Selling to customers in India: pricing, payments and taxes
India is often one of the top countries in your analytics and one of the smallest in your sales report. Plenty of people read your pages. Very few pay.
Usually three things get in the way: the price, the checkout, and the rules around both. This guide covers each one for sellers outside India who sell courses, ebooks, templates, or software to buyers there.
What prices look like in India
Start with the economics. In 2025, World Bank data put India's price level at roughly a quarter of the US level at market exchange rates. That doesn't mean every buyer earns a quarter of a US salary. It means everyday money stretches much further, so a US price feels much bigger.
Now look at what well-known products actually charge. These are App Store prices we observed in August 2026, converted to USD:
| Product | India price | Share of US price |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix Premium | ₹649/month | About 25% |
| Canva Pro | ₹500/month | About 35% |
| Grammarly Premium | ₹999/month | About 35% |
| ChatGPT Plus | ₹1,999/month | About the same |
Notice the split. Products that cost little to serve one more user discount hard. ChatGPT doesn't discount Plus, because every user costs real compute. Instead, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Go in India in 2025 at ₹399 a month: a smaller plan at a much lower price. When Go went worldwide in January 2026 at $8 a month in the US, India kept ₹399, about 57% of the US Go price.
Two ways big products price for India
Low cost per user
25–35%
Streaming, design and writing tools charge a fraction of the US price.
High cost per user
~100%
AI tools keep the main plan near the US price and add a smaller, cheaper plan.
For a course, ebook, or template, your cost per extra buyer is close to zero. A 50 to 60% discount for India is a reasonable start. If you run software with real usage costs, copy OpenAI: keep your main price and offer a smaller plan. Our regional pricing calculator gives you a starting number for every country.
Why Indian cards fail at checkout
Here's the part most sellers miss. Since a 2020 Reserve Bank of India rule, new and reissued cards in India only work for domestic in-person payments by default. Online and international use stay off until the cardholder turns them on in their bank's app.
So a buyer can be ready to pay, enter a valid card, and get declined. Many give up there. A single line near your checkout helps: "Card declined? Turn on international online payments in your bank app, then try again."
The other fix is UPI, India's instant bank payment system, paid from apps on the buyer's phone. If you're on Stripe in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, or Singapore, you can turn on UPI in your dashboard. It charges in rupees, and one payment can be up to ₹100,000.
Subscriptions need extra care
Recurring payments in India follow RBI e-mandate rules. In short:
- The buyer confirms the first charge with an extra step, usually a one-time password.
- Later charges up to ₹15,000 can go through without that step.
- The buyer gets a notice at least 24 hours before each charge, and can cancel.
Two practical effects. If one renewal costs more than ₹15,000, expect the buyer to approve it each time, so price annual plans with that in mind. And expect more failed renewals than in the US. Send a clear email when a payment fails, with a link to update the card. UPI AutoPay on Stripe has the same ₹15,000 cap for recurring charges.
Taxes: GST on digital sales
India charges 18% GST on online digital services sold to consumers there, including by foreign sellers. There's no minimum sales amount for foreign sellers. Selling to consumers means registering under a simplified scheme and filing monthly returns. Sales to GST-registered businesses work differently: the buyer pays the tax.
Most small sellers don't handle this themselves. A merchant of record, such as Paddle or Stripe's Managed Payments, becomes the legal seller and handles Indian GST for you. If you sell directly through your own Stripe account, talk to a tax adviser before your Indian sales grow.
Before you push sales in India
Set an India price
Around 50–60% off for low-cost products, or a smaller plan for software with real usage costs.
Fix the checkout
Turn on UPI if you can, and tell buyers how to enable international card payments.
Plan for renewals
Mind the ₹15,000 limit and send clear failed-payment emails.
Sort out GST
Use a merchant of record, or get advice before you register yourself.
Show the India price to India
Once you have a price, only buyers in India should see it. Evendeals detects the visitor's country, shows the right discount and code, and can hide offers from VPN and proxy traffic. If you sell through Stripe, our guide to regional pricing in Stripe shows the full setup.
Start with one product. Set an India discount, fix the checkout notes, and watch a month of sales. Then decide if the next country is worth it.