Why we sell a template once and never again

Every marketplace we looked at before starting this one had drifted towards a subscription. It is not hard to see why: recurring revenue is easier to forecast, easier to raise money against, and easier to put in a deck. What it is not is easier to defend to the person paying.

The thing you bought does not expire

A template is a folder of files. Once it is on your machine it does not phone home, it does not degrade, and it does not stop working because a card declined. Charging monthly for something that stopped changing the day you downloaded it is a rent you cannot explain.

So the price is one-time, and access never lapses. The only thing that removes a licence is a full refund, which is the one case where you asked for the money back.

What a one-time price costs us

Being honest about the trade:

• Revenue is lumpy. A quiet month is a quiet month, and there is no base to fall back on.
• Every new template has to earn its own sale. Nothing is carried by a renewal.
• The All-Access Pass has to be priced as if the catalogue will keep growing, because it will.

We think that is the correct set of problems to have. It keeps the incentive pointed at making templates people want rather than at making the cancel button hard to find.

What you actually get

Both include lifetime downloads. Neither renews. There is no billing portal because there is nothing in it.

If that sounds like a worse business, it probably is on a spreadsheet. It is a better one to run.