Sell teaching resources from South Africa
South African teachers who write English-medium resources can sell them on TeachLessons, keep 70% of net revenue and receive monthly payouts in US dollars via PayPal.
Short answer: Yes, teachers in South Africa can sell teaching resources on TeachLessons if the resources are in English (or teach a language to English-speaking classes) and they can receive PayPal payments in US dollars. You apply with a short form, email your final files and keep 70% of net revenue, paid monthly.
Who will buy South African teaching resources?
TeachLessons buyers are mainly teachers, schools and homeschool parents in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore and international schools. Earning in US dollars is the obvious draw for South African sellers, but it also means most buyers don't know CAPS. Your listings need to make sense to someone who has never heard of it.
South African teachers often have a real advantage here. Many of you teach large, mixed-ability classes, plan around load-shedding or limited printing, and switch between Home Language and First Additional Language learners every day. Resources built for those conditions (low-prep, photocopy-friendly, clearly scaffolded for English learners) suit plenty of classrooms abroad too.
Selling locally to other South African teachers? Keep doing it. TeachLessons has no exclusivity, so the same resource can sit on your own site and on other marketplaces as well.
How do I label CAPS resources for buyers?
Use CAPS terms factually, as a guide to level and content, not as a claim that the Department of Basic Education has checked your work. "Grade 6 Natural Sciences and Technology, Term 2 topics" is fine. "DBE approved" is not, unless that is true and documented.
- Phases: Foundation Phase (Grade R-3), Intermediate Phase (Grade 4-6), Senior Phase (Grade 7-9) and FET Phase (Grade 10-12).
- Subjects: keep CAPS subject names where buyers search for them (Life Skills, Natural Sciences and Technology, Economic and Management Sciences, Mathematical Literacy), and add a plain description for overseas buyers, such as "financial literacy for ages 15-18".
- Grades: South African grade numbers line up roughly with US grades, which helps. Grade R is closer to kindergarten, so say so.
Put the skill in the title and the CAPS detail in the description. "Reading for meaning: inference questions for Grade 5" reaches more buyers than "CAPS Grade 5 English HL Term 3 Week 4", while a South African teacher still finds the term reference in the text.
Can I sell matric revision based on NSC or IEB papers?
Matric revision is one of the most searched topics among South African teachers and parents, and it's also where copyright mistakes happen most. Past National Senior Certificate papers, IEB papers, memoranda and provincial common tests belong to the bodies that set them. Don't copy them, scan them or rebuild them in a new layout for a paid resource.
Original work you can sell: topic summaries in your own words, exam-technique guides (how to read a source-based question, how to plan an essay), your own practice questions in the style learners will meet, and marking guidelines you wrote for them. Say clearly that the questions are original practice, not past papers.
The same thinking applies to prescribed literature. Notes, activities and questions on a set novel or poem are yours to sell. Long extracts from a text still in copyright are not. TeachLessons does not check resources for third-party rights, so this is your responsibility, and you are responsible if a claim arises.
What changes when you sell to overseas teachers?
| Detail | South African version | Change or add for US buyers |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | A4 | A US Letter PDF as well |
| Spelling | British (colour, organise) | A US spelling version for best sellers |
| Money in maths | Rand | Dollars, or keep rand and teach it as a currency lesson |
| Seasons and terms | Summer at Christmas, four terms | Avoid month-specific seasonal labels |
| Grade labels | Grade R, Grade 4 | Kindergarten, Grade 4 |
You don't need to strip out South African settings. A reading passage set in the Drakensberg or a maths problem about a Cape Town taxi rank is interesting to a child in Ohio. Just make sure the task itself doesn't depend on local knowledge the buyer's learners won't have.
If a buyer finds your resource doesn't fit the curriculum or standards they teach and reports it within 30 days, the TeachLessons Guarantee lets us make an adapted version for their own use. The adaptation stays true to your work, and the original sale stays paid out unless it is refunded.
How much do I receive per sale, and how is it paid?
You set prices in US dollars. You keep 70% of net revenue, which is the price the customer paid after discounts and without sales tax, minus a 3% processing cost. That's 67.9% of the price: $3.00 pays $2.04, $4.99 pays $3.39, $10.00 pays $6.79.
Payouts arrive once a month, by the 15th, for the previous month's sales, via PayPal in US dollars, with a statement listing every sale. How and when you move the money from PayPal into a South African bank account depends on PayPal's options for your account, so check those before your first payout. Try different prices in the payout calculator.
Taxes on your income are your responsibility. If the law requires TeachLessons to withhold tax from a payout, such as German withholding tax on payments to sellers outside Germany, it is deducted and you get a confirmation. For how this income is treated in South Africa, ask a tax advisor in South Africa.
Can I sell what I made for my school or a publisher?
Check your contract and local rules first. Material produced for a school, a district or a publisher under contract may not belong to you. Material you made independently usually gives you a cleaner starting point, but your contract decides, so read it or ask your school or union.
Remove school badges, learners' names, photos and real marked work. Resources must contain no personal data of real learners.
How do I start selling from South Africa?
- Apply with the short application form. It takes about five minutes.
- Receive the seller documents by email, pre-filled where we already know your details.
- Sign the agreement and list each resource as one row in the Resource Submission List.
- Send one email to support@stifo.de with documents, final files and PNG or JPEG previews and thumbnails. If your connection makes large uploads hard, one Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer link is fine, as long as it opens without a login.
- We set everything up: product pages, your author page and landing pages. We confirm receipt within 2 business days, and resources go live once set up.
Frequently asked questions
Can South African teachers sell on TeachLessons?
Yes. Sellers can live in any country if they write resources in English (or language-teaching resources for English-speaking classrooms) and can receive PayPal payments in US dollars.
Can I sell Afrikaans or isiZulu resources?
The store sells English-language resources and language-teaching resources for English-speaking classrooms. If you have a language resource with English instructions, email support@stifo.de to ask before sending it.
Can I use past matric papers in my revision packs?
No. Past NSC and IEB papers and memoranda belong to the bodies that set them. Write your own practice questions and marking guidelines instead.
Will US teachers buy CAPS resources?
They buy resources that clearly teach a skill at a level they recognise. Lead with the skill and grade, and keep the CAPS details in the description for South African buyers.
Do I pay anything to join?
No. There is no membership, sign-up, annual, listing or per-resource fee. TeachLessons keeps 30% of net revenue when a resource sells.
How is this income taxed in South Africa?
You are responsible for taxes on your own income. We can't give country-specific tax advice, so ask a tax advisor in South Africa.
Ready to sell your teaching resources?
Apply with the short form. We email you the seller documents, you send your final files with previews and thumbnails, and we set up your product pages, your author page and landing pages. You keep 70% of net revenue, with no fees and no exclusivity.
Keep reading
General information about the TeachLessons Seller Program, not legal, tax or financial advice. The signed Seller Agreement sets out the binding terms. Questions: support@stifo.de.