Are lifetime deals legitimate?
Whenever you see savings of 90% and above you might start thinking that this deal is too good to be true. However in the software world it is becoming a more common strategy to offer these deals so that the startups get an influx of initial beta users for their apps.
The app maker is willing to let this initial group get access often for a one time fee equivalent to what future users will pay every month.
There are two reasons they do this with the first being an immediate cash injection into their business that can often negate the need for venture capital.The other reason is that they get a highly motivated study group of initial users who will give them valuable feedback on how to make the app better. So as you can see when it comes to software, the risks are quite low to you the buyer as long as you do your due diligence.
What should I know before buying?
Whenever you are about to buy a lifetime deal there are several key things to do first:
First, look closely at the pricing tables of the lifetime deal compared to the retail pricing. Depending on who is offering the lifetime deal, the benefits could be limited compared to the full retail version. An example of this is an email marketing tool that might have a limit of 1,000 subscribers for the lifetime deal, which would be terrible compared to free options like MailChimp who offer 2,000 subscribers.
Another thing you want to look at are reviews of current clients and people who have just bought the lifetime deal. Don’t even think about pressing buy now before reading these reviews as it will give you a good idea of whether this app is a dud or winner.
While you are looking at reviews, also try to find the product road map. This will give you an idea of how committed the app maker is to the project and whether their vision matches your requirements for the future.
- Does the app you are about to buy work with your current app stack?
There is nothing worse than buying an app that doesn’t work with your other business critical apps. So make sure to visit their features page if they don’t mention supporting your specific apps then see if they support Zapier or Integromat and web hooks for WordPress websites. This will give you more flexibility for the future.
