Question

40-45% Billing Error

  • 22 April 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 87 views
J
Badge +1

Hi!

I recently launched a hard paywall in my app and have had a fair few people each day sign up to the 3 day free trial.

Around 55% of users remain after the 3 day trial but I am finding that when it ends around 40-45% of the remaining users are running into 'billing errors' meaning they end up not paying at the end of the trial despite never cancelling.

The app does target a younger audience, but this still feels way too high. 

Has anyone come across this issue before at such a high % and if so, is there anything we can do to try and improve this number?

Thank you!

4 replies

Ryan Glanz
Rank
Userlevel 3
Badge +8

Hi,

Yeah, that’s pretty common. We have a recent report out that found that 38% of users who start a trial end up becoming subscribers. So that number of failed purchases isn’t uncommon.

It can get especially high on Android because some users/countries aren’t required to submit a payment method before signing up for a trial.

J
Badge +1

Hey @Ryan Glanz!

Thank for getting back to me. Yep, I understand that a 30-40% conversion from start trial to paying is quite normal, but is it normal to have such a high billing error rate? 

For clarification these users are not cancelling, they are going into the billing error grace period because there is something wrong with their payment method. 

I know this happens, but it probably shouldn't be happening at such a high rate. 

We are also 100% IOS and based in the US.

Let me know if any other ideas come to mind.

Thanks! 

R
Badge +3

As of last week we are observing a very high rate of BILLING_ERROR webhook calls. Not sure if that’s related to the new sandbox billing features announced by Apple on Apr 19. Any insights, @Ryan Glanz ?

N
Badge +3

Hey @Ryan Glanz!

Thank for getting back to me. Yep, I understand that a 30-40% conversion from start trial to paying is quite normal, but is it normal to have such a high billing error rate? 

For clarification these users are not cancelling, they are going into the billing error grace period because there is something wrong with their payment method. 

I know this happens, but it probably shouldn't be happening at such a high rate. 

We are also 100% IOS and based in the US.

Let me know if any other ideas come to mind.

Thanks! 

I'm from Brazil and I created an application, we offered 7 days of testing for users and after that, we had a large volume of "pending payments" and "billing issue" did you experience this too?

I had 35 subscriptions and only 5 converted.

Did you manage to solve it?

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings