How to track AppSumo deals and never miss a refund window

You track AppSumo deals by writing down four things the day you buy: what you paid, the purchase date, the refund deadline from the deal's terms, and who will use it. Then you test the deal on real work in its first days and decide keep or refund before the deadline, not after.

That's the whole system. The hard part isn't the list, it's remembering to look at it. A monthly subscription reminds you it exists every time it charges your card. A lifetime deal charges once and goes quiet, which is exactly why so many end up unused.

This guide gives you the routine, the columns worth tracking, and a way to tell whether anyone on the team actually uses each deal. It all works in a spreadsheet. If you'd rather not keep one, the last section shows how Subly does it from your AppSumo export.

Why do lifetime deals pile up unused?

Lifetime deals are built to be easy yeses. The price is low, the offer ends soon, and paying once feels safer than another monthly bill. So you buy the tool you might need next quarter, then the one that could replace something you already pay for, then a second code to reach a higher tier.

None of these purchases is a mistake on its own. The trouble is what happens after. There's no renewal date, no invoice, no price rise email. Nothing ever asks "are you still using this?" A year later you have a page of products you've never opened and no memory of what each one cost.

The money adds up quietly. Twelve deals averaging $85 each is about $1,000, spent in small, forgettable pieces. That's real budget for a small business, and the refund window is the one moment you can get some of it back.

How does the AppSumo refund window work?

Each AppSumo purchase comes with refund terms, and the window usually counts from the day you buy, not the day you first log in. That detail catches a lot of people: a deal you bought and never redeemed has been counting down the whole time.

Refund rules can differ between deals and can change over time, so don't rely on a number you remember from an older purchase. Before you buy, and again when you log the deal, read:

• The deal page terms, which say what's included and any conditions for that product.
• AppSumo's refund policy, linked from the site and your account, which sets the general rules.
• Anything about stacked codes or upgrades, because extra codes bought later may come with their own dates.

Then write the deadline down as a date. "Refund by March 14" is something you can act on. "A couple of months" isn't.

How do I decide whether to keep or refund a deal?

Give every deal a short, deliberate trial instead of waiting to see whether you drift into using it. This routine fits around real work:

The third question matters more than it looks. A tool nobody owns is a tool nobody sets up properly, nobody notices when it breaks, and nobody defends at review time. If nobody raises a hand, that's your answer.

Be honest about "I might need it later," too. If a deal sat unused through its whole refund window, later rarely comes. Refund it and buy something when the need is real.

What should I track for each lifetime deal?

A good record answers "what did we pay, what do we get, and who cares about it" at a glance. These columns cover it:

The "Replaces" column is where lifetime deals earn their keep. The example above, $138 for two codes, pays for itself in about seven months if it really replaces the $19 a month tool. A deal that replaces nothing is money spent, however good the tool is.

Count stacked codes and upgrades in what you paid. And note any ongoing costs that come with a deal, such as add-ons, usage credits or a separate subscription for features outside the lifetime plan. Those are recurring charges, and they belong on the same list as your other subscriptions.

If you already keep a subscription spreadsheet, add your deals to it instead of starting a second one. The subscription tracker spreadsheet guide has a template you can extend with a refund deadline column.

How do I know if anyone actually uses a deal?

For a solo founder this is easy: you know. For a team it's the question that never gets asked, because the person who bought the deal is often not the person who would use it.

Three ways to find out without a meeting:

• Ask the owner directly, on the deal's record or in team chat: "Is anyone still using this?" A specific question about one tool gets an answer. A general "please review our tools" doesn't.
• Check the tool's own admin page. Many apps show the last login or the active users.
• Look at what it was supposed to replace. If you still pay for the old tool, the new one probably isn't doing the job.

Once the refund window has closed, the question changes. You can't get the money back, so ask whether the deal is still worth the setup and attention it takes. Review kept deals once a year alongside your subscriptions; the 30-minute software subscription audit works for both. For teams, putting a name on every tool is the habit that makes this stick, and SaaS ownership for small teams covers how to set it up.

How do I import my AppSumo purchases into Subly?

Subly reads the purchase export from your AppSumo account, so you don't type deals in one by one and you never share your AppSumo login.

1. On AppSumo, open Account → Products and export your purchases as a CSV.
2. In Subly, open the import and add the CSV file.
3. Review what Subly found. It skips downloads, merchandise, refunded or transferred deals and expired AppSumo Plus memberships, so the list shows the deals you still hold.

From there, each deal is an item like any other, with what you paid and the days left to get a refund.

To check your refund windows right now, the free AppSumo refund checker reads your export in the browser and shows the days left on every deal, with no account.

The AppSumo import is included on every plan, Free included; see pricing for the rest. And if you bought Subly itself on AppSumo, your deal stays exactly as you bought it.