Terms and Conditions for Online Courses made in Australia - The Top 5 things you need to consider
When setting up the terms and conditions for your online course, there are some common problems I see come up time and time again. I want to help you avoid these problems from the outset so I have collated a list of the top five things to consider in your online course terms and conditions. This is particularly important to ensure all your hard work and effort in bringing your online course to life will provide you with a stress-free income stream.
Do you have or are you planning to develop an Online Course? Our legal templates are made specifically for Australian laws:
1. Get sign ups, get paid and be cautious when offering guarantees
I regularly speak with course creators who find that when they offer money-back guarantees or monthly payment plans it can make it easier for their clients to commit to their program, however it can sometimes come back to bite them. My clients tell me that sometimes people join their program and then after a month when the second payment has come out, they request for their money to be refunded and wish to withdraw from the course.
It is becoming increasingly common for course creators to offer 14 or 30 day money-back guarantees. During this time many course creators provide access to all of their content from the get-go. Their view is that this demonstrates the value they will receive however this can prove to be problematic as it leaves the course open to be copied or downloaded during that time.
For this reason I recommend providing one month’s worth of content (or two weeks if you have a 14 day cooling off period) at the start. Restricting access to your entire content is wise to protect your intellectual property. Then, make it clear that all of the content becomes available after this cooling-off period is over and the agreement becomes unconditional.
Another important element that can cause course creators challenges, is a promise of outcomes. It is important to be cautious about making guarantees about outcomes. When speaking with my clients about their terms and conditions, I always use the example of buying a bike to illustrate that by purchasing these products, their use will determine the outcomes. No-one can claim that a bike should be refunded if they do not get fit as a result of purchasing the bike so keep that in mind if you are pitching your course with outcomes. You have to ride the bike and put in the work to get fit. A course is no different.
2. Online Course Price Points - money upfront and when should I offer instalments?
My general rule of thumb is that if your online course is priced around the $1500-$2000 mark, a monthly installment option for 12 months or longer, is important to offer, otherwise you may not get the take up.
If your course is under $500 I recommend you consider a one-time payment upfront. It is time consuming doing the admin that comes with multiple transactions and if they are small amounts, this adds to your workload (or your bookkeepers hours as each of these payments need to be reconciled).
We’re so conditioned now with so many things that we pay monthly, it can feel as though we have to offer a monthly payment option. I recommend you pause and think about whether instalments are helpful for you and your business. Remember, you are not a bank so you do not need to offer instalments.
3. Privacy and selling your course overseas
When you sell your course online it is effectively available for people to purchase from anywhere in the world. For that reason, your terms and conditions will need to cover international obligations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), amongst others.
Your terms must cover how your course participants’ information is kept private. This includes how you deal with payment information and how that information is stored, particularly if you collect sensitive information like birth dates and other information that could be used for identity fraud. Reassure people you are not going to sell their details on or misuse their info. Importantly, you need to be covered in the event that if someone does get hold of it, that you are not liable but will take reasonable steps within your control to prevent it from occurring..
While most people like to think that these breaches of privacy won’t happen to them, the reality is that if you are using third party technology, there will always be a degree of risk. It is far better to have solid Terms of Use in place that inform the course participant of what you are, and are not, responsible for. In the event that there has been a breach of privacy and you are required to notify all of your clients that this is the case, your Terms of Use will put you in a better position than if your terms are not comprehensive.
4. Terms that you can enforce
How your Terms of Use are documented is important. It is wise to ensure that what you include covers your specific course and your business. Each online course is different in its composition which directly impacts how your Terms of Use should be written.Imagine putting together terms that are not enforceable because the wording is incorrect or leaves out one component of what you do. For this reason it is important to have someone like me to review or prepare your terms so you can have the peace of mind that you are covered.
Online course creators rarely anticipate that people will ask for refunds or renege on their monthly installments as often as it does (even though the content is brilliant!). Dealing with these matters can be a big energy suck. Terms of Use that are enforceable will save you the headaches.
5. Platform disclaimers
Most online course creators use third-party platforms, such as Kajabi or Teachable to host their courses and this often includes integrations with payment processors like Paypal or Stripe and other software like email marketing. While you may not think any of these platforms are susceptible to this type of risk, recent history tells us they are. Any product or platform that you use for your course delivery can potentially be hacked and while it might sound rare, the reality is that they include disclaimers in their own terms and conditions in the event this were to happen, to protect their business.
So, you too need to have clauses in your Terms Of Use that will cover you in the event that a platform fails (or disappears entirely) or there is a breach of privacy as a result of the technology you use as part of your course delivery.
In other situations where for instance, you might deliver a course via a Facebook group and a participant finds themselves banned from Facebook for some reason, you must include in your Terms of Use that elements like this are out of your control and therefore you cannot be held responsible. If these terms are not worded correctly, then course participants may legally be able to seek to be refunded.
These are some of the common issues I see online course creators facing at the moment. I encourage you to put these tips into action and avoid some of the online course creator curveballs I see far too often.
Related: 7 things you need to know about your online course from a lawyer
Seller Beware: Online course or program owner protection
Online course or program refund policies: What you need to know
If you or someone you know is a course creator, take a look at our online course terms and conditions template. A low-cost solution to help you...
