Upsell and Downsell Strategies for Online Courses

Outsell the Giants—Without Giant Effort with Learn iQ Education upsells and downsells

A plain-language guide to upsells & downsells (and how Learn iQ does the heavy lifting).

1. What on earth is an upsell?

Think of the last time you ordered a burger and the cashier asked,

“Want to make that a meal for just a little extra?”

That extra offer is an upsell.

Goal: Raise the value of each sale by adding something that makes the main purchase even better.

Why it works: The customer is already in “buy” mode—one small “yes” feels easy.

2. And a downsell?

Imagine you hesitated on the combo, and the cashier replied,

“No worries—how about adding only the fries for half the price?”

That fallback offer is a downsell.

Goal: Rescue sales that might otherwise vanish by offering a smaller, lower-priced option.