We Removed Payment Details and Our Sign-Ups Dropped: What I Learned

We Removed Payment Details and Our Sign-Ups Dropped: What I Learned

Meta Description: I removed payment details from our free trial sign-up, expecting more conversions. The opposite happened. Here's my honest story about what went wrong and what I'm learning from it.

I'm going to be completely honest with you, because that's what I do. I made a decision that I was convinced would improve our business, invested significant time and energy into making it happen, and it completely backfired.

Let me tell you what happened.

The Decision That Seemed So Obvious

For months, I'd been thinking about our sign-up process for Inkie's 14-day free trial. We asked people to enter their payment details upfront, even though they wouldn't be charged for two weeks. It's a common practice, but I started questioning it.

I thought about it from the customer's perspective. If I'm offering a genuinely free trial, why am I asking for payment details? Doesn't that create friction? Doesn't it make people hesitate? I imagined all these potential customers who wanted to try Inkie but were put off by having to enter their card details.

So I decided to remove that requirement entirely. We'd let people sign up, start their onboarding, explore the platform, and only ask for payment details when they were ready to continue after the trial. It seemed like a no-brainer. More people would start the trial, more people would experience the value of Inkie, and surely that would lead to more conversions.

The Investment

This wasn't a simple change. Simon, my husband and Inkie's software architect, built an entirely custom sign-in system to make this work. We invested hours of development time, testing, and implementation. We were excited about it. This was going to remove barriers and open the doors wider.

I genuinely expected to see our trial sign-ups increase. I thought we'd solved a problem that was holding people back.

What Actually Happened

The opposite happened.

Fewer people started the onboarding process. Not more. Fewer.

I sat there looking at the numbers, completely baffled. We'd made it easier. We'd removed a barrier. We'd done exactly what conventional wisdom suggests you should do to reduce friction in a sign-up process. And our conversions went down.

It was frustrating, confusing, and honestly a bit deflating. All that work, all that good intention, and the data was telling me we'd made things worse, not better.

Trying to Understand Why

I've been thinking about this a lot, trying to understand what happened. Here are some theories I'm working with, but I'm genuinely not certain which, if any, are correct.

Does requiring payment details signal commitment? Maybe when people enter their card details, even for a free trial, they're making a psychological commitment. They're saying, "Yes, I'm serious about trying this." Without that step, perhaps the trial feels too casual, too easy to forget about.

Does it signal value? When you ask for payment details upfront, you're essentially saying, "This is worth paying for, and you will want to continue." Maybe removing that requirement accidentally sent the message that our service wasn't as valuable, that we weren't confident people would convert.

Does it create accountability? If you've entered your payment details, you know there's a date when the paid subscription will start. That creates a natural deadline to properly evaluate the service. Without it, there's no urgency, no reason to engage fully during the trial period.

Is it about trust? Perhaps asking for payment details actually builds trust. It's transparent. You know exactly what will happen and when. Removing that step might have created uncertainty about what happens next, how billing works, when decisions need to be made.

Learning Out Loud

I don't have all the answers here, and that's uncomfortable for me to admit. I'm someone who likes to understand why things work the way they do. But I also believe in being honest about the journey, including the mistakes and the confusion.

This experience has taught me a few things. First, that assumptions, even well-intentioned ones based on empathy for the customer, can be completely wrong. Second, that removing friction isn't always the answer. Sometimes what looks like friction is actually serving an important purpose.

And third, that the only way to really know what works is to test it, measure it, and be willing to admit when you got it wrong.

What Happens Next

We're evaluating what to do next. The data is clear, but understanding why the data looks the way it does is more complex. Do we revert to requiring payment details? Do we try a different approach? Do we test variations to understand the specific factors at play?

What I do know is that this experience reinforces why I built Inkie in the first place. Small businesses like mine can move quickly. We can test, learn, adapt, and try again. We're not stuck in months of committee meetings and approval processes. That agility is our superpower, even when we're learning from mistakes.

I'd Love Your Input

This is where I'm asking for help from you, the community of business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs who understand these challenges. Why do you think requiring payment details for a free trial might actually help conversions rather than hurt them?

Have you experienced something similar in your own business? Have you removed what seemed like a barrier only to find it was actually serving a purpose? I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts and experiences.

Because here's the thing, I'm not too proud to say I don't know. I'm not too proud to learn from my mistakes. And I'm definitely not too proud to ask for your insights. That's how we all get better, by learning together and being honest about what works and what doesn't.

The Bigger Picture

This whole experience is a perfect example of why running a small business is both incredibly challenging and deeply rewarding. You make decisions based on the best information you have, you invest your time and resources, and sometimes it works out differently than you expected.

But the learning, the adaptation, the willingness to try again, that's what builds a better business. Not getting everything right the first time, but being willing to look at what happened honestly and adjust.

I'm sharing this story because I want you to know that I make mistakes too. I make decisions that don't work out. I invest time and energy into things that backfire. And that's okay. It's part of the process.

The difference between businesses that succeed and those that don't isn't about never making mistakes. It's about being willing to acknowledge them, learn from them, and keep moving forward.

So that's what I'm doing. Learning, adjusting, and continuing to build a tool that helps small businesses like yours thrive, even when the journey includes some unexpected detours.

I hope this story encourages you to take risks in your own business, to test your assumptions, and to be honest when things don't go as planned. That's how we all grow.