Payments · Info Products6 min readUpdated November 2, 2026

Can You Sell Info Products and Online Courses on Amazon, eBay, Etsy or TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop allows courses by invitation, Amazon only ebooks via KDP, eBay and Etsy limit digital goods. The 2026 rules, and when your checkout wins.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 7 sources

Article summary

Partly, by platform

TL;DR

Partly. TikTok Shop allows online courses, but only for invite-only sellers with approval. Amazon has no course listing for third-party sellers; ebooks go through Kindle Direct Publishing. eBay limits digital items to approved sellers. Etsy accepts digital files you made, not services. Coaching sells on none of them.

TikTok Shop's Virtual Goods rules (updated September 1, 2026) list "Online courses" but limit selling to "invite-only sellers".
TikTok Shop bars "Auto-renewal subscriptions" and sales of $10,000 or more in virtual goods to one customer within 24 hours.
On TikTok Shop, "Unverifiable guarantees, such as job placement or income growth, are not permitted".
Amazon KDP pays 35% or 70% of list price on ebooks, depending on the option and territory (read November 2, 2026).

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This guide is part of our hub on info product payment processing. The general guide, for any business: high-risk merchant accounts.

The four marketplaces at a glance

Marketplace	Online courses	Ebooks and files	Coaching	Main condition
TikTok Shop (US)	YesInvite-only1	Not named in the virtual goods list1	No	Approval before listing; no auto-renewal; realistic outcome claims1
Amazon	NoThird-party listing type4	Ebooks through KDP3	No	Publish as a book, not as a course
eBay	Only for approved sellers5	Only for approved sellers5	No	Approval, or a classified ad outside eBay's checkout5
Etsy	Not as a service6	YesIf "made and/or designed by you"6	No	Digital files you created6

Fig. 1Four marketplaces, three formats

TikTok Shop (US)
Online courses: yes, invite-only. Ebooks and files: not named in the virtual goods list. Coaching: no.
Amazon
Online courses: no third-party listing type. Ebooks: through KDP. Coaching: no.
eBay
Online courses, ebooks and files: only for approved sellers. Coaching: no.
Etsy
Online courses: not as a service. Ebooks and files: yes, if made by you. Coaching: no.

Coaching sells on none of them.

TikTok Shop US, Amazon KDP and Seller Central forums, eBay and Etsy policies, read November 2, 2026.

TikTok Shop: courses by invitation

TikTok Shop is the only one of the four with a written rule for courses. It sits under "Virtual Goods", defined as "non-physical products delivered electronically"1.

Rule	TikTok Shop text1
Who	"Eligibility to sell virtual goods is limited to invite-only sellers"
What	"Digital educational products that provide structured learning content delivered over the internet"
Listing	Images "must accurately reflect the delivered course," including "access duration"
Claims	"Outcome claims must be realistic, substantiated, and not misleading"
Subscriptions	"Subscriptions must be prepaid. Recurring auto-billing subscriptions are not permitted"
Delivery	Within 2 business days; courses "must be redeemed via the seller's website or web browser"
Refunds	Virtual goods are "non-returnable and non-refundable," subject to policy and law; sellers must answer refund requests within 2 or 4 business days
Cap	"Sales of $10,000 or more in virtual goods to a single customer within a 24-hour period are not permitted"

$10,000

TikTok Shop cap on virtual goods sold to one customer within 24 hours

2 days

Delivery window for virtual goods, in business days

Prepaid

TikTok Shop subscriptions: recurring auto-billing is not permitted

Many blog posts still say TikTok Shop does not sell digital products. That was the default rule: virtual products are prohibited "unless approved for sale under the Virtual Goods category"2.

Watch out

"income growth" guarantees are banned outright1. A "make money online" course cannot sell on TikTok Shop on that promise.

Advertising the same course on TikTok follows separate ad rules: can you advertise info products on Facebook, Google and TikTok?

Amazon: ebooks through KDP, not courses

Amazon's marketplace has no listing type for a third-party video course. Seller Central forum replies say "third party sellers are not able to sell digital downloads, only Amazon Retail can create this type of listing" (secondary source)4.

The route Amazon does offer is publishing. A course turned into an ebook can go through Kindle Direct Publishing:

35% option: "35% of your list price without VAT for each unit sold"3.
70% option: "70% of your list price without VAT, less delivery costs," only in listed territories and "for in-copyright works only"3.

Amazon collects the payment and pays you a royalty. You never touch a processor, and you never see the buyer's card or email.

Fig. 2Who holds the money on a KDP ebook

approved declined or closed routing step

BuyerBuys the ebook on Amazon
paysAmazonCollects the payment, keeps the buyer
pays outYou35% or 70% royaltyApproved

You get a royalty, not a payment.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, eBook royalties, read November 2, 2026.

eBay and Etsy

Both accept some digital files. Neither is built for a course with logins.

	eBay5	Etsy6
Who can sell digital items	"eBay approved sellers" only: US address, valid selling account, good standing	Any seller, for files "made and/or designed by you, the seller"
Alternative	Classified ad in Everything Else > Information Products; eBay is not part of the sale and its Money Back Guarantee does not apply	None
Services	Not covered by this policy	"only services that produce a new tangible item that meet our criteria," with exceptions for some digital creative work
Required notice	The buyer receives "a revocable license" with its limits	n/a

A workbook, template or recorded masterclass file can sell on Etsy if you made it. A cohort course or coaching program cannot sell as a service there6.

Marketplace or your own checkout

Marketplaces collect the payment and set the rules. Your own checkout means your processor, but also your customer list.

	Marketplace	Your own checkout
Who takes the payment	The marketplace	Your processor or merchant account
Buyer data	Kept by the marketplace	Yours: email, card in your vault
Upsells, payment plans, memberships	Mostly not available; no auto-renewal on TikTok Shop1	Order bumps, one-click upsells, plans
Disputes and refunds	Marketplace rules	Card network rules: chargebacks

Fig. 3Same buyer, two paths

Marketplace

BuyerFinds the listing
paysMarketplaceTakes the payment

Marketplace rules, buyer data kept by the marketplace

Your own checkout

BuyerLands on your page
pays onYour checkoutOrder bumps, one-click upsells
routes toYour processorCard network rulesApproved

Email and card in your vault, upsells and plans

Only one of them leaves you the customer.

Illustrative example.

For most course sellers, a marketplace is a discovery channel. The full program, the payment plan and the upsells run on your own checkout: see the info product sales funnel and merchant of record explained.

How Tagada helps

Your own course checkout, next to any marketplace

When you sell on your own checkout, TagadaPay runs the payment side. Its application has a "Digital products" track for "courses, info products, coaching." "If you sell something real, we will get you paid."7

Funnel: "Checkout, one-click upsells, subscriptions and membership on the same funnel."
Your customers stay yours: "Your PCI-tokenized cards, your customer profiles, your subscription data, all portable."
Routing: "Route to the processor most likely to approve it, retry on decline. No engineering required."
International buyers: "180+ Countries supported" and "135+ currencies."
Onboarding: "Live in 24h. You own your vault."7
Pricing: "From 2.9% + $0.29", "No setup fees, no monthly minimums"; "High-risk verticals and edge cases are priced case by case."7

Apply on TagadaPay.

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Your own course checkout, next to any marketplace

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

Can you sell online courses on TikTok Shop?

Yes, if TikTok invites and approves you. Online courses are listed under Virtual Goods, which are "limited to invite-only sellers". Courses must be redeemed on your website, subscriptions must be prepaid, and outcome claims must be "realistic, substantiated, and not misleading".

Can you sell courses on Amazon?

Not as a course. Forum replies from Seller Central say third-party sellers cannot list digital downloads. You can publish course material as an ebook through Kindle Direct Publishing, which pays a 35% or 70% royalty depending on the option and territory.

Can you sell digital products on eBay?

Only as an "eBay approved seller," which requires a US address, a valid selling account and good standing. Other sellers can use a classified ad in Everything Else > Information Products, where eBay is not part of the transaction and its Money Back Guarantee does not apply.

Can you sell courses on Etsy?

You can sell digital files you made, such as workbooks or templates. Services are limited to those that "produce a new tangible item," with exceptions for some digital creative work. A live course or coaching program does not fit.

Sources

Checked November 2, 2026

TagadaPay

Keep the full program on your own checkout

Tell us what you sell and how you sell it. Each application is underwritten, and approval is not guaranteed.

Apply for processing See pricing

01Tell us what you sell and how
02Underwriting reviews your business
03Process through TagadaPay alongside your other processors