# Unclosable discount offer after dismiss: refunds beat trial gains

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Paywall (App)
- Elements: Discounts
- Date shared: 2026-09
- Test run by: [BoldVoice](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/boldvoice/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/anada-lakra-boldvoice-sub-club-podcast-2026/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/boldvoice-unclosable-discount-on-dismiss/

BoldVoice showed a percentage-off offer that couldn't be closed whenever someone dismissed its onboarding paywall, and trial starts went up, but refunds rose by more than the gain. CEO Anada Lakra described the test in a Sub Club podcast write-up on the RevenueCat blog. It lost on net revenue after refunds, and no figures were shared.

## Result

**More trial starts, but refunds rose by more than the gain**

- Trial starts: up. The test looked promising on trial numbers.
- Refunds: rose by more than the gain in trial starts.
- Net revenue after refunds: lower than control, so the change lost. The discount size and all figures were not shared.

## Control

The onboarding paywall could be dismissed. Dismissing it led to a small free taste: a speech assessment, a first daily plan and a coach video, with a 7-day trial offer on day two.

## Variant

The main paywall kept its close button, but dismissing it opened a percentage-off offer with no way to close it.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- Users who had just finished onboarding and then hit an offer they couldn't close often took it to move on.
- A discount that traps the user feels like a trick, and people who feel tricked refund when the charge arrives.
- The discount also lowers what each paying user brings in, so it needs a large real gain to pay off.

## Caveats

No figures, discount size, sample size or duration were shared. BoldVoice judged it on net revenue after refunds per exposed user on matured cohorts.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show a discount offer when users dismiss the paywall, and let them close it, then net revenue will rise because we win back some hesitant users without trapping them.
- Primary metric: Net revenue after refunds per exposed user, on a matured cohort
- Guardrail: Refund rate
- Guardrail: Proceeds per user
- Guardrail: App Store rating and complaints
- Who should test it: Apps that want to try an exit offer should keep it closable; this test suggests trapping users backfires. Check the App Store guidelines before shipping any dismiss offer on iOS.

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Credit: BoldVoice ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/boldvoice-unclosable-discount-on-dismiss/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.