What should your bump, upsell and downsell cost?
Short answer: price each offer from your main one. A tripwire at about 5% to 20% of its price, an order bump at 20% to 50%, an upsell at 1.5 to 3 times, and a downsell at 40% to 60% of the upsell it replaces. Enter your main price in the funnel pricing calculator below to see each range in dollars and a price to try. Every rule can be changed, and the reason for it sits next to it.
For a $97 offer, try a $17 tripwire, a $37 order bump, a $197 upsell and a $97 downsell.
Tripwire
An easy first yes for someone who hasn't bought from you yet. Small enough not to compete with the main offer.
Order bump
Decided in one tick while the card is out, so it has to be small next to the main product and clear in one sentence.
Upsell
The next step after they've bought, with a page of its own. It can cost more than the main offer because it does more.
Downsell
Shown only to buyers who turned the upsell down: a lighter version at a clearly lower price.
- The percentages are rules of thumb, not measured results. Change any of them.
- For take rates, our own funnels saw bumps taken by 41% and 27% of buyers and upsells by 2% to 9%: the real numbers.
How the prices are worked out
- Each offer's range = its base price × the two percentages you set. The base is your main offer for the tripwire, the bump and the upsell, and the suggested upsell price for the downsell.
- The price to try is the middle of the range, rounded to a price ending in 7 ($17, $37, $197, $997), a common convention. If rounding would take it out of the range, it's the middle rounded to the dollar.
- Nothing here predicts how many buyers say yes. To see what these prices would earn with your traffic, put them into the funnel ROI calculator.
What it assumes
- The starting percentages are rules of thumb, not measured results. Change them to fit your offers.
- A price in range doesn't rescue an extra that doesn't fit. Each offer has to make sense to the buyer who sees it, at that moment.
- Prices are in dollars, before tax.
Worked example
Your main offer is a $97 course.
Tripwire: $4.85 to $19.40, so try $17. A small first purchase, such as a short guide, that turns a follower into a buyer before they see the course.
Order bump: $19.40 to $48.50, so try $37. Templates or a workbook that go with the course, ticked beside the payment form.
Upsell: $145.50 to $291, so try $197. A bigger next step on the page after payment, such as a series of group calls.
Downsell: $78.80 to $118.20, worked out from the $197 upsell, so try $97. A lighter version of it, shown only to buyers who said no.
Swipefast is $49 a month with bumps, upsells, payment plans and affiliates included. Your AI can set it up for you.
Questions
How should I price an order bump?
Small next to the main product, and clear in one sentence. In our own funnels, both bumps sold for less than $50 on average and were taken by 41% and 27% of buyers. The calculator's starting range is 20% to 50% of the main price.
How much should an upsell cost?
More than what they just bought, because it's the next step rather than an extra: 1.5 to 3 times the main price is the starting rule here. Upsells are taken far less often than bumps, 2% to 9% in our funnels, so each one has to be worth a page of its own.
What is a downsell, and how should I price it?
An offer shown only to buyers who said no to the upsell: a lighter or smaller version of it. Price it clearly below the upsell, 40% to 60% of it here, so a no can still become a yes.
What is a tripwire?
A low-priced first offer whose job is to turn someone into a buyer. It comes before the main offer, so it should be a small fraction of it, 5% to 20% here, and lead naturally to it.
Can I set up this whole stack in Swipefast?
Yes, on Starter ($29 a month, 0% of your sales). The order bump sits beside the payment form. After payment you can chain up to 5 one-click offers, each with its own yes and no path, so a downsell can follow a no. A tripwire is simply a checkout of its own.