Stock market course fees: what to compare before you pay

Compare what the fee buys, not only the number

A fee on its own tells you little. Put each course you are considering side by side and write down the answers to these points:

• Live hours. How many hours of live teaching are there in total? Count classes multiplied by hours per class, not the course length in weeks.
• Live or recorded. Can you ask questions during class, or is it a set of videos?
• Language. Is it taught in the language you think in, such as Tamil, or only in English?
• Recordings and missed classes. If you miss a class, what happens? Is there a recording, a repeat or nothing?
• Batch size. How many learners share one class? Ask, and ask how questions are handled.
• Who teaches. Is the teacher named? What is their real background, and can you check any registration they mention on SEBI's website?
• Tips or no tips. Does the course, or anything sold alongside it, give stock tips or calls? A teaching course should teach you to decide, not decide for you.
• Refund and cancellation terms. Are they written down before you pay?
• Taxes and extras. Is the amount you see the amount you pay? Are there extra charges for material, tools or later levels?

Warning signs at any price

• A promise, or a strong hint, that the course will make you money.
• Screenshots of profits used to sell the course.
• Pressure to pay today, or a fee that keeps changing during the call.
• A course that is really a doorway to paid tips.

A low fee does not make these acceptable, and a higher fee does not make them safe.

What the MarketMind fee of Rs 5,999 includes

• 12 live online classes over 6 weeks, 2 each week.
• 24 hours of live teaching in all, 2 hours per class.
• Tamil or English: you choose the Tamil batch or the English batch when you book.
• A named mentor, Vinoth Kumar S in Chennai, and you can ask questions during class.
• A full syllabus from the basics: markets, price, information, capital allocation, risk and position sizing, decision labs, building a plan, an options lab, behaviour and psychology, and a final market simulation.
• No stock tips and no promise of returns.

You pay online through Razorpay, and the payment page shows the amount before you pay. The fee is all inclusive: GST, if any, is inside it. If you cancel before your batch starts, you get a full refund; after it starts, there is no refund, and a missed live session has no recording or repeat class. Read the refund policy.

You can try the practice game before paying anything: the first two missions of the MarketMind Challenge are free, with made-up companies and practice money.

A simple way to decide

Divide each course's fee by its live teaching hours to see what one hour of live teaching costs you. Then check the points above. The right course is the one where you understand what you are paying for, who is teaching you and what happens if something goes wrong, before you pay.