Regional pricing and checkout: selling the same course at different prices by country

The same course is not worth the same in every country. A price designed for Madrid or Mexico City is unaffordable in other markets, and one designed for those markets leaves money on the table in wealthier ones. Many instructors solve this with an average price that fits nowhere, or with a discount code that someone eventually leaks on a forum.

LearnSuite approaches the problem differently: the instructor sets a price per zone, the platform decides which zone the buyer is in using evidence, and the licence issued is tied to that zone. This article explains how it works, who it suits and where it falls short. If your question is how much to charge, start with how to price an online course.

The three price modes

Each course picks one:

1. Free. The whole course is open. An attempt to buy it is rejected, because there is nothing to charge.
2. Single price. One price for everyone, tax included, and a licence valid in any country. It is the simplest.
3. By zone. A different price for each zone, and a licence that is only valid within it.

Most academies start with a single price and move to zones when they see traffic from countries with very different purchasing power.

The 11 zones

The platform ships with 11 default zones, grouped by market rather than by continent:

• North America
• Western Europe
• Oceania and East Asia
• Gulf
• Eastern Europe
• Latin America
• South Asia
• Southeast Asia and China
• Middle East and North Africa
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Rest of the world

The instructor sets the price of each one, course by course, from the zones dashboard. You do not have to fill them all in: you can decide which markets you sell to and which you do not.

How the platform decides which zone the buyer is in

This is the point that sets the feature apart from a simple country dropdown. If we let the buyer declare their country, they would just pick the cheapest. Instead, the zone is decided using evidence:

• IP address and its associated country.
• VPN signals.
• Verified phone number.
• Device time zone.
• Browser language.

With those signals the system can approve the purchase, deny it or ask for a verified phone if it sees risk (for example, a buyer whose IP and time zone do not match). The order stores those signals and, at payment, Stripe also collects the billing address and phone.

What it cannot promise

No geolocation method is perfect. A determined person with the right means can evade part of these checks, and country detection depends on how the service is configured; in reduced mode it works with less precision. The feature notably reduces arbitrage buying, but does not eliminate it. If your product is so price-sensitive that a single leaked purchase ruins your pricing policy, this tool alone is not enough.

The territorial licence

When payment is confirmed, the order becomes a licence tied to the countries of the zone. Outside that zone, access requires a travel pass, a territorial permission of 14 days a year. It is what lets a learner who bought in their home country keep following the course on a work trip without being locked out.

Other licence details:

• A learner with a current licence cannot buy again the same course.
• If the course has time-limited access and it expires, they can buy again.
• A verified email is required to buy.

To understand what happens to the video once purchased, see how protected video works.

The checkout

Payment goes through Stripe, in the zone's currency and with tax included in the displayed price. What the buyer sees is what they pay. Stripe collects billing address and phone, and when payment is confirmed, an automatic process turns the paid order into a licence and opens access.

The instructor has an orders and sales dashboard, including order refunds. On the tax side, it helps to understand the general framework: we have a guide to EU VAT for online courses. That guide explains the regime; here we give no tax advice, and each instructor should confirm their situation with their adviser.

A warning about payment mode

Each academy has its own Stripe mode: live or test. An academy in test mode does not collect real money. Before announcing anything, check that your academy is in live mode by making a small purchase with your own card and refunding it afterwards.

Who it is for

It fits well if:

• Your course sells in several countries and purchasing power varies a lot between them.
• You already have international traffic (for example, after teaching in several languages without re-recording).
• You want a clear pricing policy that does not depend on discount codes.
• You sell a medium or high-priced course, where the price gap between zones is significant.

It is probably not for you if:

• Your audience is in a single country. A single price gives you everything you need.
• Your course is cheap (a few euros): the complexity does not pay off.
• You need to take payment through very specific local methods of one particular country. Check carefully which methods the checkout supports before deciding.

What price to set in each zone

There is no formula, but there is a reasonable method:

1. Set your reference price first in the zone where you already sell.
2. For other zones, start from what a comparable product costs there, not from a fixed discount on yours.
3. Begin with a few zones (three or four) and expand once you see sales.
4. Review every quarter: zone prices are not a forever decision.

Which plan includes it

• Single price and free courses: on every plan.
• Prices by zone: on the Institution and Enterprise plans. Starter (€99 a month plus 8% of sales) and Professional include 1 zone.
• Institution costs €697 a month on annual billing (€836.40 paying month to month) and includes 5 zones. Each extra zone costs €99 a month.

Limits are stored in your subscription and appear in the platform dashboard. Every up-to-date detail is on the pricing page and the zones page.

Honest limits

• The split is recorded, but the payout is manual. Each paid order or 1:1 session is written to a settlement ledger with the academy's share and the platform's, calculated on what is actually received (amount paid minus VAT minus the Stripe fee) and reversed on a refund. Paying that share to the instructor is done and marked by hand: it is not transferred automatically, and the ledger does not split a sale among several co-authors.
• Coupons exist, with caveats. You create them in the dashboard, per course or academy-wide, as a percentage or a fixed amount, with an expiry date, a usage limit and, if you want, tied to an email address. A fixed-amount coupon only works in the currency it was created in, so with zone prices in several currencies percentages are the safer choice.
• A price per zone is a visible price. A buyer in an expensive zone who finds out another zone pays less may object. Prepare an honest explanation (local purchasing power, not a penalty).
• It needs tax care. Charging tax-inclusive simplifies the buyer's experience, but does not replace your tax advice.

Summary

Regional pricing solves a real problem: selling the same content in very different markets without an average price that fits none. The platform decides the zone with evidence, not with a declaration, and issues a licence tied to it. In return, it requires a plan above Professional, does not entirely eliminate arbitrage buying and paying the instructor's share of each sale is done by hand. If you are just starting, begin with a single price and read how to launch your academy without a tech team.