Black Friday for online courses: promotions without mistakes
How to run Black Friday on a video course: the EU 30-day prior price rule, real deadlines, how much discount your margin can take and how not to devalue it.
Black Friday is when people expect a discount. For a creator it can be a chance to sell to people who've been undecided for months, but also a quick way to devalue your course or slip up on pricing rules.
This guide covers the two EU rules that matter, how to calculate the discount you can afford and how to run a promotion without teaching your audience to wait.
Which struck-through price can you show?
The lowest you applied in the 30 days before the discount, if you sell to consumers in the EU. Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC, added by Directive (EU) 2019/2161, says any announcement of a price reduction must state the prior price, meaning the lowest price applied during a period of at least 30 days before the reduction.
In practice: if the course has cost $149 for months, you can strike through $149. If you ran a $119 promotion in October, $119 becomes the reference for Black Friday. You can't show a "regular price" you never charged. The rule applies all year, as we explain in how to write a sales page for an online course.
Do deadlines have to be real?
Yes. Annex I of Directive 2005/29/EC lists commercial practices considered unfair in all circumstances, without case-by-case assessment. Point 7 bans falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or on particular terms for a very limited time, to elicit an immediate decision.
If you write "until Monday only", the offer ends on Monday. No resetting countdowns, no "final hours" repeated for a week.
| Allowed | |
|---|---|
| Strike through the lowest price of the prior 30 days | Yes |
| Strike through a 'regular price' never charged | No |
| A real deadline, honoured | Yes |
| A countdown that resets on every visit | No |
| An extra bonus instead of a discount | Yes |
| Extending an offer after declaring it over | With care |
Our summary of Directives 98/6/EC (Article 6a) and 2005/29/EC (Annex I). Not legal advice.
How much discount can your margin take?
Calculate it first with the course profit calculator. On a $149 course with fees of 5% plus 30 cents, margin per sale is $141.25. With a 30% discount the price falls to $104.30 and margin to $98.79. To earn the same total margin you need about 43% more sales.
Our calculation using Tea's course profit calculator formulas.
See the data as a table
| Discount | Margin per sale |
|---|---|
| Full price | 141.25 $ |
| 20% off | 112.94 $ |
| 30% off | 98.79 $ |
| 50% off | 70.48 $ |
A discount makes sense if it brings people who wouldn't have bought at full price. If it only brings people who'd have bought anyway, you're giving away margin.
An example promotion
A creator has sold a $149 course for a year, plus a $39 mini-course. For Black Friday he decides not to touch the main course and does two things. First: the mini-course drops from $39 to $19 for five days, with $39 struck through, because it's the lowest price of the last 30 days. Second: anyone who buys the main course that week gets a free live group Q&A session, with no price cut. This attracts new people with the entry product, who often become course students later, and doesn't teach his audience that the main course is cheaper in November. The live bonus also costs him two hours of time, not $40 of margin on every sale. In practice, Black Friday becomes a way to widen the base, not to sell the flagship product off cheap. The example is ours.
How do you avoid training buyers to wait?
With a clear rule: discount only entry products or bundles, or give bonuses instead of discounting the main course. A low-priced mini-course is the right step to discount, as we explain in free or low-cost mini-courses. And if you've just launched the course, skip Black Friday on it: people who paid full price would feel penalised.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
- Striking through prices never charged. In the EU the reference is the lowest of the prior 30 days.
- Fake deadlines. They're always banned.
- Uncalculated discounts. The discount must fit your margin.
- Discounting the same course every year. People learn to wait.
- Forgetting existing buyers. A bonus for them beats a discount for newcomers.
Key terms. The prior price is the lowest price applied in the 30 days before a discount. An unfair commercial practice is conduct banned towards consumers. An entry product is a low-priced offer that brings in new customers.
How we checked. We ran every discount figure through our calculator's formulas. We read Directive (EU) 2019/2161 (new Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC) and Annex I of Directive 2005/29/EC on EUR-Lex. Margins use our tool's formulas. Not legal advice; rules outside the EU differ. Contact: hi@heytea.app. Editorial note: we check every figure against the sources listed below and correct mistakes openly.
Frequently asked questions
Which struck-through price can I show on Black Friday?
When selling to EU consumers, a price reduction announcement must show as the prior price the lowest you applied in at least the 30 days before the discount (Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC, added by the Omnibus Directive). If the course was already discounted in October, that discounted price is the reference.
Can I say the offer lasts only 24 hours?
Yes, if it's true. Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, to push an immediate decision, is on the EU list of always-banned commercial practices (Annex I, point 7, of Directive 2005/29/EC). If you say 24 hours, the offer must end after 24 hours.
How big a discount should I give on a course?
What your margin can bear, calculated in advance. On a $149 course with fees of 5% plus 30 cents, a 30% discount drops the price to $104.30 and margin per sale from $141.25 to $98.79: you need about 43% more sales to earn the same margin.
Does Black Friday teach my audience to wait for discounts?
It can, if you discount the same course by the same amount every year. To limit it, some creators only discount an entry product or a bundle, or add a bonus instead of cutting the price. A clear, predictable rule beats surprise discounts during the year.
Should I run Black Friday if I've just launched the course?
Usually not. People who paid full price a few weeks earlier will feel penalised, and your 30-day prior price may already be a launch price. Better to discount another product, or give a bonus to existing buyers.
Sources
- Directive (EU) 2019/2161, Article 2 (new Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC). Accessed 19 October 2026. eur-lex.europa.eu
- Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices, Annex I, point 7. Accessed 19 October 2026. eur-lex.europa.eu
- Tea free tool, course profit calculator. heytea.app