Course pre-sales flopped — 3 buyers out of 500 on waitlist

📚 Education & Studyby janewang · 4w ago

▸ What I did

Built a waitlist for my design course, had 500 signups over 2 months

▸ What I expected

At least 50 purchases at launch (10% of waitlist)

▸ What actually happened

3 purchases on launch day. Most waitlist emails bounced or went unopened

▸ What I've tried so far

Sent countdown emails, offered early bird discount, added bonuses

Progress Updates (0)

0 / 3000

3 Replies

sarahkim · 4w ago✓ the fix

A waitlist is not demand validation. People join waitlists like they bookmark articles — with zero intention to act. Charge a refundable $10 deposit next time. Email your 3 buyers and ask why they bought — that's your real messaging.

thomas wu · 4w ago✓ the fix

I did the same with a coding tutorial. 800 waitlist, 5 buyers. Now I do cohort-based: 20 people, $200 each, starts in 2 weeks. Urgency + scarcity + accountability.

mikejohnson · 4w ago

Try a $1 "reserve my spot" — 10x fewer signups but those people are 10x more likely to buy.

Status

✗ stuck

Stats

Me too1

Replies3

Following1