Online courses: how to create one, where to host it and how to sell it

An online course is the most expensive of digital products: the buyer pays not for information, of which the internet is full, but for order, pace and a result. The same course can be sold hundreds of times, but it takes longer to create than a template or a book, and the seller has more legal obligations.

This part of the guide covers how to create an online course: which format to choose, where to host it and how much the platforms take, how to set the price and what the Civil Code says about the right of withdrawal.

Which format to choose

The first time, it is often worth running the course live for a small group: you will see where participants get stuck, and the lesson recordings will become the basis of the future recorded course.

How to create a course: the steps

1. Define the promise. One sentence: who, in how much time, will be able to do what. “Excel basics” is a topic; “in two weeks you will learn to prepare a monthly report” is a promise.
2. Check demand. Describe the course on one page and offer pre-registration or a pilot group. If nobody buys the description, nobody will buy the recordings either.
3. Build the syllabus from the result. Write down what the participant has to be able to do at the end and work backwards: which steps are needed. Everything that does not bring the result closer is an extra, not a lesson.
4. Split it into short lessons. One lesson – one idea and one assignment.
5. Record. Sound matters more than picture: viewers forgive poor picture, but not poor sound. For a screen recording, a computer and an external microphone are enough.
6. Add materials: worksheets, templates, checklists. They are often valued more than the lectures themselves.
7. Test it with a few people before launching publicly and fix the places where they stopped.

Where to host the course and how much it costs

In the case of Udemy, the “net amount” is the price paid by the student minus applicable taxes and fees, for example the 30% fee that Apple and Google apply to in-app purchases. Instructors can also take part in Udemy's subscription and business programmes, where remuneration is calculated separately.

A marketplace suits you when you have no audience and the course is aimed at a broad, usually English-speaking market. For a course in Lithuanian what usually remains is your own website or a platform: the buyers come from your social networks, your newsletter or through recommendations.

Recommendations can also be organised: the course is offered by affiliates – bloggers, community administrators, other lecturers – who receive a commission only for a completed sale.

How to set the price

• Tie the price to the result, not to the number of hours. A short course that solves an expensive problem can cost more than a long overview course.
• Look at what the buyer would choose instead of you: a book, live training, an individual consultation. Your price has to make sense next to them.
• Start with one price. Add packages (recordings only / with feedback / with a consultation) once you know what participants are missing.
• Offer discounts rarely and with a clear end date. A permanent “sale” teaches buyers not to buy at full price, and the pre-discount price shown has to be genuine.
• On a marketplace you control the price less: the platform can apply its own discounts, so read its pricing rules before uploading the course.

The buyer's right of withdrawal: what the Civil Code says

A person buying a course online is a consumer concluding a distance contract. Article 6.22810 of the Civil Code gives them the right to withdraw from the contract within fourteen days without giving a reason.

There is an exception for digital content. The consumer has no right to withdraw from a contract for the supply of digital content if performance of the contract has begun and all three conditions are met:

1. the consumer expressly agreed in advance that performance of the contract begin before the withdrawal period expires;
2. the consumer acknowledged that they lose the right to withdraw from the contract;
3. the seller provided confirmation of the contract as required by the Code.

In practice this means:

• A separate checkbox at purchase. For example: “I agree that access to the course be granted immediately, and I understand that I thereby lose the right to withdraw from the contract.” The buyer has to tick it themselves.
• Confirmation by email, which repeats this consent and the terms of the order.
• If even one condition is missing, the buyer can withdraw from the course for 14 days, even if they have already watched the lessons.

A different exception applies to live courses, which legally are a service: the right of withdrawal ceases only when the service has been fully provided, and before it began the consumer's express consent was obtained together with their acknowledgement that they would lose this right. As long as the course has not ended, a participant can withdraw from it within 14 days of concluding the contract.

The Code also provides that the contract withdrawal function must be continuously available for as long as the consumer has the right to withdraw from the contract. Many course authors voluntarily offer a broader money-back guarantee as well – this is allowed if you keep the promise.

What the buyer must see before paying

If you use other people's images, music or software screenshots in the course materials, check whether their licences allow commercial use.

Taxes

Income from courses is income from activity, so the activity has to be made official. Which form suits you is explained in the ACS.lt article “Self-employment: registration certificate or business certificate”.

Registering as a VAT payer is mandatory when income in Lithuania exceeds 45 000 € per year. Recorded courses are treated as electronic services: if they are bought by residents of other EU countries and the value of such sales exceeds 10 000 € per year, VAT is paid at the rate of the buyer's country – the OSS system is intended for this. The taxation of live training may differ, so before selling abroad it is worth consulting an accountant.

Frequently asked questions