I sell a membership. What does the TPT change mean for me?
If your membership includes access to digital educational resources, you cannot run it and be a TPT Exclusive seller. From January 1, 2027 you would need to be a Basic seller to keep it, at a 55% payout on TPT.
That is a hard trade for some sellers and an easy one for others. It depends on how big the membership is next to your TPT income.
What TPT’s rule says
According to TPT’s Exclusive Seller announcement and FAQs, as we read them on October 3, 2026, an Exclusive seller may not sell any of these off TPT:
- Digital educational resources, including ones never listed on TPT.
- Memberships or subscriptions that include access to digital educational resources.
- Licenses for digital educational resources.
- Payment plans for digital educational resources.
So the rule is not limited to selling single PDFs. A monthly club, an all-access library, a school license sold from your own site and a pay-over-time bundle are all named.
What is still allowed
TPT says Exclusive sellers may sell these off TPT:
- Courses and professional development.
- Physical products.
- Boom Cards, on the Boom platform.
- Kindle books and hard-copy workbooks on Amazon.
- Digital items unrelated to education, such as clip art and fonts.
They may also run their own website, promote their resources on it and offer free resources.
Which kind of membership do you have?
A resource library or printable club
Members pay monthly or yearly and download teaching resources. This is squarely what the rule covers. Under Exclusive, it would have to close to new payments.
A course or professional development program
Members pay for training: videos, workshops, coaching. Courses and professional development are on the allowed list. If that is all your membership contains, the rule as written does not seem to touch it.
A mix
Many memberships are both: training plus a library of classroom printables. The wording says a membership that “includes access to” digital educational resources is not allowed, so a mixed membership looks like it falls on the wrong side. TPT’s pages do not walk through this case. Ask TPT directly, in writing, and keep the reply. The seller town hall scheduled for October 8 is a good place to raise it.
We will not suggest ways to dress a resource library up as something else. If the point of the membership is the resources, treat it as covered. Trying to sell around the rule puts your TPT account at risk.
The money question
Put the two incomes side by side. As a rough guide, on a $5 average price with orders over $3, Exclusive keeps 77.5% of your TPT sales and Basic keeps about 49% after the 30-cent fee per resource. So moving to Basic costs you about 28.5 cents of every TPT dollar.
| Monthly TPT sales | Exclusive keeps | Basic keeps | What Basic costs you per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $387.50 | $245.00 | $142.50 |
| $2,000 | $1,550.00 | $980.00 | $570.00 |
| $6,000 | $4,650.00 | $2,940.00 | $1,710.00 |
Now compare the last column with what your membership brings in each month after card fees and running costs. If the membership earns clearly more than that, Basic keeps you ahead. If it earns less, Exclusive pays more, and you would be keeping the membership for other reasons.
Those other reasons can be real. Membership income is recurring and does not depend on TPT search. You know who your members are and can email them. Some sellers will accept a lower total for a while to keep that. Just make the choice with the number in front of you.
This is arithmetic, not financial advice. Your accountant can check it against your actual books.
If you choose Exclusive
You would need to stop selling the membership before your Exclusive membership applies. Think through what you owe existing members, especially anyone who paid for a year in advance. How to wind down fairly, and what refunds are due, depends on the terms you sold under. TPT’s pages that we have read do not spell out how existing members are treated, so ask TPT before you assume anything.
Some pieces can continue in an allowed form. A free email newsletter with free resources is permitted, provided none of those free resources is a paid listing on TPT. A course is permitted.
If you choose Basic
Your membership continues as it is, and you may sell anywhere. Your TPT payout drops to 55% with a 30-cent fee on every resource. Premium sellers who do nothing become Basic on January 1 and receive a prorated refund of $5 for each remaining month of their Premium year.
Keep in mind that a membership on your own site does not come with marketplace search traffic. New members come from your email list, Pinterest, your blog and your social following. If TPT has been your main source of new members, think about how that will work when your TPT listings earn less.
Where we stand
Up At Last runs its own teacher store, Literacy Stations. Alongside single resources, it sells a twelve-month pass to the whole library on its own site. It will be a Basic seller from January 1. That was the right sum for that store. It is not a recommendation for yours.
We build and host stores for teacher-sellers from $25 a month, and membership setup is one of the add-ons.
Up At Last is not affiliated with or endorsed by Teachers Pay Teachers.
What to do next
- Run the free calculator, entering your membership income as sales outside TPT.
- Write down exactly what your membership includes and decide which of the three kinds it is.
- If it is a mix, ask TPT in writing how the rule applies, and check the fees page for the current rates.
- Decide before December 31, 2026 at 11:59pm ET. Doing nothing makes you a Basic seller.