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AppSumo Review – Is It Good for SaaS Startups

This AppSumo review covers everything about the website, making it clear if it is worth joining or not.

Starting a business that runs on selling digital products takes work to maintain. You have to find a proper platform where you can easily sell your products online.

The complication is finding an active platform itself. You have to pay hefty fees to become a member of any platform. Plus, they take a commission with every sale.  

While this is a trend on each platform, AppSumo is advertised as an excellent website for digitally distributed goods. But is it that good? What are the fees for selling? How does it work? Let’s find out. 

AppSumo Overview

AppSumo started its operations in 2010 by an online serial entrepreneur willing to promote digital tools at insanely lower prices.

It is a website where you can sell and purchase digital products for a lifetime. Many other sites offer the same services, but you’ll get the best deals at AppSumo.

Even if subscription-based software is available on AppSumo, its first fee will be much lower than the original price. However, the monthly payment remains the same.

AppSumo releases three software deals weekly. Every deal gets you the software for a lifetime but at an unusually lower cost.

The software in the deals is available at 40%-95% lower than the original price. However, that only works on those available for a one-time purchase.

You might need to hurry on AppSumo, as deals will only last a while. Since they are so catchy, the deals on AppSumo end within two to three days.

The deals stay active for two weeks, but only if no one purchases the products. The best part is that professionals at AppSumo check every product before they put it live for a deal.

If you need more, you have 60-days to try the product. If you change your preferences later, return the product and get a refund from AppSumo.

The product in the image above is Pagescreen, an automatic site monitor. It is not available for a lifetime deal on the original website. You have to pay for the subscription. 

However, on AppSumo, it is available on a lifetime deal, and check out the discount.

The discounted price is 50% less than its original Business Plan monthly subscription. That is not all; every deal in the spotlight is heavily discounted.

What is available on AppSumo

During our research for this AppSumo review, we discovered that the platform aims to help small business owners who can’t afford expensive tools.

AppSumo might have the best deals for you if you are running a small blog or website or have started your eCommerce store.

Mostly, you’ll get tools for SEO, marketing, analysis, content creation and optimization, image optimization and suppression, and video editing.

All sorts of tools and stats that can help improve your website’s performance are available on AppSumo.

Apart from the tools, AppSumo also has courses to help improve your skills. Most of these courses are based on improving marketing skills.

Some other courses include coding, content writing, copywriting secrets, and more. Anything that can help start your business is available at a lower price.

The surprising part is that you can even find premium AppSumo plans in the products available at discounts.

How does AppSumo provide products at such a low cost?

The obnoxious discounts on AppSumo make people wonder how that brand is even working. In particular, the 95% discounts on products are genuinely a surprising sight to see.

It is a simple task if you have a professional marketing team who can find quality and trending SaaS products.

Many new entrepreneurs keenly follow AppSumo and keep checking out new deals. So, a new product on the website instantly catches customers’ eyes.

AppSumo frequently looks for potential partners to provide their products or services at a lower price. It doesn’t have to be 95% off, but it should be lower than the original one.

These products help AppSumo as it takes a percentage of every sale made through the platform. In return, the platform provides good exposure for the companies behind such products.

If you have started a new product or service business, let AppSumo sell it for a lower price, so many potential customers can purchase it in bulk.

Since AppSumo is a famous portal, many people will see and even try your product, which means easy marketing. 

If your product becomes their daily driver, once it is off of AppSumo, they’ll have to order it from your website.

Not only that, AppSumo will promote your product on their social media pages, and for an extra cost, they can even review it.

With AppSumo’s help, small businesses can quickly reach a wide range of audiences that they might not have access to without spending thousands of dollars.

Yes, the cost of giving your product for almost free is not easy, but the results that come with it are worth it.

The catch behind all this is that AppSumo doesn’t choose products at random. Instead, its team checks them first, and if there is potential in the product, they add it to the website.

Benefits of using AppSumo – for buyers and sellers

With all the hype, let’s discuss the benefits buyers and sellers can get from AppSumo. 

The buyer is a new entrepreneur, and the seller is a new business.

Get a quality tool or service at a lower price.

A top-notch marketing tool at 50-95% off for someone starting a new business is a blessing.

At AppSumo, you can get many such tools at a lower price, and most of the tools are available for a lifetime.

That’s not all, create an account on the website and get exclusive tools right when they are up for sale. 

That way, you also get a reminder about the most popular tools, and you can take action before they run out.

If the price doesn’t surprise you, the variety of products will. You can scroll past the top choices and find hundreds of other lower-quality products.

The freebies might attract new entrepreneurs the most. Yes, most premium courses and tools are available for free on AppSumo.

Get lots of audience without extra cost.

This is an excellent option for new businesses as they only need to provide their products to AppSumo.

AppSumo will publish your products on the website and social media platforms or promote them in various ways. Your product or service might even reach their YouTube channel.

AppSumo also has a vast partner network and will share your product reviews there.

This advertisement might cost you thousands of dollars otherwise. Thankfully, it is almost free with AppSumo since the platform charges on every sale.

This is why their team carefully selects the products and onboards the ones with the best potential.

With such an extensive advertisement, more buyers will get to know your product, and your reach will increase exceptionally.

Free marketing of your product and company

We did mention that AppSumo can market your product for free, and here is how they do it.

They’ll mention the products’ unique selling points, main features, and details about your company. This will give the buyer a clear idea of your product and company.

Since they also add a link to your website in the product listing, your website gets a free external link. 

The good thing is that it is not just any link but one with high page and domain authority, which helps improve your website’s SEO score.

Secondly, they’ll post fresh and featured content on their social media pages, including Instagram and Facebook, and even review it on Youtube.

It may reach even more people if their followers see the post and engage with it. Every post with your website link gets free and organic traffic.

This company also sends emails to all its subscribers and other entrepreneurs regularly. They’ll add your product link in the email and send it to thousands of people to increase your product’s viewership.

Remember to check out their YouTube channel because even if they don’t post a review, they’ll still share a small overview of your product there.

This company uses four tactics to market a product or service.

Detailed feedback and reviews

Those who purchase the yearly plan of AppSumo get the title of Sumo-lings. They are the prominent people who purchase new products and give ratings in the form of tacos instead of stars.

Yes, it’s as fun as it sounds!

These buyers will get your product or services much quicker than others. Plus, they can check and leave their ratings and reviews of the products.

A good taco rating shows that the product or service is high quality, encouraging other Sumo-lings to get your product.

This might not benefit the general public as much as it will benefit you. You’ll get to know your product’s strong and weak points and improve them with the next update.

Since AppSumo only keeps the best of the best products, these reviews will help you improve a lot.

Earn money without a huge investment

This is another benefit for the sellers as their product reaches more clients without a huge investment.

In the end, AppSumo will promote your product, provide its reviews, and ensure it reaches as many people as possible, and in the end, you only need to pay them a small fee for your sales.

Pros for seller

  • Get customers with less effort.
  • With a successful product launch, you can make lots of money
  • No huge investment is required to launch the product or service
  • More people purchase your product for reviews 
  • Positive reviews from successful users will bring more sales

Pros for buyers

  • Discounted products and services for a lifetime
  • Hundreds of active deals every day
  • Get notified about new low-priced products
  • 60-days return policy
  • 50 different categories to choose products from

Cons

  • Only 70% of revenue on returning customers
  • You are always the second number on google since AppSumo has a better ranking.
  • No payout before 90 days
  • You might not learn any marketing strategy as this brand is doing everything for you.
  • You might need to search and wait for a desired or valuable product or service.

How to sell with AppSumo?

Now, again, remember, AppSumo takes the best of the best product, so, Sumo-lings can be brutal in their reviews.

To get featured on AppSumo, you must take the necessary steps.

Beta doesn’t count

The first step is to ensure that your product is up and running, as this platform doesn’t accept beta products or services.

It must have all the functions and features with the minimum bugs and issues. If some people already use this product, it is a plus point.

Gain Sumo-lings’ attention

The next step is to have at least some unique and mind-blowing features to attract the attention of reviewers.

Your product can be imperfect, but it should be good enough to add some value to the product list.

Make a team

This platform will only accept your request if you are working on your app or services.

You must have a team of at least three to actively reply to and support the questions and issues presented by the Sumo-lings.

Have a plan

AppSumo would like to hear your plan and see your roadmap before featuring the product or service.

If you cannot show them how stable you are and how you want to go ahead with your work, they won’t place your assets on the website.

Also, if you plan to launch with AppSumo, make sure your deals on other websites are lesser.

AppSumo review – pricing

You can get the AppSumo yearly plan with lots of features, and surprisingly, it is also available at a considerable discount.

You have to pay for it once and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

AppSumo Fees

You’ll get 95% of the sales if a new customer purchases your product or service, with the company taking only 5%.

However, if a customer returns your product, you’ll only get 70% of the sales, and the company takes the other 30%.

This might seem like a lot, but a successful campaign from AppSumo can help you earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, where you won’t care about the 30%.

Guarantees offered by AppSumo

Sellers with top-quality products will get exceptional advertising and marketing.

This company offers buyers a 60-day money-back guarantee, regardless of what they purchase.

Final words – is AppSumo worth it?

We hope this AppSumo review has answered all your questions. 

Considering the hype and the popularity of AppSumo, featuring a product there will generate sales, and it is a great platform for less costly advertising.

It is an excellent option for small businesses and SaaS startups, as they get a huge boost in their audience without extra effort.

While this all seems light and easy, featuring on AppSumo is challenging. You need to have a high-quality product or service and gain good reviews from the beta-lings and Sumo-lings. 

Check out our website for more information on a successful product launch.