Up-selling (sometimes “up-selling”) is a sales technique whereby a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale. Up-selling usually involves marketing more profitable services or products but can also be simply exposing the customer to other options that were perhaps not considered previously. Up-selling implies selling something that is more profitable or otherwise preferable for the seller instead of, or in addition to,[1] the original sale. A different technique is cross-selling in which a seller tries to sell something else. In practice, large businesses usually combine up-selling and cross-selling techniques to enhance the value that the client or clients get from the organization in addition to maximizing the profit that the business gets from the client. In doing so, the organization must ensure that the relationship with the client is not disrupted. In a restaurant and other similar settings, up-selling is commonplace and an accepted form of business. In other businesses, such as car sales, the customer’s perception of the attempted up-sell can be viewed negatively and thereby affect the desired result.
