There is a whole string of LTD (“life time deal”) websites on the web. These are basically startups with usually a software application, that are looking for liquidity, cash, but also a userbase, feedback, promotion. These are often the newest technologies, currently AI is ‘hot’. And being a business economist, I love checking out new tech and tools.
The business model : 80% of startups goes belly up within three years. That could put people off, and to get them to opt in, they invented the ‘life time deal’.
Your average ‘life expectance’ is (36/5) ~7 months. To make it interesting often you pay 4 to 6 months of a tier. 60 dollars to 90 dollars for a 15 dollar tier. You can make your money back, on average. And 20% will last the distance. That is (“going concern” 10 years) 15x12x10= 1800 dollars in ‘value’.
So you buy 5 tools for 300 dollars in all, each yields 7×15 100 dollars and 1 yields 1800, so you can expect 2200 in value for 300 dollars on average.
But don’t forget : it also takes your own time, you often need a few hours to learn how to work with it, you spend half an hour on a review, Q&A with the developer. You invest time in it. That is ‘added value’ for the developer-crew, it works both ways, that’s why it is a ‘deal’. Always a deal and sometimes a ‘steal’.
The LTD circus has become a ‘working’ part of the web-ecomomy, and it is great fun.
Some sites to get you started :
AppSumo : the most active deal site
SaasPirate : a good aggregator
LTDhunt : also an aggegrator, the newest deals in town
Do keep in mind, scammers are everywhere, and sadly maybe 1 in 50 deals on AppSumo is ‘crooked’. Products that are basically ‘end of lifetime’ and they just dump it on AppSumo to get some final dollars on it and close it down. Or a “vendor lock in”, that take your data hostage and you have to pay much more, to get your data back. Sadly, that also happens. Keep that in mind.
The creed remains “due diligence”, same as in stock investing. Check out the company and crew and reviews before you opt in. Ask around. There are a number of LTD groups on Facebook, KenMoo and others. There you can discuss freely with the other buyers and they will warn you about ‘mirky business’.
I estimate there are 50 to 100.000 people actively scouting that market.