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Upsell a Recurring/subscription product OR 1-time-offer?

by TheWebGuy
11 replies
Hey warriors,

I will have a Clickbank product and I'm going to have some upsells.

The first upsell will be a bucket offer (a bunch of quality products but at a 1-time-discount) ...and I will downsell a discounted version if they turn that 1st upsell down.





However, I am debating what the last upsell should be.


Should I do:

1) A recurring/subscription product that bills them something like $27/month

2) OR just a 1-time-offer for an in depth type product (for like a 1-time payment of $27/month)?



...I'm guessing the 1-time-offer product will convert higher (since they won't be billed again) ...however, the continuity income from a subscription upsell would be nice.





The 2 things that will help me decide are:

1) If I offer a recurring billing product will this hurt my refund rate significantly? Because I am using Clickbank and I'm guessing a lot of people just ask for refunds for their subscriptions instead of just cancelling their subscription within the 1st 2 months...

2) What ultimately leads to more profit? The increased conversions/lower refunds of the 1-time-offer ...or the recurring billing of the continuity product (despite potentially higher refunds and lower conversions)?


What do you guys think is better? Have you tried both before?

Should the last upsell be a continuity product/monthly subscription ...or just another 1-time-offer for some specific topic or further learning about my product? ...and why?

(also, I realize I can test this ...but that takes a ton of time and I want to know what other's have experienced when they've tried something similar to at least give me a head-start).



Thanks a lot! I really appreciate any help, advice, or past experience you have with this sort of thing.
#1timeoffer #product #recurring or subscription #upsell
  • Profile picture of the author Marketing Fool
    Test both and see which pulls more sales. No one can guess the correct one, only your testing will tell you that.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheWebGuy
    I know I can test this... But to analyze the returns, how long each customers stays ...and overall profitability of a recurring billing product I'd have to give it at least 4 months to get accurate numbers on who cancels, asks for a refund, how long people stick around, etc.


    Does anyone else have any suggestions or experience with this?

    Are recurring billing upsells worth it or not? Do they increase your refund rate/chargeback too much? And how were your conversions/profit when compared to 1-time-offer upsells?
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    • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
      Originally Posted by TheWebGuy View Post

      I'm guessing a lot of people just ask for refunds for their subscriptions instead of just cancelling their subscription within the 1st 2 months...
      For me it's the reverse. Over a time period I had 30 cancellations but only 4 refunds.

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      • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
        Originally Posted by Harvey Segal View Post

        For me it's the reverse. Over a time period I had 30 cancellations but only 4 refunds.

        .
        I assume you make it super easy for them to cancel.
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        • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
          Originally Posted by RogueOne View Post

          I assume you make it super easy for them to cancel.
          I actually provide this information in the guarantee section of my sales page saying

          "You can cancel at any time and will never be billed again.

          And if you are worried that we'll make you jump though hoops to cancel or hide the instructions in small print then the very opposite is true. Here's how to do it - we'll keep that page up permanently."

          with a link to the page.

          However that is to help persuade the customer to purchase rather than prevent refunds. When you raise a ClickBank ticket the options to cancel or refund are both available so I doubt if the safeguard above is the reason for the predominance of cancellations.
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          • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
            And you should. I won't say names but I have problems with quite a few here. One actually kept marking the ticket tech trouble or whatever. About the fourth time I was on the phone with my clickbank Id so mad I was fuming.

            After the call I logged on the refund took place and yet days later they were still selling. Scrapebox booted up and link after link, thread after thread, blog after blog blasted with a link to a webpage discrediting these guys. A couple of days later I couldn't find them on clickbank.

            I can not stand the ones that buy and then get a refund and they are out there, I usually block them but some platforms I can not. I will not though make someone go through hoops to get a refund.
            Originally Posted by Harvey Segal View Post

            I actually provide this information in the guarantee section of my sales page saying

            "You can cancel at any time and will never be billed again.

            And if you are worried that we'll make you jump though hoops to cancel or hide the instructions in small print then the very opposite is true. Here's how to do it - we'll keep that page up permanently."

            with a link to the page.

            However that is to help persuade the customer to purchase rather than prevent refunds. When you raise a ClickBank ticket the options to cancel or refund are both available so I doubt if the safeguard above is the reason for the predominance of cancellations.
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  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    You know one of my best launches was when I offered a product for 1.00 and if they liked it then 14 days later clickbank charged them 34.95.

    Now don't get me wrong, a lot of people cancelled more than if I would of gotten refunds from just a discounted price. I earned a substantially higher amount from the launch though.
    Why? Because I sold so many more of them that I still had the email address even if they cancelled through clickbank.

    Just a thought.
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  • Profile picture of the author williamrs
    When I have a recurring product on the front-end, I usually offer a one-time offer on the back-end that adds value to the subscription. For example, I can offer a private forum that will cost them a one-time fee and that will be available for them as long as they keep their subscription active. It lowers a lot the cancellations. And, although I haven't tested it yet, I think a recurring upsell would make they cancel sooner.

    On the other hand, when the front-end product is not recurring, I try to offer a recurring product on the back-end to increase the value of each customer substantially.

    I don't launch product on Clickbank, though, and my refund rates are always very, very low, so take this as an idea, not necessarily as an advice.


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  • Profile picture of the author TheWebGuy
    Thanks a lot everyone. These posts are very helpful and I really appreciate it...



    So if I was to offer some upsell recurring billing product, which setup do you think would work best (in terms of lower refunds, increased conversions, and overall profitability, or just your general thoughts):



    1) Sell the upsell as: Pay $1 to try it the 1st month, then continue to get charged $27 each month after if they don't cancel

    2) Sell the upsell as: $27 the 1st month, then continue to get charged $27 each month after if they don't cancel

    3) Upsell some special 1-time-offer product for $27, and tack on a 1 month free subscription to it (as a free "gift"), then continue to charge $27 each month after if they don't cancel
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    • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
      So if I was to offer some upsell recurring billing product, which setup do you think would work best (in terms of lower refunds, increased conversions, and overall profitability, or just your general thoughts):


      Will not help on refunds I would not believe. Would help on increased conversions. Would not help on profitability.
      1) Sell the upsell as: Pay $1 to try it the 1st month, then continue to get charged $27 each month after if they don't cancel

      Would help lower refunds would help on profitablilty.
      2) Sell the upsell as: $27 the 1st month, then continue to get charged $27 each month after if they don't cancel

      Don't think it would work as well as the 1.00 sell.
      3) Upsell some special 1-time-offer product for $27, and tack on a 1 month free subscription to it (as a free "gift"), then continue to charge $27 each month after if they don't cancel

      This is not anything but what I think.
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    • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
      Originally Posted by TheWebGuy View Post

      3) Upsell some special 1-time-offer product for $27, and tack on a 1 month free subscription to it (as a free "gift"), then continue to charge $27 each month after if they don't cancel
      I think you are suggesting a recurring billing which is free for the first month. If so this is not possible with ClickBank.

      .
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