How to Set the Right Price for Your Online Course

I priced my first course at $27.

Not because I did any research. Because $27 felt “safe.” Cheap enough that nobody could say no, I thought.

I was wrong on almost every level.

Sales were slow. Refund requests were oddly high. And worst of all, the students who did buy barely finished the course. If that sounds backwards to you, stay with me, because it took me way too long to figure out why.

The Pricing Mistake Almost Everyone Makes

Most course creators price out of fear, not strategy.

Fear that charging “too much” will scare buyers away. Fear that nobody will take an unknown creator seriously at a premium price. So they default to whatever number feels the least uncomfortable to type into a checkout page.

Here’s the problem: pricing isn’t really about you feeling comfortable. It’s a signal to your buyer about value, commitment, and outcome. Get that signal wrong, and you attract the wrong students, or none at all.

Let’s take this apart properly.

Objection #1: “If I Price It Low, More People Will Buy”

This is the belief that got me stuck at $27. It sounds logical. It’s also mostly false.

Lower prices don’t just filter out serious buyers, they filter out serious commitment. Someone who pays $27 has very little skin in the game. If life gets busy, that course is the easiest thing to abandon.

Someone who pays $497 has made a decision. They’ve committed money that matters to them, which means they’re far more likely to show up, do the work, and actually finish, which is exactly the outcome that turns into testimonials, referrals, and repeat buyers.

Low prices don’t attract more committed students. They often attract fewer of them, wrapped in a bigger crowd of tire-kickers.

Objection #2: “Nobody Will Pay a Premium Price for an Unknown Creator”

I believed this too, until I noticed something odd: buyers weren’t actually evaluating me. They were evaluating the transformation I was promising.

Price isn’t primarily judged against your personal brand. It’s judged against the value of the outcome and what that outcome is worth to the buyer.

A course that helps someone land a $60,000 job is worth vastly more than $27, regardless of how well-known the creator is. A course that saves someone twenty hours a month is worth real money to a busy professional, brand recognition aside.

The question isn’t “am I famous enough to charge this?” It’s “is the transformation worth more than the price tag?”

So What Actually Determines the Right Price?

Here’s where curiosity should kick in, because this is the part most creators skip entirely.

1. The Specificity of the Transformation

Vague outcomes support low prices. Specific, measurable outcomes support higher ones.

“Learn photography” is vague, and vague sells cheap. “Shoot and edit wedding photos clients will pay $2,000 for” is specific, and specificity supports real pricing.

2. The Cost of Not Solving the Problem

Ask yourself honestly: what does it cost your ideal student to keep struggling with this problem?

If the answer is “a few wasted weekends,” price accordingly. If the answer is “thousands of dollars in lost income, or years of slower progress,” your price should reflect that gap, not your own comfort level.

3. The Format and Level of Support

A self-paced video library with no interaction is worth less than a course that includes feedback, community, or direct access to you.

This isn’t about padding your course with extras to justify a number. It’s about being honest with yourself about what level of support you’re actually providing, and pricing that reality accurately.

4. What Comparable Options Actually Cost

Not to copy competitors, but to understand the landscape your buyer is comparing you against.

If similar transformations are sold as $1,500 coaching programs, a $97 course that delivers 80% of that value is an obvious, easy yes. Positioned correctly, of course.

The Realization That Changed My Pricing Completely

Here’s what shifted everything for me: price isn’t just a number. It’s a filter.

Low prices filter in volume and filter out commitment. Higher prices filter in commitment and filter out casual browsers who were never going to finish anyway.

Neither approach is universally “right.” But most course creators default to low prices without ever consciously deciding which type of student they actually want.

Ask yourself: would you rather have 500 students who barely engage, or 80 students who finish, get results, and tell other people about it?

Objection #3: “What If I Price It Wrong and Get Refund Requests?”

Here’s an uncomfortable pattern worth knowing: refund rates often go up at low price points, not down.

Why? Because low-commitment buyers make low-commitment decisions. They buy on impulse, don’t engage, and ask for their money back the moment life gets busy.

Higher-priced offers, especially ones with a clear application process or onboarding step, tend to see fewer refunds, because the buyer has already mentally committed before they’ve even paid.

If refunds are your fear, cheaper pricing usually isn’t the fix. Clearer positioning and a more qualified buyer often are.

A Simple Way to Sanity-Check Your Price

Before you lock in a number, ask yourself these three questions honestly:

1. What specific, measurable outcome does this course deliver?
2. What would it reasonably cost my ideal student to get that outcome another way (coaching, done-for-you services, trial and error)?
3. Does my price reflect a fraction of that value, or does it reflect my own fear of asking for more?

If your price only survives question three, it’s time to revisit it.

Testing Your Price Without Guessing Forever

You don’t need to get pricing perfect on the first try. You need to test it deliberately.

• Launch at a price you believe reflects the value, not the lowest number that feels safe
• Track completion rates alongside sales numbers, not just revenue
• Pay attention to the objections buyers raise before purchase, they often reveal exactly what’s misaligned
• Raise prices as your proof (testimonials, results, case studies) grows, rather than keeping an “introductory” price forever

Pricing isn’t a one-time decision. It’s an ongoing conversation between the value you deliver and the market’s willingness to pay for it.

The Real Question to Ask Before You Publish a Price

So here’s what I’d leave you with.

It’s not “what price will scare the fewest people away?”

It’s “what price actually reflects what this transformation is worth, and attracts the students who’ll do something with it?”

Because somewhere out there, a buyer is deciding right now whether your course is a serious investment or a cheap impulse purchase they’ll forget about next month. The price you choose has already started answering that question for them, before they’ve read a single word of your sales page.

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About the Author

Daniel Momoh

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