What is Upsell?
Definition
A sales technique where a subscription service encourages existing users to upgrade to a higher-priced plan with more features.
Understanding Upsell
Upselling is how subscription services increase ARPU. Common upsell tactics include feature gates (showing locked premium features), usage limits (storage full, upgrade for more), time-limited discounts on upgrades, and in-app prompts during high-engagement moments. Well-executed upsells align with genuine user needs — Dropbox showing you're at 90% storage capacity is a natural upsell.
Manipulative upsells use dark patterns or artificial limitations. As a consumer, evaluate upsell offers critically: do you genuinely need the additional features, or is the current plan sufficient?.
Related Terms
Tiered Pricing
A pricing strategy where a service offers multiple plan levels with different feature sets and price points to serve different customer segments.
Freemium
A pricing model that offers basic features for free while charging for premium features, storage, or usage beyond free tier limits.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of users who upgrade from a free plan or trial to a paid subscription.
ARPU
Average Revenue Per User — the average monthly or annual revenue generated per subscriber, calculated by dividing total revenue by total subscribers.