Test a paid course

The full end-to-end test, from an empty account to a refund. Run it once per access model, not once per course.

Prepare

• A test student account, not an administrator, with nothing purchased.
• A payment method you can use and reverse.
• The course configured and published.
• The no-access message written.

1. Before buying

Sign in as the test student and open the course.

• [ ] The no-access message appears, not the course description.
• [ ] It says what to buy.
• [ ] The product link works and opens the right product.
• [ ] The already-purchased fallback is present.
• [ ] A lesson URL opened directly is also blocked.
• [ ] Any preview lesson is readable, if that is intended.
• [ ] My courses does not list the course.

2. Buy

Complete a purchase with that account.

• [ ] The product name in the cart identifies the course.
• [ ] Checkout completes.
• [ ] The order reaches a paid status.
• [ ] The order emails arrive and say where the course is.

3. After buying

Without doing anything else, reopen the course.

• [ ] The course opens.
• [ ] The outline is usable.
• [ ] Lessons open, with their video and content.
• [ ] Progress changes as expected.
• [ ] My courses lists the course, with its completion and a sensible Access reason.
• [ ] Access the course opens it.

Access should appear with no additional step. If it does not, something in the connection between the product and the course is wrong.

4. The wrong-account case

Sign out and sign in as a different student who has not bought.

• [ ] The course is blocked.
• [ ] The message reads sensibly.

This is the case your support inbox will see most: a buyer signed in with a second account. Confirm the message tells them what to do.

5. Guest checkout

If guest checkout is enabled, place an order as a guest with no account.

• [ ] Access is not granted.

Now you know what that failure looks like, and can decide whether to require accounts at checkout.

6. Refund

Refund the test order.

• [ ] Access is removed the next time the course is opened.
• [ ] The student sees the no-access message, not an error.
• [ ] My courses no longer lists the course.
• [ ] The student's progress is still recorded — confirm by restoring access.

7. Subscriptions

If the course is sold as a subscription:

• [ ] An active subscription grants access.
• [ ] A cancelled one removes it.
• [ ] An on-hold one removes it.
• [ ] Reactivating restores both access and progress.

8. Time-based rules

If the rule depends on when something was bought or when a subscription started:

• [ ] An account on the allowed side of the boundary gets in.
• [ ] An account on the other side does not.
• [ ] You have noted when the behavior will change for real students.

Clean up

• Remove or cancel the test orders.
• Reset the test student, or keep it deliberately as a permanent non-buyer account.
• Keep the test student with access as your standing verification account.

Record the result

Note which account saw what at each step. When a student reports a problem later, the first question is which of these states they are in — and a completed run makes that answerable in seconds.