presale

1 of 2

adjective

pre·​sale ˌprē-ˈsāl 

variants or pre-sale

1

: done, existing, or occurring before a sale

a presale party/tour/exhibition

presale expectations

a presale disclosure

Sotheby's pre-sale estimate was $12,000-15,000, but early bidding indicated that the final sales price would go far higher.

—R. O. Blechman

2

: of, relating to, being, or involving a presale

She paid $30 to join the … fan club, which gives members access to presale tickets.

—Marco R. della Cava

presale orders for the book

bought a presale condo

presale

2 of 2

noun

variants or pre-sale

plural presales or pre-sales

: the sale of something before it is completed or available

… the first run of books is nearly sold out in presale on Amazon.

—Brooke Edwards

As stated earlier, a presale is literally a sale of your film to a particular territory before the film is made.

—Stacey Parks

… said most developers would now need a large number of presales to get bank backing.

—Susan Edmunds

Tickets go on sale to the general public May 14. Select presales begin May 7.

—Andrew Gans

Sources have told The Wall Street Journal that Apple has "sold hundreds of thousands" of iPads since the device went on presale March 12.

—Erica Ogg

Examples of presale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Mastercard cardholders have special access to presale tickets in France and Netherlands. —Jem Aswad, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025

Although Ticketmaster will be the official vendor for face-value sales, resale ticket sites like StubHub, Vivid Seats, and SeatGeek will be your next best bet once presale and general sale tickets sell out. —Jenzia Burgos, StyleCaster, 22 Sep. 2025

Noun

Smashing Machine, which was made for net $50M production cost, largely covered by foreign presales, hopes for a $9M-$10M opening at 3,000 theaters, down from its initial $20M projection. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025

There, fans can buy their favorite artist’s merchandise, grab an official fan club membership (about $4 a month), apply for presale concert tickets or check out a listening party. —Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 1 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1917, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1918, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for presale

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email