How Much Money Can You Make Selling Online Courses? A Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Reality of E-Learning Revenue
3. The Revenue Formula: Doing the Math
4. Why Niche Selection Dictates Your Income Potential
5. Pricing Models for Scalable Income
6. Protecting Your Margins: The Cost of Doing Business
7. Practical Scenario: The Physical-to-Digital Upsell
8. Maximizing Revenue Through Student Engagement
9. Scaling Your Marketing for Course Growth
10. Managing the Costs of Scaling
11. Common Pitfalls That Limit Earnings
12. Building a Sustainable Business Model
13. Conclusion
14. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know the global e-learning market is projected to skyrocket from $250.8 billion in 2020 to an estimated $457.8 billion by 2026? This explosive growth reflects a fundamental shift in how people consume information. Every day, millions of individuals turn to the internet to learn new professional skills, master creative hobbies, or solve complex life problems. For entrepreneurs and established Shopify merchants, this presents a massive opportunity to monetize existing expertise. However, the most common question we hear from aspiring creators is: how much money can you make selling online courses?

The answer is rarely a single number. Instead, it is the result of a specific formula involving your audience size, conversion rates, and pricing strategy. Some creators earn a modest side income of $500 per month, while others build seven-figure empires that serve thousands of students globally. At Tevello, our mission is to turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse. We believe that by keeping your digital products and community native to your own brand URL, you can maximize your revenue potential without the friction of third-party redirects.

In this guide, we will break down the math of course revenue, explore the tiers of potential earnings, and discuss the strategic levers you can pull to increase your profitability. We will also examine how choosing a "Native Shopify Integration" helps you keep more of your earnings by avoiding the success fees and transaction costs common on other platforms. Our goal is to provide you with a realistic roadmap to diversifying your revenue streams and building long-term brand loyalty.

The Reality of E-Learning Revenue

When asking how much money can you make selling online courses, it is important to categorize earnings into realistic tiers based on the stage of the business. While the high-profile success stories often highlight million-dollar launches, the vast majority of course creators fall into one of three primary categories.

The Entry-Level Creator

For many beginning their journey, initial revenues often range between $500 and $5,000 per month. At this stage, the merchant is usually testing their content, refining their marketing message, and building their first email list. Success here is often defined by a high level of engagement from a small, dedicated group of students who provide the feedback necessary to improve the curriculum.

The Established Entrepreneur

Once a course has proven its value and the marketing funnel is optimized, many creators see annual revenues between $50,000 and $150,000. These merchants have typically moved beyond a single course to offering a library of content or a membership model. By see how merchants are earning six figures, you can see that reaching this tier often involves a mix of organic traffic and targeted paid advertising.

The High-Scale Authority

At the top of the market, professional educators and established brands report six- and seven-figure annual incomes. These businesses treat their online courses as a primary revenue engine, often leveraging huge social media followings or high-authority SEO strategies. These creators don't just sell information; they sell transformation and community. They often use examples of successful content monetization on Shopify to build integrated ecosystems where digital learning supports the sale of physical tools and vice versa.

The Revenue Formula: Doing the Math

To understand your specific potential, you need to look at the three primary variables that dictate your earnings. You can calculate your potential revenue with this simple formula: Revenue = Audience Size x Conversion Rate x Price.

1. Audience Size

Your audience consists of the people who are aware of your expertise. In the world of online courses, your most valuable audience is your email list. While social media followers are great for reach, email remains the highest-converting channel for digital products. If you have 1,000 email subscribers, that is your primary pool of potential customers.

2. Conversion Rate

The conversion rate is the percentage of your audience that actually makes a purchase. Across the e-learning industry, the average conversion rate for a well-aligned offer is typically around 1% to 2%. This means for every 100 people on your email list, one or two will buy your course. If your audience is "warm"—meaning they have interacted with your free content or bought physical products from you before—this rate can often climb to 5% or higher.

3. Course Price

Your price point changes the entire dynamic of your business model. A $50 course requires 200 sales to reach $10,000 in revenue. A $500 course only requires 20 sales to hit that same target. The key is to price based on the value of the outcome you provide. If you are teaching a skill that helps a professional earn a promotion or a business owner save money, you can command a premium price.

Why Niche Selection Dictates Your Income Potential

The topic you choose to teach significantly impacts your ceiling. While general topics like "How to be Happy" can be difficult to sell at a high price, specific, outcome-oriented niches tend to be much more profitable.

High-Value Outcomes

Niches focused on professional development, financial literacy, and technical skills often command the highest prices. When a student sees a clear Return on Investment (ROI), their willingness to pay increases. For example, a course on "Advanced Project Management Certification" can easily sell for $1,000 because it leads to a tangible career advancement.

Passion and Hobbyist Niches

Creative hobbies like photography, gardening, or crafting may have lower individual price points, but they benefit from massive audiences and high repeat purchase rates. In these niches, community features and ongoing memberships are key. For instance, how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses demonstrates that even in creative spaces like crochet, high-volume sales and bundling can lead to substantial financial success. By generating revenue from both physical and digital goods, merchants in hobby niches can build a sustainable, multi-faceted business.

Pricing Models for Scalable Income

How you charge for your knowledge is just as important as how much you charge. Choosing the right monetization structure can help stabilize your income and increase the lifetime value (LTV) of every customer.

One-Time Payments

This is the traditional model for selling a single, comprehensive course. It provides an immediate influx of cash and is excellent for "flagship" programs. It works best for topics with a clear beginning and end.

Subscriptions and Memberships

If you provide ongoing value, such as a monthly workout plan or a library of tutorials that is updated weekly, a subscription model is ideal. This creates predictable, recurring revenue that grows over time. At Tevello, we advocate for a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members to ensure that as your community grows, your software costs stay predictable.

Tiered Access and Bundles

Offering different levels of access allows you to capture customers at various price points. A "Basic" tier might offer the core video lessons, while a "Premium" tier includes downloadable templates and access to a private community. Bundling multiple courses together is another highly effective way to increase your average order value (AOV).

Protecting Your Margins: The Cost of Doing Business

When calculating how much money can you make selling online courses, many creators forget to account for the "hidden" costs of third-party platforms. Many LMS (Learning Management System) platforms charge transaction fees on every sale, sometimes taking 5% to 10% of your gross revenue.

This is where the Tevello advantage becomes clear. We believe you should keep 100% of what you earn, which is why we charge 0% transaction fees. Our model is built on transparency. With The Unlimited Plan at just $29.99 per month, your costs remain fixed regardless of whether you make $1,000 or $100,000 in sales. This allows for predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, which is essential for scaling a profitable business.

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Practical Scenario: The Physical-to-Digital Upsell

One of the most effective ways to increase your earnings on Shopify is to combine physical products with digital learning. This strategy increases the perceived value of your store and provides a high-margin upsell that requires no shipping or inventory costs.

Imagine a merchant who sells premium coffee beans. While the profit margin on a bag of beans is limited by shipping and production costs, the merchant can offer a "Mastering the Perfect Pour-Over" video course at checkout. This course costs nothing to deliver after the initial creation, turning a $20 bean sale into a $50 total order.

By providing this educational layer, the merchant also builds brand loyalty. The customer isn't just buying beans; they are learning a skill from an expert. This leads to retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases. When customers feel empowered by your content, they are far more likely to return to your store for future needs. In fact, some brands find that driving 50% of sales from repeat course purchasers becomes the backbone of their growth.

Maximizing Revenue Through Student Engagement

Profitability isn't just about the first sale; it’s about the long-term relationship. Engaged students are more likely to finish your course, achieve their goals, and leave the positive reviews that drive future sales.

The Power of Drip Content

Instead of giving students every lesson at once—which can be overwhelming—use drip scheduling. This releases modules over time (e.g., one lesson every week), keeping the student engaged with your brand for a longer period. This sustained interaction makes them more likely to see your other product offers.

Interactive Communities

Adding a community component—such as member directories and social feeds—transforms a static course into a living experience. When students can interact with each other and with you, they feel a sense of belonging. This community aspect is a major driver for subscription retention.

Native Shopify Experience

One of the biggest killers of conversion and engagement is the "redirect." When a customer has to leave your Shopify store to log into a different website to access their course, it creates friction and confusion. Tevello’s "Native Shopify Integration" ensures that your courses live directly on your own URL. This unified login reduces support tickets and keeps customers immersed in your brand environment.

Scaling Your Marketing for Course Growth

To consistently make money selling online courses, you need a marketing engine that brings fresh eyes to your store.

SEO and Organic Content

Blogging and creating video content around your niche's core problems are the best ways to attract "free" traffic. By providing value upfront, you establish authority. When a visitor finds a solution to a small problem on your blog, they are much more likely to trust your paid course to solve their larger problems.

Leveraging Your Existing Customers

If you already sell physical products on Shopify, your best course customers are already in your database. Use email automation to suggest relevant courses based on their past purchases. For example, if a customer buys a yoga mat, an automated email can offer them a "21-Day Morning Yoga Routine" course.

Social Proof and Testimonials

Course sales live and die by social proof. Encourage your students to leave reviews and share their progress. Highlighting real-world transformations is more effective than any sales copy you could write. Before you invest in expensive software, we recommend scanning reviews to understand real-world adoption of the tools you choose to build with.

Managing the Costs of Scaling

As your student base grows from 10 to 10,000, some platforms will penalize your success by moving you into higher pricing tiers or charging "per-user" fees. This can create a situation where your overhead grows faster than your profit.

To maintain a healthy bottom line, it is vital to focus on avoiding per-user fees as the community scales. Our Unlimited Plan is designed to handle this growth gracefully. Whether you have 100 students or 100,000, your monthly fee stays the same. This includes unlimited video hosting and bandwidth, which are often the biggest expenses for growing course businesses. By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, you can build a scalable infrastructure that doesn't eat into your margins as you become more successful.

Common Pitfalls That Limit Earnings

Even with great content, many creators fail to reach their revenue potential because of a few common mistakes.

• Over-Complicating the Tech: Many creators spend months trying to connect five different apps to get their course to work. This leads to "technical debt" and a poor user experience. Using a native solution simplifies the stack.
• Neglecting the "Free" Value: If you don't provide free value through a blog or social media, it's very difficult to convince strangers to pay for your expertise.
• Ignoring Data Ownership: Using "marketplace" sites (like Udemy) means you don't own your customer's email address or data. You are building their business, not your own. Tevello allows you to own your data and brand experience completely.
• Setting it and Forgetting it: The most successful courses are iterated upon based on student feedback. Regularly updating your content keeps it relevant and reduces refund rates.

Building a Sustainable Business Model

The goal of selling online courses should be to build a sustainable asset. Unlike physical products, which require constant manufacturing and shipping, a digital course is an asset you build once and sell thousands of times. It provides recurring revenue stability and increases the overall valuation of your Shopify brand.

By integrating digital learning directly into your store, you are creating a "Learning Powerhouse" that educates your customers and turns them into lifelong fans. This holistic approach—where community, digital products, and physical goods live side-by-side—is the future of e-commerce.

Before committing to a long-term strategy, we recommend verifying compatibility details in the official app listing to ensure the features align with your specific business goals. Building your curriculum takes time, and you should have the freedom to perfect your lessons before you start paying for a plan.

Conclusion

Determining how much money can you make selling online courses depends largely on your ability to leverage your existing Shopify audience and choose the right tools for growth. From adding a high-margin digital upsell to your physical products to building a massive subscription-based community, the revenue potential is significant. By focusing on a native experience, you remove the barriers between your customers and your content, ensuring higher conversion rates and better brand retention.

At Tevello, we are committed to helping you maximize those earnings by providing a robust, all-in-one ecosystem without the burden of transaction fees or hidden costs. Our Unlimited Plan gives you the freedom to scale as large as your ambitions allow, keeping your customers on your site and your profits in your pocket. Whether you are just starting out or looking to migrate a large existing community, our platform is designed to amplify your efforts and turn your knowledge into a thriving income stream.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from. You can start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now, taking advantage of our 0% transaction fee policy to keep every dollar you earn. Install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today and begin turning your expertise into a scalable digital asset.

FAQ

1. Can I sell online courses on Shopify if I already sell physical products?

Yes, and this is actually one of the most profitable ways to use Shopify. By adding courses, you can create high-margin bundles or upsells that complement your physical goods. Using a native app ensures that your customers use the same account and checkout process for both types of products, creating a seamless experience.

2. How much does it cost to start selling courses with Tevello?

We believe in simple, transparent pricing. You can start with a 14-day free trial to build your curriculum. After that, we offer an Unlimited Plan for $29.99 per month. This plan includes unlimited courses, students, and video hosting. Most importantly, we charge 0% transaction fees, so you keep 100% of your course revenue.

3. Do I need to be a technical expert to set up my online course?

Not at all. Tevello is designed to be user-friendly for business owners of all technical levels. Because it integrates natively with Shopify, it uses the interface and payment gateways you are already familiar with. You can easily upload videos, create quizzes, and set up drip schedules without writing a single line of code.

4. Why should I choose a native Shopify app instead of a third-party platform?

A native Shopify app keeps your customers on your own domain (e.g., yourstore.com/courses) rather than redirecting them to a different website. This builds trust, improves SEO, and ensures that you own all of your customer data. It also simplifies your management because all of your sales, customers, and products are in one centralized Shopify dashboard.