upsell

1 of 2

verb

up·sell ˈəp-ˈsel

variants or up-sell

upsold ˈəp-ˈsōld

or up-sold; upselling or up-selling; upsells or up-sells

transitive verb

: to try to convince (a customer) to purchase something additional or at a higher cost

With a strong correlation between the amount of video consumed and the Internet speed that consumers think they need, providers could possibly upsell customers on costlier broadband packages.—

Makeda Easter

They start upselling you before you book your vacation by offering upgrades to a higher-class cabin …—

Christopher Elliott

upselling noun

or up-selling

Counter clerks, paid on commission, are typically instructed to pitch more expensive cars, a tank of gas, a damage waiver … It's called "up-selling" in the trade, and can account for as much as 20% of the revenue of some car-rental companies … —

Joni James

upsell

2 of 2

noun

plural upsells

: an attempt to convince a customer to purchase something additional or more costly : the act or an instance of upselling

We passed on the products they had used during the massage, which were for sale. Almost every activity, it would turn out, ended with a gentle upsell.—

Dan Saltzstein

I tend to avoid server upsells because I usually suspect they're trying to push a high margin or past-its-prime menu item.—

Michael Nagrant

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Also, be aware of any opportunities for your agent to upsell you during the buying process. —

Jim Slavik, Car and Driver, 4 Apr. 2023 The benefits of buying a company are easy to get excited about: New market segment, new customers to which to upsell the current product, new technology, etc. —

Bernard Fraenkel, Forbes, 12 Aug. 2022 In some cases, customers are required to call and speak with a representative, who will often try to talk them out of cancellation or try to upsell them something else. —

WIRED, 25 Mar. 2023 The airy, low-lying corporate home on lush country grounds is a most British of settings and can only help as the company attempts to upsell returning customers and visiting prospects bespoke hides, paint schemes, and more from its steamship-size list of pricey custom options. —

Jamie Kitman, Car and Driver, 31 Dec. 2022 The pairings can help servers upsell the product. —

Danielle Wiener-bronner, CNN, 12 Aug. 2021 Our sommelier did not try to upsell. —

Lettie Teague, WSJ, 23 June 2021 There's an opportunity to upsell passengers on an earlier flight. —

Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2023 The objective of releases and launches is to reward your most loyal fans or attract new customers with an exclusive item, which catalyzes to upsell and cross-sell other products. —

Frederick Daso, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2022

Noun

This may include customers with the most room to grow or most likely to purchase certain upsells or cross-sells. —

Mike Burton, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023 Many of us grin and bear the upsell in the name of travel must-haves like a change of clothes. —

Dawn Gilbertson, WSJ, 23 Nov. 2022 Timing is everything for a successful upsell. —

Square Contributor, Forbes, 3 June 2021 Its Simply Free tier includes student loan interest and education credits (which is an upsell for TurboTax, for example). —

Karl Klockars, PCMAG, 14 Apr. 2023 This includes driving feature adoption, coaching on business challenges, navigating renewals and upsells, and digging deep into customer data to identify new opportunities. —

Gary Drenik, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023 Is radio the upsell on podcasting for you? —

Nilay Patel, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2023 And thus began the upsell of the airline seat. —

Peter Greenberg, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2022 There are also premium garnishes for an upsell. —

Amy Drew Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, 20 May 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'upsell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.