What is an order bump? How to pick one, price it, and make it pay for your ads
An order bump is one small add-on offered right before someone pays. Here's why it converts better than any other offer, how to choose and price it, where to put it, and how to tell if it's working.
An order bump is one small, related extra offered right before someone pays: "Add the workbook for $19?" with a single tick or click, in the same checkout. It's the highest-converting offer in most funnels, because the buyer has already decided to buy. You're not asking "do you want this?", you're asking "do you want this too?"
A good bump raises what every buyer spends without adding a single visitor. That's why it's often the thing that makes paid ads profitable: if the bump lifts the average order enough, an ad that broke even starts making money.
Why it works
Three reasons:
- The decision is already made. Saying yes to a small extra is easy once you've said yes to the main thing.
- There's no new form. One click, same card, same checkout.
- It's relevant right now. The workbook for the course they're about to buy is never more useful than at this moment.
On a live store running FunnelOnce's engine, 13 of the 27 people who were shown the bump said yes to it: about half. That's one small store, not a law of nature, but it shows the size of the effect when the bump fits.
How to pick the bump
A good bump passes three tests:
- Related. It makes the main product easier, faster or better. The workbook for the course. The templates for the guide. The audiobook for the book.
- Smaller. Roughly a third to half of the main price. A $19 add-on on a $49 course feels like a small yes. A $49 add-on on a $49 course is a second purchase decision.
- Instant. No explaining needed. If it takes a paragraph to describe, it's an upsell, not a bump. Save it for after payment. (One-click upsells explained.)
Good bumps by type:
| Main product | Bump |
|---|---|
| Video course | Workbook, templates, slides |
| PDF guide | The spreadsheet or checklist version |
| Template pack | A video walkthrough of using them |
| Coaching package | A recorded intro session, a planning template |
| Membership | A starter kit, a one-off resource pack |
| Book | Audiobook, a bonus chapter, the companion workbook |
How to price it
Start at a third to half of the main price, then test.
- Too cheap and it doesn't move the average order.
- Too expensive and fewer people take it, and some hesitate on the whole purchase.
The number to optimise is revenue per buyer, not the take rate. A $29 bump taken by 30% of buyers ($8.70 per buyer) beats a $12 bump taken by 50% ($6 per buyer). Test two prices against each other and look at revenue per buyer after a few dozen orders.
Where to put it
In the checkout, before the card form. Not on the sales page, where it's one more thing to decide. Not after payment, where it becomes an upsell.
In FunnelOnce the bump shows in the payment window when someone clicks buy: the picture, one line about what it adds, the price, and two buttons: "Yes, add it" and "No thanks, continue to checkout". Both buttons are clear and the same size. Then the card form. If there's no on-page payment window, the bump still shows in the window before the redirect to Stripe.
Bumps and bundles
If you sell several products, a bundle and a bump can work together: someone buying one guide gets offered the second at the bump price, and if their cart ends up holding everything in a bundle, the engine charges the bundle price instead. Nobody pays more than the bundle by adding items one by one.
How to tell if it's working
Watch three numbers:
- Shown: how many buyers saw the bump.
- Taken: how many added it.
- Revenue per buyer: total bump revenue divided by buyers who saw it.
FunnelOnce's admin shows the bump like any other offer, with how many saw it and how many took it, from its built-in stats. If the take rate is under about one in five, the bump probably isn't related enough or is priced too high. Change one thing, wait for a few dozen orders, and compare.
Making ads pay
Here's the maths that makes bumps matter for paid traffic. Say:
- your course is $49;
- an ad brings a buyer for $45 (break-even, before fees);
- a $19 bump is taken by 40% of buyers, adding $7.60 per buyer on average.
Now each ad-driven buyer is worth $56.60, not $49, and the ad is profitable. Add a one-click upsell after payment and the gap widens. The ad didn't get better. The funnel did.
FAQ
What is an order bump?
A small, related add-on offered in the checkout, right before payment, that the buyer can add with one click. For example, a $19 workbook offered with a $49 course.
What's the difference between an order bump and an upsell?
An order bump is offered before payment, in the checkout. An upsell is offered after payment, on its own page, and is usually bigger. A bump should be instant to understand; an upsell can take a paragraph.
How much should an order bump cost?
Start at a third to half of the main product's price and test. Judge it by revenue per buyer, not by how many people take it.
Where should the order bump go?
In the checkout, just before the card form. FunnelOnce shows it in the payment window as soon as someone clicks buy.
