To start the month of March, Udemy made a big announcement.

The old model, allowing sellers to price their courses anywhere from $1 to $300 and using huge promotional deals (often up to 90% off) to generate sales was gone.

Going forward, all paid courses on the Udemy platform will be priced between $20 and $50, without the gigantic price-cutting sales.

As soon as I saw this, I was interested in the effect that this would have on online course sellers and entrepreneurs.

I decided to ask some experts for their take on the change, people who have made money from the Udemy platform in the past who would be directly affected by this change.

I asked them a simple question:

“How can Online Course sellers and Entrepreneurs benefit from Udemy’s recent price structure change?”

If you’re not familiar with Udemy it is the largest marketplace for teachers to sell online courses.

Just as Amazon is a natural place for entrepreneurs that want to test out the physical product market, Udemy is a very attractive place for course sellers.

According to an email that Udemy sent out recently, they have reached a milestone 10 million students on their platform. 10 million people who have actively sought out education for the topic they are interested in and financially committed to it.

Thousands of bloggers, coaches, and experts have created online courses and many of them use Udemy to reach an audience who is already interested in their product.

You don’t even need an audience to market your course too. Udemy supplies the audience (and a lot of marketing too).

If you haven’t considered creating an online course, you should. For the upfront of investment of time, effort, or both, you can build a product that potentially could provide you with passive income for years to come. A truly ‘set it and forget it’ type product.

Benefits of Udemy’s Price Change: 7 Experts Weigh In.

My goal was to get a wide range of course publishers, from Authors, to tech experts, consultants and thought leaders.

The only thing that all seven of these people have in common is that they have at least one online course selling on Udemy. Thier courses have hundreds of 5-star reviews, they’ve made a nice source of passive income from their work, and they have helped thousands by passing on their knowledge.

Thier courses have hundreds of 5-star reviews, they’ve made a nice source of passive income from their work, and they have helped thousands by passing on their knowledge.

So here are the experts, in no particular order:

#1 Seth Godin (www.sethgodin.com) – Entrepreneur, Thought Leader, and Best-Selling Author I think the price change was a smart way to avoid the super giant coupon pricing antics Which forces/encourages teachers to not use short-term discounts to cause action All the way back to first principles–build a tribe, create a story, produce real value, be remarkable…

#2 Alex Genadinik (GlowingStart.com and ProblemIO) – Entrepreneur, App Developer, Author First, online course sellers can sell more premium courses for above $50 on their own websites. They can also break up older bigger courses and make more smaller courses. Also, since the current Udemy 10 million student base has shown a propensity for buying courses at $10, my advice would be to make your courses $20 so that you can run the $10 sales more often. At the $10 price you will generate the most sales than at any other price, and that will work to positively affect the Udemy algorithm in your favor because the more people buy your course, the more Udemy’s recommendation algorithm will prefer your course over competitive courses.

#3 Bryan Cohen (BryanCohen.com and sellingforauthors.com) – Author and Entrepreneur

Udemy’s price change comes with benefits and detriments for course creators. On one hand, uniform pricing will allow educators to focus on the content rather than running sales and promotions. On the other, instructors who’ve created very high-value content may be tempted to go elsewhere. Once the dust settles, we should see whether entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from Udemy’s big change. Udemy’s price change comes with benefits and detriments for course creators. On one hand, uniform pricing will allow educators to focus on the content rather than running sales and promotions. On the other, instructors who’ve created very high-value content may be tempted to go elsewhere. Once the dust settles, we should see whether entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from Udemy’s big change.

#4 Nick Loper (SideHustleNation) – Side Hustle expert and Entrepreneur

I don’t know yet! I think the average selling price will actually go up but curious to see the impact the sweeping changes have on the platform for instructors and students. I don’t know yet! I think the average selling price will actually go up but curious to see the impact the sweeping changes have on the platform for instructors and students.

#5 Jonathan A. Levi (jle.vi) – Entrepreneur and Investor

Udemy’s price change is a boon for anyone looking to build a serious and diversified business around their content. The new pricing makes product differentiation a no-brainer, clearly distinguishing Udemy courses from both lower ticket products (like Kindle eBooks) and from premium products (like our self-hosted SuperLearner MasterClass). The strategy is brilliant; their new pricing will fit squarely in the middle. Udemy’s price change is a boon for anyone looking to build a serious and diversified business around their content. The new pricing makes product differentiation a no-brainer, clearly distinguishing Udemy courses from both lower ticket products (like Kindle eBooks) and from premium products (like our self-hosted SuperLearner MasterClass). The strategy is brilliant; their new pricing will fit squarely in the middle. While Udemy will remain one of the most profitable and attractive marketplaces for online content creators, taking its place alongside Amazon and iTunes, this new move helps Udemy courses fit into a clearer and more appropriate place on the demand curve. The winning strategy is, and always has been, to offer products at every price point your customers demand.

#6 Ron Stefanski (OneHourProfessor) – College Professor and Entrepreneur

I’ve already embraced the changes that Udemy is doing and changed the pricing of all of my courses to a much lower price point. The verdict? Four sales in the first ten days of a month where I usually manage to get zero sales, and maybe one for the entire month overall. I think that the idea of $300, $400, $500+ courses are pretty much dead unless you’re one of the top authorities in your niche. By making this change, Udemy is forcing us to price our courses at a reasonable level and now allow us to price them extremely high with “special discounts” that give us 80-90% off. By doing this price decrease, people see the courses for a cost that they’re willing to pay and although urgency of a sale won’t be what it once was, it is allowing people to afford the course at any time. I’ve already embraced the changes that Udemy is doing and changed the pricing of all of my courses to a much lower price point. The verdict? Four sales in the first ten days of a month where I usually manage to get zero sales, and maybe one for the entire month overall. The way I see it, Udemy is now letting us do the one thing that we really want which is to get the most students. Sure, we all want to make money as well, but by forcing us to price our courses a little lower, we’re breaking down walls that once existed with pricing and making it possible to help more people enjoy our content. Regardless of what niche you’re in, your main goal should always be to help your audience and this makes it so that you can help (and connect) with more people.

#7 Phil Ebiner (www.philebiner.com and www.VideoSchoolOnline.com) – Video Expert and Entrepreneur

I believe instructors will have a better time focusing on creating great content, and not worrying about how to price and discount their courses to literally ‘trick’ people into thinking they’re getting a great deal. With the new structure, and other recent changes like a better review system, Udemy students will be purchasing courses based off of the real quality of the course. We’re in a more level playing field now, and the best courses will thrive. I’m looking forward to more sales every day of the year, and not on big blowout sales. I believe instructors will have a better time focusing on creating great content, and not worrying about how to price and discount their courses to literally ‘trick’ people into thinking they’re getting a great deal. With the new structure, and other recent changes like a better review system, Udemy students will be purchasing courses based off of the real quality of the course. We’re in a more level playing field now, and the best courses will thrive. I’m looking forward to more sales every day of the year, and not on big blowout sales.

Takeaways

As I have been reading through these quotes several common themes can be seen, and I’d like to highlight them.

The initial benefits outweigh the negatives.

The experts seem to be very keen on avoiding the huge sales that had started to happen, the clearly defined space that Udemy is aiming to fill, and the fact that going forward more time can be spent on content production and less on promotion.

2. The Urgency is gone.

One thing that the 80-90% sales did remarkably well was creating a sense of urgency that prompted students to buy now. With this gone, sales still should come at more of a constant flow while people are able to buy at a convenient time for them, not before the sale ends.

3. A clearly defined space

With this change Udemy has really defined the type of marketplace it will be. As Jonathan, and several others alluded to, high-end courses no longer have a place on Udemy, but the content here should be a step above ebooks.

This really lends itself to a diversification of your content… ebooks on Amazon, basic online courses with Udemy, and using both to drive traffic to high-end, significant courses on your own platform.

4. Time will tell the final results.

As Nick said when asked this question, “I don’t know”. The long lasting effects of this change are yet to be completely known. Change often comes with opportunity though, and the most successful will find a way to benefit from this change.

5. Quality Content is still King.

Putting out top notch quality content that your audience, or the audience you’re hoping to help, is, and always will be, goal #1.

Wrap Up

The early votes are in and it seems like Udemy’s price change is being met with very positive reviews.

That being said, time will tell the full impact of this change.

The question I’d like to leave you with is this: What opportunities do you see? What are some of the ways you plan to benefit from Udemy’s price change?

Would love to hear your replies in the comments section below!