Teachable provides two native payment gateways: the Teachable Monthly Payment Gateway and Teachable:pay. The one you can use depends on your Teachable subscription level and the country you live in.
Key Takeaways:
- Pro plan subscribers or above in an eligible country can use Teachable:pay
- Non-qualifying subscribers for Teachable:pay can use Teachable Monthly Payment Gateway
- Offer students different payment options, like Google and Apple payments, PayPal, and more
How Can You Take Payments on Teachable?
There are currently two ways to take payments on Teachable.
Teachable:Pay
Teachable:pay is Teachable’s native payment gateway allowing you to take direct payments from students without involving a third-party payment provider. However, to use it, you must be located in an eligible country and subscribed to the Pro, Pro +, or the Business plan.
There are over 80 eligible countries available, including the US, Canada, all EU countries, the UK, Australia, and more. To see if you are located in an eligible country, check out the list on Teachable.
Teachable:pay allows you to choose to directly receive funds on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis into your bank account or via Stripe Express.
Teachable Monthly Payment Gateway
For those subscribed to the free or Basic Teachable plans not living in an eligible country, Teachable offers its monthly payment gateway.
This provides the same features outlined below but with less flexible payout options.
As the name suggests, the monthly payment gateway only pays out your funds every 30 days. The payout day is the 1st of every month or the next business day if the 1st falls on a weekend or US national holiday.
All funds have to be kept for at least 30 days to allow for chargebacks and refunds. Therefore, due to the payout dates, your funds could be held for longer than 30 days.
For example, you make a sale for $50 on the 15th of March. Since the funds must be held for at least 30 days, this means the $50 is not eligible for release until the 15th of April. Therefore, the money will be paid out on the 1st of May.
Another key difference with the Teachable Monthly Payment Gateway is that all funds are paid into a PayPal account only.
What Are the Features of Teachable Payments?
Tax-Inclusive Pricing
One of the best features of Teachable payments is that you don’t have to worry about calculations for US sales taxes and EU and UK VAT. These taxes are automatically calculated, collected, and remitted by Teachable.
This is a big time saver and prevents you from making an error or incorrect calculation.
Flexible Student Payment Options
Students have flexible options available and can pay for your Teachable courses and products using the following methods:
- Credit and debit cards
- Google and Apple Pay
- PayPal (in USD only and only if BackOffice is enabled)
- Buy-now-pay-later options such as Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm (currently only available in the US and only if BackOffice is enabled)
Fraud Protection
Teachable has a built-in chargeback feature that allows students to receive their money back if they believe the transaction to be fraudulent or unfamiliar.
Additionally, Teachable stipulates that you must include a month-back guarantee that is at least 30 days long, though you can create a more generous, longer guarantee if you prefer.
You also have the ability to provide instant student refunds if necessary. This can be a useful alternative to a chargeback since there is a $15 fee applied to each chargeback, whereas there is no fee for providing a refund. Teachable alerts you if it feels any fraudulent activity is taking place so that you have a chance to take pre-emptive action.
Teachable BackOffice Services
Teachable BackOffice is an add-on feature that costs extra. How much you pay for it is dependent on what the last 12 months of gross merchandise value (GMV) for your Teachable school is:
- GMV of $0 to $499,999.99: 2.80% fee per transaction
- GMV of $500,000 +: 2% fee per transaction
If you enable Teachable BackOffice, you get access to the following:
- PayPal enabled as a student payment option
- “Buy now pay later” enabled as a student payment option
- Automated affiliate and author payouts and tax form collection
Teachable Payments Transaction Fees
Depending on which Teachable plan you subscribe to, there may be transaction fees applied to each student purchase:
- Free plan: $1 plus 10%
- Basic plan: 5%
- Pro plan: 0%
- Pro + plan: 0%
- Business plan: 0%
If you enable Teachable BackOffice, the transaction fees for the service will be in addition to the above.
How to Set Up Teachable:Pay (Step by Step)
Step 1: Log in to your Teachable school and select “Settings,” then “Payments.” Choose your location country from the dropdown menu that appears.
Step 2: Provide any additional information that is requested. For example, if you pick the US, you will be asked to provide which state you are located in, along with your postal code, phone number, and tax filing status. Hit “Continue,” and you will be taken to the next stage.
Step 3: The next stage is to add your bank account details to the Teachable:pay system. This stage of the set up is powered by Stripe. Click “Continue” and confirm your Teachable login details.
Step 4: You will now be sent a verification code as an SMS to the phone number you provided. Add this code in the available space.
Step 5: Next, run through and add all the information the system asks you for. This includes your address, date of birth, and of course, your bank account details.
Step 6: Once you have successfully connected your bank account, you will now be directed back to Teachable and asked to select the payout frequency of your funds. Choose daily, weekly, or monthly.
Here, you also have the option to enable Teachable BackOffice and connect your PayPal account. These are not obligatory, however, and can be ignored if you choose.
That’s it! You are now set up and ready to receive student payments. If you experience any problems connecting your bank account to Teachable, you can contact Teachable customer service for further assistance.
How to Set Up Teachable Monthly Payment Gateway
If you are not eligible for Teachable:pay, you will follow the process to set up the Teachable Monthly Payment Gateway instead.
The process is almost the same as setting up Teachable:pay, so start with step one as outlined above and then add in the required information as requested (you will be asked for the same information as with Teachable:pay).
The only difference is that you will be requested to connect your PayPal account rather than adding your bank account details. Therefore, you must already have a valid PayPal address before attempting to set up Teachable payments.
Once your PayPal account is connected, you will be invited to enable Teachable BackOffice and enable the PayPal payment option for your students. Again, these are optional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Teachable Have a Native Payment Gateway?
Teachable has a native payment gateway called Teachable:pay which is available on the higher tier plans (Pro plan and upwards) and to those living in eligible countries.
Does Teachable Charge Transaction Fees?
Teachable only charges transaction fees on its free and Basic plans:
- For the free plan, you pay $1 plus 10% per transaction.
- For the Basic plan, you pay 5% per transaction.
What Payment Options Can You Offer for Your Teachable Products?
You can offer your students the ability to pay via debit or credit card or with Google and Apple payments. If you enable Teachable BackOffice, you can also offer PayPal and buy-now-pay-later options such as Klarna.
Does Teachable Integrate with Third-Party Payment Gateways?
Although you can provide different payment options, such as PayPal, Apple, and Google payments for your students, Teachable only allows you to use its native payment gateway to receive and transfer funds.
