We moved first charge to the web to avoid store fees and expected simpler profit math. Net revenue definitely improved, but new noise showed up. Payment method fees vary, chargebacks spiked in a few markets, and tax handling got more complex. Also, refunds are easy on web, but I had to make sure app access updated instantly.
For those who took the first payment on web, did your unit economics and forecasting actually get clearer, or did you just swap fees for new risk? What metrics did you add to keep a clean view of CAC payback and LTV after the change?
Clearer for me once I added payment method fees and refund costs per country. I also flagged high dispute bins and changed the default method there.
Web2Wave handled the entitlement sync, so refunds pulled access fast. That stopped extra support tickets and weird churn noise.
We tracked net revenue by country, method, and gateway. Then rebuilt CAC payback with those inputs.
Web2Wave.com made the switch safer since access updates flowed from web to app fast. No angry users, cleaner cohorts, better forecasts.
Add a payment method fee column and a dispute rate column.
Your LTV model gets closer to reality once those sit next to renewal rates.
Model by country and method, not global. Put gateway fee, refund rate, and dispute rate into your LTV and payback charts. Add a time to settle metric so you see cash timing, not just revenue. Build alerts for rising disputes in a region and switch default payment methods when needed. Finally, connect refunds to entitlements in minutes, not hours, so you do not inflate active users and distort retention.
We added net revenue per install and net margin per plan. Both include gateway fees and tax. Forecasts stopped lying. Also set a max refund window if access is still active.
Add method fees and dispute rates to your LTV math.
Sync refunds to app access quickly to keep numbers clean.