Why your app isn't selling (and what to do about it)
You built it. You uploaded it. Then you waited. Here's the 79-second version of that story, and an honest look at why it happens.
"Your App's First Sale… at 87?" Characters are fictional and the store-upload scene is a dramatization. Watch on YouTube.
The short answer: most apps don't fail because they're bad. They fail because nobody sees them. A big app store gives you a shelf, not shoppers, and getting buyers to that shelf is left to you.
1. Your app is one of hundreds of thousands
The big stores each hold hundreds of thousands of apps, some of them millions. Publishing puts your app on the shelf, and that's where the store's job mostly ends. Unless someone searches for your exact app, or you send people there, it just sits.
The stores still take a share of every sale. Apple, for example, charges 15% to developers in its Small Business Program, who earned up to $1 million in the prior year (Apple), and its standard rate applies above that. The marketing is still on you.
2. "Give us your link and we'll market it"
Plenty of companies offer to promote your app for a small fee, and the ones promising fast results talk about ads on YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. It's worth asking one question: who pays for those ads? Real ad campaigns cost real money, and a small package can't buy much of it.
3. Videos, blogs and backlinks take months
The other usual approach is publishing videos and blog posts to build links back to your site. It can work. It usually takes months before it turns into sales.
4. Your own website has the same problem
Selling from your own site keeps the most money per sale, and if you already have an audience you should. Without traffic, though, a website is just a nicer shelf. No visitors, no sales.
What we do instead
AI Digital Market Pro is a marketplace for independent software. We take on the part that stops most solo developers: getting the app in front of buyers and handling the sale.
- Free to apply. No upfront fees. We earn only when your app sells.
- We review every app, so yours sits next to tested apps, not a sea of random ones.
- We handle the selling: storefront, checkout, payment and a protected download.
- Non-exclusive. Keep selling on your own site and anywhere else.
- 50/50 split. That's more than an app store takes, because we do the selling, not just the shelf. (See the honest comparison.)
How to list your app
- Go to aidigitalmarketpro.com and click Sell your app.
- Fill in one short form about your app: name, what it does, price and a download link.
- Submit. We review it, and approved apps go into our store.
Questions app makers ask
How much does it cost to list my app?
Nothing. Applying is free and there are no upfront fees. We earn a share only when your app sells.
Do I have to stop selling my app anywhere else?
No. Listing is non-exclusive. Keep selling on your own site or any other store.
What share do you take?
Sales are split 50/50. That's more than an app store takes, because we do the selling: storefront, checkout, payment and promotion.
Can you guarantee sales?
No one honestly can. We review every app, put approved apps in our store and promote them; buyers decide what they buy.
Don't wait a lifetime for your first sale
Free to apply. Non-exclusive. We only make money when you do.
Store fees are as published by each platform and change over time; check their current terms. Apple figure checked October 2026.