up-sell

verb

1. to attempt to sell a customer (additional or more expensive goods or services)

Derived Forms

• ˈup-ˌselling, noun

Example Sentences

So the only way to survive is to monopolize more of the market and up-sell subscribers just as Comcast-Time Warner Cable will do.

From The Daily Beast

Dispose of all under-sized squabs, and when the birds have grown up sell all those which prove inferior.

From Project Gutenberg

More About Up Sell

What does up-sell mean?

To up-sell is to try to persuade a customer to buy things in addition to or that are more expensive than what they originally intended to buy, as in The salesman tried to up-sell me on a deluxe package even though I told him I just wanted something basic. 

Up-sell is a marketing term used to describe a way of increasing sales by persuading the customer to buy more than one item or to buy a more expensive item instead.

The term sometimes is sometimes used in the context of a seller who is pushy or aggressive, or when the item being offered is unnecessary or simply not what the customer wants, as in Please don’t try to up-sell me—I really only need the one. 

The noun up-selling refers to the act of someone attempting to up-sell, as in I try to avoid salespeople due to their constant up-selling. 

Example: All I wanted was a small drink, but the cashier kept trying to up-sell me on a larger drink and a tub of popcorn.

Where does up-sell come from?

The first records of the term up-sell come from around the 1950s. The word sell commonly means “to offer for sale,” but up-sell uses the more active sense of the word—”to try to persuade to buy.” The word up indicates that this kind of selling is being done with the goal of leveling up the purchase—having the customer pay more for something additional or better.

Up-sell is used much more positively by sellers or salespeople than it is by customers. Many companies train their salespeople to up-sell, and many retail websites are designed to automatically up-sell during the purchase process. But customers often prefer to simply buy what they want to buy and be done with it.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to up-sell?

• up-sold (past tense verb)
• up-selling (continuous tense verb, noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with up-sell? 

 

• up
• sell
• hard sell

What are some words that often get used in discussing up-sell?

• sales
• salesperson
• more
• money
• price
• expensive
• pushy 
• aggressive
• increase

What are some words up-sell may be commonly confused with?

• cross-sell

How is up-sell used in real life?

Up-sell is typically used in the context of business and retail transactions. Customers are more likely to use the term in a negative way than salespeople.

I needed LinkedIn for something specific, so I logged in after years of not using it. BIG MISTAKE. So many emails. “Oh good, you’re back! HOORAY! How can we up-sell you with something?”

— Gayla Trail (@yougrowgirl) September 16, 2020

Just got a phone call: Grandmother called Google HQ because her default homepage changed. They tried to up-sell her $110 tech support.

— Zane Simon (@TheZaneSimon) August 10, 2015

Today someone successfully up-sold me the extra-large takeaway pasta by saying: “Small? Are you sure? You look hungry.”

She just GETS me.

— Matty DT (@mattydt) July 5, 2018

 

 

Try using up-sell!

True or False?

A salesperson who up-sells a customer is trying to get them to spend more money.