# GitHub Marketplace cancellation cleanup within 30 days

> Turn cancellation handling into a trust rule, with account deactivation, token revocation, webhook removal, and data deletion within 30 days after the Marketplace cancel event.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-cancellation-cleanup-within-30-days/
- Source: [docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/apps/github-marketplace/using-the-github-marketplace-api-in-your-app/handling-plan-cancellations)
- GrowthDex source hub: [GitHub Docs: Handling plan cancellations](/sources/github-docs-handling-plan-cancellations-docs-github-com/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-31T08:20:00Z
- Rarity: epic
- Budget: low
- Channels: Marketplaces, Brand, Security
- Stages: offboarding, security trust, developer tools, compliance ops
- Key metric: GitHub tells Marketplace apps to remove customer data within 30 days of the `cancelled` event.

## Why this can grow

Cancellation is part of the product surface whether teams like it or not. GitHub is unusually clear about the cleanup steps after a Marketplace plan ends: deactivate the customer account, revoke the OAuth token, remove repository webhooks for OAuth apps, and remove customer data within 30 days of the `cancelled` event. That matters for growth because developer buyers remember exit friction. A clean offboarding flow lowers security anxiety, makes procurement conversations easier, and signals that the team can be trusted with repo access in the first place.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. I would run it small enough to learn quickly, then only scale the parts that real users repeat, save, reply to, or buy from. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where github marketplace cancellation cleanup within 30 days can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Marketplaces and Brand channel.
3. Use the evidence from docs.github.com to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

GitHub's cancellation guide says apps must deactivate the customer's account, revoke the OAuth token, remove repository webhooks for OAuth apps, and remove customer data within 30 days after receiving the `cancelled` Marketplace webhook.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Chrome Web Store Verified CRX uploads before scale](/growth-ideas/chrome-web-store-verified-crx-uploads-before-scale/) - 3 shared channels
- [GitHub Marketplace feature card preview before brand refresh](/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-feature-card-preview-before-brand-refresh/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [JetBrains plugin verified vendor badge before scale push](/growth-ideas/jetbrains-plugin-verified-vendor-badge-before-scale-push/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [VS Code extension README and CHANGELOG finish the detail page](/growth-ideas/vs-code-extension-readme-and-changelog-finish-the-detail-page/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [GitHub Marketplace pages should remove install fear](/blog/github-marketplace-pages-should-remove-install-fear/) - marketplaces, brand trust, onboarding

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.