What is your opinion on lifetime deals?

I think it's a good way to ramp up early or initial adoption of your product (offered for a limited period). But I believe one of the greatest benefits of Lifetime Deals offered in a platform like Appsumo is you get very useful feedback -- sometimes killer new feature ideas -- from lifetime deal buyers. I've bought many lifetime deals at Appsumo, and I've seen many of these products grow. Anyway, good luck, and I wish you great success in everything that you do.

It is a good way to get earlier customers to make you do PMF. But not a sustainable way.

We have steered clear of them prioritizing paying subscriptions for ongoing sustainability for the moment, but are finding more and more people are asking for lifetime deals. We're hesitant given the shift in revenue stream, but wonder if a temporary app sumo deal would give us a chance to test out the behavior and usage of this group to see if makes sense LT.

Lifetime deals are good for things where the value delivered and the cost for the company will remain equal from purchase to end of life. 1. If the value your product delivers increases, you should increase or be able to make decisions at least, on pricing. 2. If your costs ramp up, you should have the same flexibility also. Most times I see these kind of deals it usually makes me think it is not a sustainable business model and I expect to lose the service at some point, or for it to never be more than it is at this moment in time.

Depending on your cashflow situation, it can be a great way to boost your cash reserves and give you some extra spending power in marketing, hiring etc. Especially useful if you’re just starting up; you’re basically getting paid a lump sum that would have taken you months to collect. I wouldn’t really consider it as something to offer on an ongoing basis though, and maybe reserve it just for special occasions like Black Friday deals. This all depends quite heavily on the product itself though.

@matcha_anil I feel it's good enough if it's promising enough. It depends on the product and marketing strategy. Plus the follow-up strategy should be good enough to not make us lose anything. But overall, I feel it does attract people. Correct me if am wrong!

It can be challenging for new individuals or companies entering the market to invest in an app that offers services that are not trusted by other companies or considered to be worth spending a significant amount of money on, especially if sustainability is a factor. Additionally, this may prove to be unfair to certain clients in the long run if the model changes in the future.

I take this neutrally, because the situation can change at any moment. But if you are sure that the contract has good protection and conditions for you. Then act.

I think lifetime deals should only be offered during an MVP/early-stage product. Once you get your product to a beta+ version, you should find other routes for monetization than one-time purchases.

I think in the very early days, as you do not have distribution yourself and someone like Appsumo does have. Lifetime deals can be a way to get some early customers. But agree with others that it's not a sustainable and scalable option.

Lifetime deals may seem like a great value upfront, but they can present risks for both customers and companies in the long term.

There’re some pros and cons of lifetime deals, and you should weigh them according to your won case: Pros: - It’s a great way to test the product-market fit and get user feedback. - You will get instant cash flow. - It helps reduce churn because customers are locked in. - Opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, as users prefer to buy products from brands they already have exposure to. Cons: - It hurts your MRR or ARR as it’s a one-time payment. In the long run, if there are too many LTDs users, it may not be particularly good for the long-term sustainable development of your product. - The cost of providing long-term service for LTD users may eventually be higher than their lifetime value, you will have users to take care of for the rest of your life. Have you ever considered future costs like customer service and your server? - Monthly/annual payment users may value the products more than LTDs users. As they understand that they are paying for product improvement and maintenance. - High commissions will be charged if you launch on marketplaces like AppSumo. If do LTDs for cash flow, then this will be a big damage to your revenue. If you decide to do an LTD, here's a checklist my partner summarized based on our research and talking with Appsumo and owners of Facebook LTD groups: https://gemoo.com/blog/how-to-pr...