Sale Reversals & Theme Piracy – Huge Losses for Authors!

Envato Authors Theme Authors
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Hello fellow authors,

I want to highlight a serious issue that is affecting many of us on ThemeForest.

Some buyers purchase a theme, request a sale reversal or chargeback, and keep the theme for free. In many cases, these buyers null the theme and then resell or distribute it on piracy websites. Despite the sale reversal, they still have access to the product, and Envato does not restrict their downloads.

The Financial Impact on Authors

  • Example: A $59 WordPress theme.
  • If just 10 fraudulent buyers do this per month, that’s $590 lost immediately.
  • Over a year, that’s $7,080 lost from just 10 cases per month.
  • Many authors report 50+ chargebacks annually, meaning $15,000+ in lost sales for some.
  • Meanwhile, these fraudsters resell nulled versions, profiting from stolen work.

How This Hurts the Marketplace

  • Legitimate buyers might unknowingly download pirated versions and face security risks.
  • Nulled versions reduce sales, as people start downloading illegally instead of purchasing.
  • Support costs increase, as some users of nulled themes ask for help.
  • Envato also loses revenue, yet sale reversals continue to happen.

This issue affects all authors, and it’s becoming worse over time. I would like to ask how other authors are dealing with this problem and what solutions could be implemented. Should Envato take stricter action against fraudulent buyers?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences. Let’s discuss.

4 Likes
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Are you a new author? This has been an issue since the beginning of the time and there has been lots of posts/threads about the same issue.

https://forums.envato.com/search?q=Sale%20Reversals%20order%3Alatest

As there’s no solution. You will get used to it.

2 Likes
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Good news — I’ve finally found a solution! I discovered a method to redirect all traffic from nulled/cracked versions to our official theme, significantly increasing the chances of users upgrading to the original.

My logic is simple — if we can’t completely stop sales reversals and piracy, then we should find a way to turn them to our advantage.

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And what is the solution?

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Unfortunately, I can’t share the full details publicly, but I can offer some hints.

First, study how nullers operate—their typical flow involves downloading a theme, searching for a keygate mechanism, and attempting to bypass it to access demo content.

To counter this, update any outdated keygate patterns. Break the keygate logic into multiple segments and distribute them across several files to complicate reverse engineering.

Additionally, we can implement an “overlay” layer on the keygate system (details I can’t fully explain here). The idea is to intentionally make the bypass seem successful, giving nullers a false sense of victory. However, accessing demo data shouldn’t equate to theme activation. If the demo content loads but the theme isn’t legitimately activated, a server-side overlay script should trigger—this would block the frontend and display a remote notice. Add a slight delay to the block to further mislead attempts at debugging. (This can be done via a require plugin)

Alternative Solution 2: Use a demo importer based on systems like Elementor Template Kits. Regardless of whether someone nulls Elementor Pro, accessing the template library still requires a valid key.

Alternative Solution 3: Envato could introduce a more advanced keygate system with encrypted verification methods to strengthen protection.

In the end, I believe we, as developers, can collaboratively make significant progress against piracy.

1 Like
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You cannot add “keygate” to Envato items, it’s not allowed. I have followed that step, some buyers reported my item and I had to remove it.

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It seems you are talking about Envato Elements. Well yes you can’t have a keygate products on Envato Elements however you can definitely have keygate products on Envato themeforest.

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https://help.author.envato.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000481263-WordPress-Theme-Requirements-Part-1-General

  • Only the following features can be put behind a keygate:
    • An update mechanism (Market and Elements)
    • Importing demo content (Market only)
    • Installing bundled plugins (Market only)
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Yes this is why the front end of the website is not behind a keygate. But if keygate is bypassed it blocks the front end.