6 hr side project = website to sell unused SaaS subscriptions. What am I missing?
I've had the idea of creating a site where people could sell their unused, second-hand, sitting-on-the-digital shelf SaaS subscriptions for awhile aka years. I couldn't work out the user flow or the way to stop scammers listing but not paying. I finally started writing which lead to the name which lead to the site build and a first-version SWP (simple, water-tight product) - https://saastransfer.com
This is built for people to sell/transfer epic grandfathered-in SaaS plans (like a $10 per month 10-site Weebly plan my friend has or the esignature plan I have that's only a few dollars per month), rid themselves of the guilt of Appsumo trigger-fingers and pass on those lifetime SaaS plans to the next generation.
It might crash and burn but it's one of those things I've been busting to try so I can put it to bed or help it get legs.
After that novel, I'd love to know what I'm missing on the site and what I've got completely wrong??
I like this idea! Too many people have unused subscriptions so this is a great way to get rid of them. A few remarks:
20% seems like a big fee.
What if someone tries to sell a subscription that can't be taken over by someone else? I'm sure some SaaS don't allow you to transfer accounts.
Not sure why you need people's phone and town/suburb info on the registration page.
I'd love to know your process for this no-code build :)
Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts.
I did have a think about the fees as I've run more automated marketplaces before and, although the range for fees is 3% - 70%, most marketplaces seem to hover in the 10% - 15% area. I'd thought that the concierge part would require some back-and-forth and that the sale prices could be quite low so an average sale price might be $100 and I'd be paid $20 for the vetting, listing, communication, money transfer and emails. I did consider a self-service option but it was too much risk at this stage.
Thanks for the ToS tip and I'll refine that registration page as, you're right, I don't really need that (was more interested to know where the sales were coming from without adding other tracking).
I'll write up the process as well.
If you're indeed doing the vetting and being your own escrow service, then 20% is a good fee. That just wasn't clear from the website :-).
So I think your biggest painpoint is making sure SaaS are allowed to be reselled.
Thanks for the advice @poehah
That's a great idea! Maybe some saas don't authorize reselling accounts, you have to check if it's legit. Otherwise I love the idea.
Good point! I did wonder about how many SaaS businesses have it in their ToS that there can't be a transfer. I might need to do a screen of each listing (reading ToS = 😭)
yes, you perfectly understood my point haha
Be sure to check the legal side of this, I'm not sure the Terms of Service of many providers would allow the reselling of such subscriptions
Thanks for the tip Theo. That's one key element that I completely missed.
Calling all AppSUMO users.
😂
Update: I've taken on many of your helpful suggestions and have changed the following:
Simpler logo
Changed to DIY model. Able to submit basics for listing then I'll forward offers via email (have a system set up to make this a fast process)
Added safety tips for sellers/buyers
Added warning around checking software ToS before listing and added to submission box + footer.
Set up mailing list
Thanks @poehah , @chaica , @TheovdZee , @thomasm1964 , @ip , @sk24iam , @indieorbust , @asongdon & @shalintj for your helpful advice. Let me know if I can help you in the future!
Okay: I've bought Fred's unused subscription. Fred has a user account, typically an email address but it need not be. Fred may have a recurring subscription profile within the SaaS provider's database. Fred may have a password and possibly also a two-stage authentication.
All of that needs to be dealt with and, presumably, may require the co-operation of the SaaS provider who:
a. is almost certainly not geared up to manage these requests at scale.
b. can see no financial benefit because, for the amounts involved, he would rather just have a new customer. After a certain period, subscriptions are non-refundable so what does the provider care if Fred no longer accesses his account?
c. runs the risk of more than one person running the account. You say it is transferred but how do I stop Fred from continuing to use the account as well as Harry who has just bought the unused portion? Again, some providers will have IP checks built in but, in these days of dynamic IP addresses, that is not a foolproof safeguard against double, triple or even quadrule access to Fred's account.
There are a lot of safeguarding issues and not a lot of value to the provier to offer such a service.
I can see a buyers' market for this but I do wonder what degree of co-operation you would receive from providers.
Just transfer the account to @richp_ while up for sale as a trusted third party
You're not, by any chance, a very rich Nigerian who wants to give me £15 million dollars in return for a small advance payment are you? Possibly a corrupt bank official, a Microsoft Lottery official or a high-up in the United Nations?
haha no but I will be working with James Veitch...
Being serious, I'd love your tips on being the "trusted third party" in these transactions. I've worked with business brokers before and sites like Flippa's Dealflow where you are trusting someone else with assets and would prefer not to take on this role but I can't see how to, in a sense, police the site without needing to create the listing myself (after checking that the subscription is real), accept the transaction, do the login switch and then pay out the funds.
Must be the reason that there's no other site I can see doing the SaaS resales.
I'm in the same boat as you. You need trust from three sides, the service provider, the seller and the buyer. For that to work, I think you will have to be the man in the middle unless you can automate the process like Fiverr and similar platforms do.
They work by the buyer putting the money into Fiverr's client account which authorises the seller to perform the work which he does not release until the payment is released. You might need to design something similar so that there is a double-lock on the money.
Good insights! I'd love it to be a list-yourself "marketplace" as I know that it requires trust to pass on login details to a "trusted third party" and I want to minimise risk. In saying that, it's less of a risk as the software will be expiring anyway and I don't think most people would want to go through the process of responding to offers, switching their billing CC to a prepaid CC etc before sale. That's something that a marketplace fee and a good back-office system on our part could streamline...
What's the product that you're building that has the same issue?
The product I'm building doesn't have the same issues! I only responded to your original post because I could see some business process difficulties with it.
I've just realised how I misled you, though, when I said I'm in the same boat as you. What I meant was that I read your analysis of the problem and, like you, could not see a way past the trust issue. I didn't mean to suggest that I faced a similar trust issue in my own product, so my apologies for suggesting I did!
Completely fine :)
I like this idea. How would the seller know if the buyer changes the credit card on the account for yearly subscriptions? Or would they have to cancel ahead of time? This is really cool for lifetime packages, especially for people who bought it at a discount early on.
Great point! I'd need to do a check and see what the expiry is on the subscription and then concierge the switch before releasing funds to the seller. To make this safer (& more complicated), I was thinking that I'd need to use some kind of credit card with close to no balance on it (travel card, prepaid etc) to give the number to sellers before the sale so they don't have the risk of the buyer not updating to their own credit card on the account. The buyer wouldn't be able to see the old CC number but I'd have to stop this risk in a way that's seamless.
Perhaps for buyers it's add listing > we get offer > email buyer our CC details to switch > we transfer > we release funds.
I definitely need to work on the messaging around this + I'm going to be refining the forms process to all run on Typeform.
Btw, I have a lot of experience building websites without code on Bubble. I’m happy to get involved if you’re looking for some help.
Maybe simplify all of this for the mvp. You can be the host for sellers to list all of their subscription details for sale but keep their contact information hidden. Then allow buyers to pay for a membership to your site where they can access and see the sellers contact information if they are interested. Allow buyers and sellers to handle the exchange of the account on their own terms so you are not responsible or liable. You can also do it the other way around and charge a listing fee to the seller. Essentially you’re creating a marketplace. I see this becoming like transferslot.com except for subscriptions.
That's super helpful! I am going to simplify things to cut down on the complexity. There are so many ways to structure the user flow/transactions but it does need to be simple.
Can you post a link to your Bubble-built portfolio (for me & others)?
Yup. Great idea! :-)
Thanks! I'm not shooting for the stars but more looking for a way to cut down on digital waste or help people who have started with one software program, bought a 50-seat license and then realised it's not a good fit and can't afford to switch to something better.
How do you prevent scammer? Let's say if I sold my subscription, what do you prevent me not to change the password of my account so I get the money for free and keep subscription to myself again(?)
Good question - that was where I'd opted for more of a concierge service of adding listings. Register profile > Post details > Someone else pays > I do the transfer > Money goes to seller. Poor man's escrow/fraud prevention 😊
So happy to see you working towards solving this problem. A couple of days back, I posted something similar here - wanting to donate my Carrd.co a/c.
Rich, I have a couple of questions when thinking of donating my accounts:
if I donate an account to any one person (basically, I get the email ID changed to hers with a custom password), will these SaaS companies have concerns about me going against their "NON-TRANSFERRABLE SUBSCRIPTION / ACCOUNT" ToS?
Do you also allow group buys? IMHO, ideally, it should be NO :)
Shalin @ Springzo
I'll need to check the ToS side and am only selling one-by-one.
Forgot to say, more than happy to pass on the details of the process, tools of the no-code build.