Starter course

Earn · Digital products

Course Builder: how to create and sell an online course

Six lessons: testing your idea, building with AI as an assistant, platform fees, refunds and consumer law, honest marketing and disclosure, and course-guru scams. Australia, UK and US. Self-paced, not an accredited qualification.

What you'll cover

Is a course the right product? Topic, learner and honest expectationsWhen a course makes sense, choosing a topic and learner, the main ways to sell a course, testing demand, and what to expect.
Designing and building the course, with AI as an assistantOutcomes and outline, lesson formats, using AI to draft without losing quality, copyright in AI-made material, and rights in what you use and upload.
Platforms, fees and pricing per saleHow marketplace revenue shares and course-platform fees work, payment processing and dispute fees, and working out what you keep per sale.
Refunds, cancellations and consumer lawConsumer guarantees in Australia, cancellation rights for digital content in the UK, subscription rules in the US, and writing a clear refund policy.
Marketing honestly: claims, testimonials, reviews and disclosureOutcome and income claims, typical results in testimonials, fake reviews, affiliate and partner disclosure, and email rules.
Course-guru scams, seller scams and launching safelyRed flags in “course creator” coaching programs, scams aimed at course sellers, protecting your content and accounts, tax pointers and a 30-day plan.

General information, not legal or tax advice. A self-paced course, not an accredited qualification. Platform fees, revenue shares and rules change often; recheck them before you price or publish.

trainyourselfCourse guide · step-by-step lessons

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About this course

how to create and sell an online course.

Starter · About 1 hour of learning · 6 lessons · 12 quick checks · 1 download

Who it's for
Experts, teachers, trades and hobbyists in Australia, the UK, the US and elsewhere who want to turn what they know into an online course.
How it works
6 guided lessons in your browser, with worked examples, exercises and a quick check after each lesson. Progress is saved in this browser only, and you can restart at any time. You start with just your first name and email, and you can take one whole course that way. After that, a free account lets you continue past lesson 1.
Sources we rely on
26 published sources, mostly regulators and official bodies, listed below so you can check the original guidance yourself.

By the end you can

Choose a course topic, learner and selling model, and test demand
Outline and build a course using AI as an assistant, with rights checked
Compare platform fees and work out what you keep per sale
Write a refund policy that respects AU, UK and US consumer law
Market honestly with disclosed partners, and avoid course-guru scams

Downloads

Online course planner .xlsxCourse sentence and demand test, outline, AI and rights log, platform fee calculator, refund policy checklist for AU, UK and US, sales-page claims check, scam red flags and 30-day plan, with Dana’s fictional examples.

Rules by country

Australia: ACCC: consumer guarantees are automatic; no “no refunds” signs; follow your change-of-mind policy; claims must be accurate and on reasonable grounds; fake reviews illegal.
United Kingdom: Downloads and streaming: customer must confirm they lose the 14-day right to cancel; refund faulty items; DMCC Act bans fake reviews; ASA: affiliates obviously identifiable; trading allowance.
United States: ROSCA: express informed consent and simple cancellation for subscriptions; FTC Endorsement Guides on typical results; fake reviews rule; business-opportunity disclosure; IRS $400 threshold.

Learning time

About 1 hour of learning. May count towards your CPD or professional development; check your professional body's rules. Estimated from reading time, exercises, quick checks and downloads.

Sources

Check the originals.

How these courses are made. Spotted an error or out-of-date rule? Send a correction.

Education only. We make no earnings or income claims: results depend on your skills, effort, market and many other factors, and most new ventures earn little at first. We don't teach investing, crypto trading, network marketing or dropshipping schemes, and we don't use affiliate links.

What is copyright? · U.S. Copyright Office
How copyright protects your work · GOV.UK (Intellectual Property Office)
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability (January 2025) · US Copyright Office
Instructor Terms · Udemy
Plans and pricing · Teachable
Pricing · Kajabi
Thinkific Payments supported countries and transaction fees · Thinkific Support
Kajabi Payments fees: United States · Kajabi Help Center
Consumer rights and guarantees (business) · ACCC
Repair, replace, refund, cancel · ACCC
Online and distance selling for businesses: online selling · GOV.UK
Accepting returns and giving refunds · GOV.UK
15 U.S.C. 8403: Negative option marketing on the Internet (ROSCA) · Cornell LII
False or misleading claims · Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
Bogus business opportunities · Federal Trade Commission, Business Guidance (US)
16 CFR Part 255: Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising · eCFR, Federal Trade Commission (US)
FTC announces final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (14 August 2024) · Federal Trade Commission (US)
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20, paragraph 13 (fake reviews) · legislation.gov.uk (UK)
Online reviews for products and services · ACCC (Australia)
Affiliate marketing (advice online) · Advertising Standards Authority / CAP (UK)
When a business offer or coaching program is a scam · FTC Consumer Advice
Vetting a business or coaching opportunity before you buy in · FTC Consumer Advice
FTC announces crackdown on deceptive AI claims and schemes (Operation AI Comply, 25 September 2024) · Federal Trade Commission (US)
Report Fraud: the place to report, prevent and learn about cyber crime and fraud · Report Fraud, City of London Police (UK)
Self-employed individuals tax center · Internal Revenue Service (US)
Tax-free allowances on property and trading income · HM Revenue & Customs, GOV.UK

Publisher

Who publishes this course.

Published by trainyourself.org, a trading name of Combine TRS Pty Ltd (ABN 42 112 983 678), Brisbane, Australia.

How it's made: researched from published official, regulator and platform guidance, then run through automated quality checks against our course depth standard and automated source checks that match each rule to its official source, listed above. Read how these courses are made.

Last updated: 1 November 2026

General information, not tax, accounting, legal or professional advice. Spotted an error or an out-of-date rule? Send us a correction.

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Course Builder: how to create and sell an online course

how to create and sell an online course.

Who it's for

How it works

Sources we rely on