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Did you consider launching on AppSumo?

I've seen other Indie Hackers hit AppSumo marketplace with their products.

We were planning to put karenapp.io on AppSumo.

And we did - https://appsumo.com/karenapp/

Currently running at a 90% discount for a lifetime license.

Let's see how this goes!

It took us some time to get it up there, but finally it has happened.

Wanted to know, will it benefit putting your SaaS on AppSumo in short-term and long-term?

What has been the experience of others founders who did the same?

  1. 3

    Hi,

    we sold close to 10k coupons during our time, but we were not a usually type of company over there. For us, the money didn't matter at all, we are bootstrapped and well-profitable. The main reason you go there is for feedback, community and users to work with. They will see your mistakes and will be really around your head with every detail, not even your biggest clients do.

    However, if you work closely with them, you have solid brand ambassadors and a lot options for getting reviews, case studies etc.

    Ironically I would recommend launching AS deal much more to the company that doesn't really need it compared to the new product.

    1. 1

      very helpful! Kudos on doing 10k!

  2. 3

    I really discourage people running lifetime deals. If you actually read some experiences of founders doing this, people enjoy the immediate sugar hit, and then ultimately come to regret that they have to support these users forever.

    It also significantly devalues a business, if you want to sell it later. As a person who has bought a few SaaS businesses, it's very irritating finding founders who have 10 customers, sold out 100 lifetime deals, and then are expecting to immediately hand over this responsibility to someone else, with no devaluation to their product.

    1. 2

      well they could also not want to sell the software, but you have a point.

    2. 1

      I think if you come to the point of selling the business perhaps after 4-5 years the hope is that you can refund those LTDs so turn it into a loan. Avoids passing the buck over. Most LTD products just die out and customers lose the money.

  3. 2

    I launched a product on App Sumo. It's a great way to get a bunch of highly entitled users at once. Prepare for a large barrage of customer tickets like: "Why doesn't your product that I paid next to nothing for work differently?! Change it or I'll leave you a bad review."

    If you can stomach that, it might be worth it.

    1. 1

      There are several FB groups focused on these lifetime deals. As a SAAS maker, it's really scary to browse through some of the comments. I'd encourage anyone considering marketing LTDs to peruse through them to get an idea of what they're getting themselves into.

  4. 2

    Jill, congrats! Very nice to be an AppSumo. Haven't done it ourselves, but would love to hear your experience.

    1. 2

      Hey Geoffrey, you can check out this TL;DR summary of launching on Appsumo on Growthunt.

      The general consensus is that a launch on Appsumo is more of a "Marketing investment" than actually sales and profit. Reason being that Appsumo takes such a huge cut of the deal that actually leaves nothing much on the table for the business.

      1. 1

        Thanks for sharing that...it is like Apple, but instead of taking 30% they give you 30%.

        A few thoughts on this:

        1. The exposure seems fantastic. You get people talking about your app and using it.
        2. The lifetime is attractive for user, but tough for a business. Assuming you selling below cost, you now have a further 70% discount. You're getting close to giving it away for free.

        However, if you look at this as marketing spend to promote your business and brand, that might be ok - again amazing exposure and could help you grow.

        P.S. I've bought a few products on the lifetime and now I feel bad. Never was looking at it from their perspective.

      2. 1

        "Marketing Investment" interesting perspective.

    2. 1

      will keep you posted as and when we get more info on it.

  5. 1

    Congratulations on posting to AppSumo. In my case, I got email from them to publish my product, Designtack and it actually helped me to grow the product. It also has been profitable with it.

    I am not sure about the validity or long-term effects but I also do believe that a lifetime offer should NOT stay forever because in that case, you cannot raise prices etc.

    1. 2

      sounds good, thanks for the info!

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