Udemy Courses Seem Like They Are Always on Sale

[AHK-Hero]

Anyone else here use Udemy? I'm quite fond of it as I have been deeply invested in several courses over the past year, but since I visit the site almost daily I couldn't help but notice these deep blowout sales are seemingly always running. Admittedly the main reason I jumped into the site in the first place was because I couldn't say no to giving a course I wanted a try at that low a price, but in the end I wonder if the frequency of the sales means either they are

a.) struggling to stay afloat and use deep discounts to attract money from new users

b.) making thin margins on high volume sales, conditioning their customers to never pay more than $10 for anything and eventually screwing over the best and most dedicated instructors

c.) a bit of both

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I mean $10.99 for 347 lectures and 43 hours of instruction? That's mind-blowing. As someone looking to learn, I love how affordable to it is to jump in, but I can't help but worry that the course creators are getting screwed in the end. If you use Udemy like me, have you ever bought a course that is not on sale?

Do you think they'll eventually end or cut back on the blowout sale cycle?

 

[SRG01]

$10 is impulse buy levels, so they're probably raking in money even if people don't sign in and use their courses after their purchase.

That, and Udemy has to compete with different online course delivery platforms -- both subscription and professional -- so this strategy makes sense.

 

[FireSafetyBear]

Khan Academy is free too. It's nice. Education for anybody.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

I think they get a lot of VC cash to subsidize the courses. I don't see how the creators are getting screwed. They are making tons more than they would if they posted their videos on Youtube or something like that.

 

[Gunslinger]

The "sale" is just marketing term the 10-15 dollars is the regular price.

 

[Doof]

I'm actually editing a udemy course right now, lol.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I remember a year or so back they said they weren't going to have so many ridiculous sales any more. Yeah, that lasted about a month...

 

[Doom_Bringer]

It's a good resource. I bought a number of courses over the break. Now hopefully I can finish them in time :P

 

[AHK-Hero]

$10 is impulse buy levels, so they're probably raking in money even if people don't sign in and use their courses after their purchase.

That, and Udemy has to compete with different online course delivery platforms -- both subscription and professional -- so this strategy makes sense.

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Yeah it's a solid strategy (it got me in the userbase) but I wonder about it's long term viability and it's effects on the instructors behind the curtain.

Khan Academy is free too. It's nice. Education for anybody.

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Khan Academy is pretty great (helped me through Calculus), but Udemy has some pretty deep dive courses on a wider variety of subjects.

I think they get a lot of VC cash to subsidize the courses. I don't see how the creators are getting screwed. They are making tons more than they would if they posted their videos on Youtube or something like that.

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I was wondering myself if there was some kind of subsidizing going on. I guess with VC they continue this model for sometime to keep userbase growth high. Some of the high-quality courses are clearly organized by people with some kind financial investment and expected return in mind so I don't know if the Youtube angle is as relevant but point taken.

The "sale" is just marketing term the 10-15 dollars is the regular price.

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I wonder if this is the case. Some of the courses they offer (including one I'm taking now) are so thorough and extensive they really feel like they should cost a couple of hundred dollars. Ancedotally I've found some have been more informative than college courses I've taken in the past that were significantly more expensive.

I'm actually editing a udemy course right now, lol.

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Awesome, I wish you the best in your endeavors! I'd be curious to hear what you think of Udemy from an instructor's point of view when you get into the thick of it.

Even now though what do you think about maybe of having to opt into the sales to get noticed? Do feel like you have a price in mind that you would have trouble budging on?

 

[AHK-Hero]

I remember a year or so back they said they weren't going to have so many ridiculous sales any more. Yeah, that lasted about a month...

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Interesting, so they had some bad PR about the sales or something?

It's a good resource. I bought a number of courses over the break. Now hopefully I can finish them in time :P

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Heh, I know the feeling.

 

[Doof]

Awesome, I wish you the best in your endeavors! I'd be curious to hear what you think of Udemy from an instructor's point of view when you get into the thick of it.

Even now though what do you think about maybe of having to opt into the sales to get noticed? Do feel like you have a price in mind that you would have trouble budging on?

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Thanks for the well wishes! This is kind of a new thing for us, and I'm interested to see how it goes. We actually have a medium sized Youtube channel, so I'm not too worried about being noticed, since we kind of have a captive audience lol.

I'm actually only editing the video for the course; the instructor is my boss, so I'm afraid I can't answer that question, sorry. I'm also not 100 percent sure about the pricing situation either, to be honest.

 

[Bleepey]

I ain't complaining

 

[AHK-Hero]

Thanks for the well wishes! This is kind of a new thing for us, and I'm interested to see how it goes. We actually have a medium sized Youtube channel, so I'm not too worried about being noticed, since we kind of have a captive audience lol.

I'm actually only editing the video for the course; the instructor is my boss, so I'm afraid I can't answer that question, sorry. I'm also not 100 percent sure about the pricing situation either, to be honest.

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That's cool you guys already have an audience to follow you over, should help the transition.

If you glean any insights about the platform you feel like sharing though, let me know!

 

[Doof]

That's cool you guys already have an audience to follow you over, should help the transition.

If you glean any insights about the platform you feel like sharing though, let me know!

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I'll be happy to!

 

[Deleted member 12379]

Can't lie I bought 2 pretty good Excel courses for my team. At $24 total it was a steal. I've gone through the content and you're obviously not going to get a college-level course at this price but the content was good for what I needed it for. One of my coworkers posted a question about the content and was answered almost right away. This course has been out for a minute too. I've also gone through a Unity course on the platform. The courses are only as good as the creators/instructors but I find the reviews are pretty on-point.

 

[nel e nel]

I think they get a lot of VC cash to subsidize the courses. I don't see how the creators are getting screwed. They are making tons more than they would if they posted their videos on Youtube or something like that.

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I was wondering myself if there was some kind of subsidizing going on. I guess with VC they continue this model for sometime to keep userbase growth high. Some of the high-quality courses are clearly organized by people with some kind financial investment and expected return in mind so I don't know if the Youtube angle is as relevant but point taken.

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From the wiki:

In February 2010, the founders tried to raise venture capital funding, but the idea failed to impress investors and they were rejected 30 times, according to Gagan Biyani.[9] In response to this, they bootstrapped the development of the product and launched Udemy—"The Academy of You"—in May 2010.[9]

Within a few months, 1,000 instructors had created about 2,000 courses, and Udemy had nearly 10,000 registered users. Based on this favorable market reaction, they decided to attempt another round of financing, and raised $1 million in venture funding by August.[10][11]

In October 2011, the company raised an additional $3 million in Series A funding led by Groupon investors Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, as well as 500 Startups and MHS Capital.[12]

In December 2012, the company raised $12 million in Series B funding led by Insight Venture Partners, as well as Lightbank Capital, MHS Capital and Learn Capital, bringing Udemy's total funding to $16 million.[13]

On April 22, 2014, the Wall Street Journal's Digital edition reported that Dennis Yang, Chief Operating Officer of Udemy was named CEO, replacing Eren Bali.[14]

In May 2014, Udemy raised another $32 million in a Series C funding, led by Norwest Venture Partners, as well as Insight Venture Partners and MHS Capital.[15]

In June 2015, Udemy raised a $65 million Series D financing round, led by Stripes Group. Now Udemy joined another online learning house Skillsdox Inc of Canada to open up School of Skills in India.

In June 2016, Udemy raised $60 million from Naspers Ventures as a follow-up to the $65 million Series D round of financing from June 2015.[16]

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[AHK-Hero]

From the wiki:

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Wow they've raised quite a bit of money, thanks for heads up. Still an open question as to whether they kick some to the course creators during these super sales though.