We made $16K on AppSumo in 3 weeks, but conversions dropped after we targeted only 20% of the audience. Here's what happened.

We relaunched our SaaS on AppSumo about a month ago. This is our second listing. The first one did $20K with a 40% refund rate. This time we completely reworked the product, pricing, and positioning.

After tweaking the listing copy, conversions spiked to 7%. Best we'd ever seen. Then they started dropping.

I reached out to the AppSumo team and asked for data on their customer demographics. Turns out only about 20% of AppSumo buyers are agencies. We had pivoted the entire listing to target agencies specifically, which means we were only speaking to 1 in 5 visitors.

My theory: the initial 7% spike was all the agencies discovering the listing at once. We converted them fast and then ran out of that audience. The remaining 80% of traffic sees a product positioned for agencies and bounces.

The product is genuinely too complex for non-agencies right now. Targeting a broader audience would just mean more refunds and support tickets. So we're keeping the positioning for now.

March numbers (started mid-month):

• $11.5K net (a full month would've been $20K+)
• 95 paid codes, ~12 refunds
• 10% refund rate vs. 40% on our first listing

April so far (first week):

• $4.5K net
• Slightly slower pace than March
• 30 reviews, all positive

Conversions have dropped to about 2%. I just swapped the featured video to one that had better retention on YouTube, testing whether that moves things.

Rankings:

• Currently #3 in our category
• Consistently top 5 in "Customer Favorites"
• Not on the homepage top 9, but the Customer Favorites placement still drives traffic

Biggest lesson so far: positioning for a niche within a marketplace audience is a double edged sword. You convert way harder at first, but you can exhaust that segment fast. If you're launching on AppSumo, understand the breakdown of who actually buys on the platform before you commit to a positioning angle.

Happy to answer any questions about the launch, AppSumo mechanics, or LTD pricing strategy.