One signed package. We distribute it across our processor network and follow up so you don't have to." "Most merchants are live under 24 hours."17

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An account reviewed for course sellers, not just allowed by law

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 it legal to sell online courses?

Yes. The FTC's recent cases against course and coaching sellers target deceptive claims, mostly income promises, and business opportunities sold without the required disclosures. Teaching a skill with honest marketing is legal.

Does the Business Opportunity Rule apply to coaching?

Not to coaching that only teaches, under the current text. It applies when the seller says it will provide "outlets, accounts, or customers" or buy back output. The FTC wants to cover more "money-making opportunities," but as of November 2, 2026 no proposed rule has been published.

Do I need an income disclaimer on my course page?

A disclaimer does not cure a misleading claim. If a testimonial shows atypical results, you must disclose "the generally expected performance". Google Ads also requires a visible "no guarantee" disclaimer on testimonials that claim specific results. The safest course: avoid income figures you cannot back with data.

Is a payment plan for my course a loan?

A plan without interest, in four payments or fewer, falls outside the Regulation Z "creditor" definition. More installments by written agreement, or a finance charge, more than 25 times a year, can make you a creditor. Visa separately bans interest on merchant installment plans.

Can EU buyers get a refund on a course they already started?

Not if your checkout collected their express consent to immediate access and their acknowledgment that they lose the withdrawal right. Without that step, the usual 14-day right applies. For coaching, the right lasts until the service is "fully performed".