Many teacher-authors start in one place. It might be a marketplace, it might be their own small shop, it might be a school newsletter that turned into a side business. One channel is simple: one dashboard, one set of rules, one place to update files. For a while that is all you need.
Over time, though, one channel also means one point of failure. This article explains why sellers add a second channel, what it really costs in time, who should not do it, and how to try it without a big commitment. If you already know you want to try, you can submit a few resources and see how the process feels.
Teacher-author? Keep 70% of net revenue, with no fees and no exclusivity. Submit your resources here. It takes about five minutes.
Spreading risk, in plain terms
If one platform brings in nearly all your sales, then anything that changes there changes nearly all your income at once. That could be the way search results are ordered, which categories get featured, how payouts work or simply a slow season for that audience. You rarely control any of it, and you have little room to respond while you work out what to do.
A second channel does not remove that risk. It spreads it. If one channel has a quiet month, the other may not. If one platform changes its rules, only part of your income is affected. That applies to every platform, TeachLessons included. We would not want any seller to depend on us alone, and we think a healthy teacher-author business usually has more than one source of sales.
Reaching buyers you would not meet otherwise
Different stores reach different teachers. Some buyers search one marketplace out of habit. Others land on a store through a blog article they found while planning a lesson. TeachLessons serves teachers in the US, the UK and Australia, and our team features seller resources on landing pages, in relevant Teacher Hub blog articles and in a seller spotlight. Each seller also gets an author profile, so a teacher who likes one resource can find the rest of your work.
We cannot tell you how many sales that will bring. We do not forecast sales for any resource, and we do not compare our audience size with other stores. What a second channel offers is another set of buyers who might find you, alongside the ones you already have.
Who should not add a channel
This part comes before any numbers. If you have signed an exclusivity agreement anywhere, the resources covered by it cannot be listed with us. Please honour that agreement and read its terms carefully, including which resources it covers and for how long. Our article on exclusivity clauses and what to check lists the questions worth asking.
Check third-party material too. Some clip art and font licences limit where a resource can be sold, and co-authored work needs every author's agreement. Our compliance checklist goes through these points before you list anything in a new place.
What it costs and what it pays
Adding a channel takes time even when it costs nothing in fees. Someone has to prepare files, check listings, answer the odd question and update every copy when you revise a resource. You also have one more statement to keep with your records. Estimate those hours honestly before you start.
We built the TeachLessons Seller Program to keep that work small. There is no membership fee, no annual fee, no sign-up fee and no per-resource fee. Our team writes or improves the title, description, FAQ and structured data for each accepted resource, so you are not writing listings from scratch. Our free SEO page explains that in detail.
On each sale we deduct the 3% payment processing cost and pay you 70% of what remains, which is 67.9% of the price. A $5 resource pays $3.40, a $10 resource pays $6.79 and a $20 resource pays $13.58. Payouts are monthly, for the previous month's sales, with a statement listing each sale. You can try your own prices on the payout calculator.
A low-effort way to start
You do not need to move a whole catalog. Pick a handful of resources that already sell well, that you own outright and that use no restrictively licensed clip art. Send them through the submission form with your author details. Our team reviews each resource for quality, originality and rights, and replies by email. Not every resource is accepted.
If it works for you, add more later. If it does not, you can remove a resource at any time. You keep your copyright and grant us a non-exclusive licence, so the same resource can stay in your own shop or on other marketplaces. Our article on selling on multiple platforms as a teacher-author covers the practical side of running several channels at once.
Key takeaway: A second, non-exclusive channel spreads the risk of relying on one store and can reach new buyers. It costs some time, so start with a few resources you fully own and judge the channel by what it adds.
Keep 70% of net revenue. No fees, no exclusivity.
We take out the 3% payment cost, then you keep 70%. That is $6.79 on a $10 sale. We also handle SEO for every accepted resource and feature it on our pages.
Questions sellers ask
Will listing with TeachLessons affect my other stores?
Our licence is non-exclusive, so you can keep selling the same resources elsewhere. The only exception is resources covered by an exclusivity agreement you signed somewhere else, which should stay where that agreement says.
How many sales can I expect from a second channel?
We cannot say and we do not make predictions. Sales depend on the resource, the season, the listing and many other things.
Can I stop selling on TeachLessons later?
Yes. You keep your copyright and can remove a resource at any time.
More for teacher-sellers
General information about the TeachLessons Seller Program, not legal, tax or financial advice. The seller agreement you receive before listing sets out the binding terms.
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