There is no price band that is “right for most courses”. A six-lesson reference course, a cohort with weekly feedback and a professional certification programme are different products even if all three contain video.
A useful price has to survive four questions:
- What does each sale cost you?
- How much delivery can you support?
- What would the buyer reasonably compare this with?
- What happened when real people saw the offer?
The calculator below handles the first question. It is deliberately local: the figures stay in your browser.
Start with contribution per sale
Do not begin with revenue. Begin with what remains after the costs that move with each purchase.
Contribution per sale = price − refunds − payment fees − variable delivery cost
Variable delivery cost may include a workbook you ship, a coach paid per participant, certificate fees or support that is billed by usage. Your own time is not free either, but it is clearer to model it separately as capacity.
For a Swedish Stripe account, the public standard rate for an ordinary EEA card was 1.5% + SEK 1.80 when this guide was checked. Other cards, currencies and payment methods have different rates. Use the rate on your own agreement, not a copied benchmark. Stripe publishes the current Swedish rates here.
The calculator treats refunds as an assumption and conservatively applies the payment fee to every original purchase. Fee treatment after a refund depends on your agreement. Replace both assumptions with your own ledger after the first sales.
Put a price on the delivery constraint
A self-paced course with asynchronous support can serve more buyers than a programme where you personally review every assignment.
Write down:
- minutes of support per participant;
- live seats available per cohort;
- work that happens once versus work repeated for every buyer;
- the maximum number of buyers you could serve without lowering quality.
If a cohort gives you 30 hours for delivery and each participant requires 90 minutes, the mathematical ceiling is 20 participants before group sessions and administration. That is not a market benchmark; it is your capacity calculation. The price must make the cohort worthwhile inside that ceiling.
Compare against the buyer’s real alternatives
“Value pricing” becomes meaningless when it means taking an arbitrary percentage of a dramatic promised outcome. Use observable alternatives instead:
- a private session with a qualified practitioner;
- a workshop or evening course;
- books, templates or software needed to solve the same problem;
- the time and risk involved in doing it alone;
- another course with genuinely comparable access and support.
Document what is included and what is not. A buyer should be able to see why the offer costs more than a book and less than six private sessions without being shown invented “total value” arithmetic.
Choose the payment structure separately
One price can be sold in several ways:
One payment is simple and gives you the cash immediately.
Instalments can make a higher price manageable, but they also create failed-payment risk and more customer service. Do not assume a universal conversion lift. Test the option and compare completed revenue, not checkout starts.
Subscription fits continuing delivery: a growing library, recurring sessions or an active membership. It is a poor disguise for a finite course unless the recurring value is explicit.
A worked example — assumptions, not a benchmark
Suppose a course costs $240, attracts 25 purchases, refunds 4% of gross sales and uses a payment rate of 2.9% + $0.30. Production and launch cost $1,800.
- Gross revenue: $6,000
- Revenue after the refund assumption: $5,760
- Approximate payment fees on the original purchases: $182
- Result before tax and the creator’s own delivery time: about $3,779
Change one assumption and the result changes. The example is useful because the method is visible, not because $240 is a recommendation.
What to measure after launch
The first price is a test. Keep a small decision log and review:
- visits to the offer and completed purchases;
- completed revenue, not only order count;
- refunds and payment failures;
- support time per participant;
- lesson progress and the point where people stop;
- replies explaining why someone bought or declined.
Raise, lower or restructure the price only when you can state which constraint you are fixing. “Nobody bought” may be a price problem, but it may also be an unclear offer, the wrong audience or no trust.
Consumer rules belong in the price model
If you sell to consumers, refund policy is not only a commercial choice. Swedish distance-selling rules normally provide a 14-day withdrawal period, with specific exceptions and consent requirements for digital content. From 19 June 2026, businesses selling through a website or app also need an online withdrawal function when the statutory right applies. Read the Swedish Consumer Agency’s current business guidance and get legal advice for your exact product.
The shortest honest pricing method
- Calculate contribution per sale.
- Set the delivery ceiling.
- Compare real alternatives.
- Interview a few intended buyers.
- Publish a clear first offer.
- Change the price from observed data, not a generic price ladder.
That produces a price you can explain — and a better experiment than copying a number from another creator.
Checked 20 August 2026. Current payment figures link to Stripe’s own Swedish pricing page. Swedish consumer-law links point to the Swedish Consumer Agency. This guide is business education, not tax or legal advice.