Why is the refund rate so low on Leanpub?

Our 100% Happiness Guarantee

Leanpub has a 100% Happiness Guarantee, which means a customer can get a refund within 60 days of any purchase.

Some authors worry that people will misuse this policy to buy books, download them, and then get a refund for them.

The fact is, almost no one does this.

So, why is it the case that almost no Leanpub customers misuse our 100% Happiness Guarantee?

1. Variable Pricing Changes the Relationship

Leanpub has a "variable pricing" model that means an author chooses their own "Minimum Price" and "Suggested Price", and then lets the customer choose what they want to pay.

Empowering customers in this way changes the relationship you might expect them to have in a commercial transaction, where they would normally be expected to try to pay as little as possible - although that expectation itself is increasingly outdated in an age of social media, where people actively enjoy supporting content creators with their purchases.

2. We Pay High Royalties and Show How Much the Author Earns

We pay authors a much higher royalty rate than they would typically get from a conventional book publisher, and for a typical purchase we pay a higher rate than most self-publishing platforms do, including the big giant in the self-pubishing industry, Amazon KDP.

We're so proud of our high royalty rate for self-published authors that when someone makes a purchase on Leanpub, we actually show how much the author is going to earn.

Like with our variable pricing model, this changes the relationship between the customer and the author for the better: presented with you as a real person, not a faceless brand, people are much less likely to cheat you - because it's clear that's what they'd be doing.

3. Refund Comments Help Authors Improve Their Books and Messaging

When someone requests a refund on Leanpub, we give them an option to leave a comment.

These comments can be very helpful. For example, someone may have been misled about what to expect by your title, or your book description, or even an ad you purchased somewhere that pointed them to Leanpub. This can help you improve both your book's content and your book marketing efforts.

4. We Actively Monitor for "Refund Cheats" and Suspend Their Accounts

Although we have built-in nudges to discourage "refund cheats", there are still some out there.

We are constantly monitoring for this behavior and, although it is very rare, we suspend people's accounts when we suspect them of cheating you.