How does Maker School’s 90‑day refund policy work, and what happens if someone requests a refund claiming they made no money (even if they actually did) just to get the community for free?

#279 · why AI agents aren't making you money

How does Maker School’s 90‑day refund policy work, and what happens if someone requests a refund claiming they made no money (even if they actually did) just to get the community for free?

If someone asks for a refund under Maker School’s 90‑day policy—whether they claim they made no money or not—I simply give them their money back. Honestly, most people who request refunds are those who probably weren’t going to succeed anyway. You can often tell by looking at their post history: if they’ve never even introduced themselves in the community, it’s clear they’re not interested in taking full advantage of what Maker School offers. The real value of Maker School lies in the relationships and network you build. When you make an introduction, you instantly connect with people who are building agencies earning $5 k–$10 k per month, as well as beginners, veterans, and folks across every experience level. The community spans almost every continent (except Antarctica) and is present in major population centers worldwide. Those who ask for a refund usually lack the willingness to put themselves out there, held back by limiting beliefs, and that’s why I don’t hesitate to refund them. My actual refund rate is about 2‑5 % month‑to‑month, rising to roughly 6 % during big sales because many people join excitedly without thinking it through. While that’s a regret of running large promotions, it also brings in significant revenue, so I continue to run those big sales.

refund policymaker schoolcommunity

Related answers

youtube ↗Client Acquisition

Deshan says, 'Why did those people who asked for a refund in Maker School not achieve the results? Tell me about their mistakes so I can avoid them.'

The vast majority of wins in Maker School come down to consistency—or lack thereof. Outreach demands are fairly low: first week 2‑3 hours/day, then after building systems you can reduce to 1‑2 hours/day, and after a couple months most people can do the outreach in 45‑60 minutes. The actual outreach feels high and scary to those with low expectations about how much outreach is needed to get a client; they’ll think 'Oh my god, how do you do all these Upwork applications?' or cold emails or community posts take forever. But outreach is literally the only thing in your business that has any value when you have zero clients—nobody cares how good you are at voice agents until you have people on a call evaluating your skill to build voice agents. So just spend all your time on outreach. Many people aren’t willing to do that, unfortunately. Still, those who aren’t willing sometimes achieve great results because there’s a market hack/glitch where a little time, energy, and money can yield much larger returns. However, about 95% of those asking for refunds simply lack the consistency muscle and come up with every excuse not to do the work. I’ve been there too—I had low expectations about the volume needed; it took me 2,500 doors knocked to make my first dollar with an agency model. After that it becomes hard not to think, 'Holy, I can get a client in five hours of my time, which means I can get a client every day.' If you spend five hours a day doing this, you’ll get more clients in one day than most people get in a month.

maker schoolrefundsconsistencyoutreach

youtube ↗Offers

How should I decide what to guarantee for my performance system—behavior, output, money—and how would you present it as an offer?

Nick says it’s difficult to guarantee outcomes you don’t directly control. In Maker School he guarantees a first client or a refund, which is downstream of his control but still offered. He notes that in practice, money is the strongest guarantee because it’s simple and quantifiable; you can offer a money‑back guarantee even without direct control, as the program’s overall value is evident—participants often find it valuable and may have a pipeline of leads even if they don’t land a client. He shares that his refund rate is very low because participants interact with him daily for 90 days. He appreciates the question, noting that most sellers focus on agents rather than outcomes, and thanks for the AI comment reframe. Regarding school growth boost, he says he would enable the feature, estimating it brings about 20‑30 % of net new people, so letting the platform take a cut is fine because you still grow your top line; he doesn’t know the exact percentage but sees it as acceptable.

guaranteerefundoffer

youtube ↗Client Acquisition

What is your new revenue goal after reaching 500K per month?

I don't really know what the next goal should be after hitting 500K, but I want to make more money, so I'm considering setting it at a million dollars a month. I'm also planning an AR direction school and thanked for the tip on the Boolean offer. Regarding whether it's better to have a free community with one paid school versus many freebies, I've found that many people can't afford the $184/month paid school and drop off because there's no intermediate capture mechanism. So I set up a free community, which I've discussed in earlier videos. Since then we've grown to 14,000 members, with about 200 online at any time, indicating good engagement. About 0.4-0.5% of the community upsells to the paid Maker Maker School, which translates to roughly 50 members per month. I recommend creating a free group, but you must manage it carefully—I don't allow AI posts, and I review flagged content daily to ban offenders. This approach requires being strong-willed.

free communityupsellpricingmembership

youtube ↗Offers

How do people create performance-based guarantees (e.g., X leads or you don’t pay, X months guaranteed, or X money if you don’t pay), especially when outcomes are hard to predict for beginners?

It's a great question. Think of two universes: one with no guarantee, one with a guarantee. With no guarantee, conversion is lower. With a guarantee—e.g., 100% guarantee of 2X ROI, money back plus a $100 gift card—conversion is much higher. Beyond conversion, guarantees increase the probability of success because they align incentives: if you don’t deliver the promised result, you don’t get paid and must refund, so you work harder to fulfill it. Psychologically, you’re more likely to achieve what you’ve guaranteed. Examples like Alex Rosi’s crazy guarantees (pay double if you don’t make X money) show how compelling they are. Even at the start of any business, lead generation is the bottleneck; improving conversion via guarantees gives you a higher chance of success and provides free experience (you still deliver value even if you refund). Logically, morally, ethically, guarantees are the way to go. They let you hedge bets without being reckless—offering a guarantee implicitly acknowledges a chance of failure and promises restitution. I used to avoid guarantees, but after adopting them my income jumped from $2K to $20K a month. My advice: make offering guarantees a habit.

guaranteesoffersperformance-based