Is it allowed to turn a free course into a paid course?

AnmolDeep
AnmolDeep Posts: 5 researcher rank
in First-time course creation

Can i make a free course and when i get some students into the course turn it into a paid one. Is it allowed and does this strategy even works if we want to increase course enrolment?

Comments

  • Yazdani Chowdhury
    Yazdani Chowdhury Posts: 253 specialist rank

    Yes you can

  • ElianaC
    ElianaC Posts: 5,407 Udemy rank

    Hi @AnmolDeep
    You can switch from Free to Paid only once. If you switch from free to paid and back to free (or vice versa) after the course is published, your promotional announcements for the course will be permanently disabled. For more information on pricing your course, please review this article. In case you have any doubts, I'll recommend you to reach out to instructorsupport@udemy.com

    Regards,

    Eliana

  • Thor
    Thor Posts: 2,319 rolemodel rank

    You can, just make sure not to switch it back and forth too many times.

    After 3? switches free>paid>free>paid you lose your promotional announcements.

  • SheilaGarth520
    SheilaGarth520 Posts: 1 observer rank

    Ok, to clarify. I created a new course and offered it at a cost for few days. I am now running a 2 week free offer. Can I price it in 2 weeks without penalty? I am just unclear if I can go from cost to free back to cost without penalty. Thank you!

  • Abbie
    Abbie Posts: 3,191 traveler rank

    Hey @SheilaGarth520
    , I know it can be confusing-. The system detects and only allows one change from free to paid specifically. So, we have two scenarios:

    1- Launch paid, switch free, switch paid, switch free, switch paid - no promo
    2- Launch free, switch paid, switch free, switch paid - no promo

    The amount of changes is different in both scenarios, but If you look close enough, you can see that both scenarios change from free to paid twice, which is what our platform looks for in this criteria. Which is why both scenarios would cause you to lose promotional emails. Let me know if this makes sense!

  • Curtis.Norman
    Curtis.Norman Posts: 4 researcher rank

    @Abbie
    so can the course go -

    1. Launch Paid, Switch Free, Switch Paid and still have promotional emails?

    2. Launch Free, Switch Paid and still have promotional emails?

  • SoyMarketer
    SoyMarketer Posts: 324 specialist rank

    Sounds about right.

    Beware:

    The main complaing about this strategy is the amount of low-star reviews.

    It can hurt your course a lot.

    I haven´t tried it,

    And for all my 6 courses,

    Udemy is just amazing...

    The promote them well.

    Your job is to chose the right keywords and make it compatible with advertising. (So using something like SEMrush for a course structure + adding some copywriting wisedom to create additional lessons that are not SEO driven.)

    Happy hunting!

  • ElianaC
    ElianaC Posts: 5,407 Udemy rank

    Hi @Curtis.Norman
    , a course can only be switched from Free to Paid once. If the course is switched from free to paid and back to free (or vice versa) after the course is published, the promotional announcements for the course will be permanently disabled.

  • Antonypamo
    Antonypamo Posts: 2 researcher rank

    I dont even know if you can. As teacher, we need to be role models. That strategy seems tobe unethical. There out people is in need of growing personal and profesionally. Be clear from the very begining. Trust on the instructor is affected by doing that.

  • SoyMarketer
    SoyMarketer Posts: 324 specialist rank

    Just to be 100% clear. In a practical case: I´m about to turn a course that has sales, and I launched as PAID, into a FREE course. Once I get a bunch of students, I will switch it back to paid. Only one change from free to paid. This will NOT take my promo emails, correct?

  • ElianaC
    ElianaC Posts: 5,407 Udemy rank

    Hi @SoyMarketer
    a course can only be switched from Free to Paid once. If the course is switched from free to paid and back to free (or vice versa) after the course is published, the promotional announcements for the course will be permanently disabled. To have an overview of your account you can reach out to instructorsupport@udemy.com they will be able to provide you with further details.

    Eliana Cerna

    Udemy community Moderator

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