Why Discounting Courses on Udemy is a Bad Long-Term Strategy
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Why Discounting & Using Udemy Was An Awful Long-Term Strategy
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Oh boy. It’s time for me to eat some crow. And that’s really difficult for me to do because I have a fear of certain birds. 🙂
Anyway… There are articles all over the Web about why discounting your products is bad. I ignored them and thought that was odd advice. Some of you warned me about Udemy. I ignored that too. My goal was to make my courses affordable for people to learn, and many of you praised me for that. But I didn’t really understand the long-term limitations of a pricing structure like Udemy’s.
If you have not launched your product yet and/or are considering Udemy to sell your online courses, please pay attention.
There’s also a podcast for this post. If you’d like to listen, scroll to the bottom.
Constant Discounting Creates a Price Ceiling
The ongoing discount strategy is not good for the long run, and it often creates a proverbial ceiling when it comes to what some people will pay.
"Offering too-frequent discounts trains people to buy only when there’s a sale."
When a large discount is the #1 motivating factor for purchasing, you attract a lot of people who:
- Put off starting/completing the course
- Don’t take action
- Are less motivated (because they haven’t invested much money)
- Are more likely to expect a coupon before buying again (This one is HUUUUUGE!).
As a result, you have to sell a lot of cheap products to make worthwhile money, and you often end up with a less engaged student due to the low risk/investment. Of course this is not ALWAYS the case, but I have a good sample size of Udemy stats to study, and the results are clear…
When I opted out of the Udemy promotions last Summer, it was amazing to see the increase in course engagement/completion and how the average ratings improved.
The bottom line is…
"Don’t price low. Pack your product with value, and charge what it’s worth."
Should You Avoid Udemy?
If you care more about the volume of students and are not concerned with the amount you earn per sale, then Udemy is fine. Just understand that your income will largely depend on how much Udemy promotes your course (if you cannot drive sales yourself). And many of your students will never pay more than a certain price.
Notice I didn’t say “ALL” but “MANY.” There are instructors on Udemy who are doing very well and are happy with their model. So I would never say it’s bad for everyone.
It’s just not for ME anymore, and I won’t be uploading there again. Even though I’ve opted out of the discounts, there is still an unspoken expectation for what my courses SHOULD sell for because they are on a notoriously discounted platform.
I know this to be true because I’ve gotten messages in my inbox from people begging for coupons. One guy was so relentless, I had to block him after the 10th message in a 3-day period. Another guy criticized me because my courses weren’t part of the promotions. Oh the nerve of me for not selling a 3-hour course for $15! 🙁
I had two emails this morning from someone asking for a coupon. And when people on Udemy ask for a coupon, they don’t want $5 or $10 off. They want 75% to 90% off. I’m done.
This is exactly why Udemy is a bad choice for people who want to sell courses over a certain amount. That discount expectation is a killer. They tried to fix this last year with a limited discount structure, but it flopped badly. Just like JCPenneys discovered when trying something similar, they realized people need to FEEL they’re getting a discount.
Udemy knew they had to change it back so they could keep profits up. It may not benefit all the instructors,