WordVale
noun

upselling

/ˈʌpselɪŋ/  ·  say it: UP·sel·ing

persuading a customer to buy a more expensive option

In Business & Marketing

In more detail

1. (noun) the practice of persuading a customer to buy a more expensive or higher-quality product instead of the one they originally wanted

2. (verb) to try to sell someone a more expensive or better product than what they asked for

Examples

How to use upselling

Upselling is a commercial or sales term describing the persuasion strategy of encouraging customers to purchase more expensive, premium, or higher-value items. It is commonly used in retail, hospitality, and service industries. Unlike cross-selling (offering related products), upselling specifically targets a better or pricier version of what the customer already wants.

Common phrases

Synonyms

cross-selling · trading up · upgrade selling · hard sell

Word family

upsell (verb/noun) · upseller (noun)

A common mistake

Learners sometimes confuse upselling with cross-selling; upselling promotes a superior or more expensive version of the same product, while cross-selling suggests complementary products.

Learn it for good

Save this word in WordVale and it comes back for review right before you'd forget it — with pronunciation, real examples, and optional translations. One purchase, no subscription.

Get WordValeFREE 7-DAY TRIAL · iPHONE & iPAD

Nearby in Business & Marketing

Keep going