Replacement upsells

Replacement Upsell lets you swap a one-time product in the customer’s order for another product on the post-purchase page. The replacement product can be a subscription or a one-time purchase. The original line item is refunded, and the replacement line item is added to the order.

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Which feature do you need?

Three subscription-adjacent post-purchase features do three different jobs. Use this flow to pick the right one.

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Before you build

A Replacement Upsell only fires when a few conditions are met.

• The item you’re replacing must be a one-time purchase. To change an existing subscription, use Subscription Upgrade instead.
• The feature must be enabled on your account by support (it is in Beta).
• The same post-purchase limitations apply. Since Replacement upsells are post-purchase upsells, the Shopify limitations for post-purchase upsells still apply.
• Set up a downsell as a fallback. Whenever a replacement is skipped, Aftersell tries to show the funnel’s downsell instead, so the shopper still gets an offer.

For exactly which scenarios are supported or blocked, and why, see the Replacement upsells reference.

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Creating a Replacement Upsell offer

To create a Replacement Upsell:

1. In your Aftersell dashboard, go to Post-purchase funnels.
2. Open an existing funnel or click Add Funnel.
3. Add an upsell offer and configure it using the steps below.

A Replacement Upsell has three product selections that must line up for the replacement to fire:

• Funnel trigger (funnel level) determines which orders see the offer.
• Upsell product (the offer’s Upsell Products section) is what gets added when the customer accepts.
• Product to replace (inside Replace item in original order with upsell) is the exact product and variant that gets refunded and removed.

If the Product to replace does not match the variant the customer actually purchased, Aftersell cannot find a line item to remove and the replacement silently does not fire.

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Step 1: Configure the funnel trigger

• Product trigger. Set to the one-time product you want to replace. Without this, the offer can fire on unrelated orders.
• Subscription trigger. Set to do not include a subscription, so the offer only shows to orders that do not already contain a subscription.

All enabled triggers use AND logic: every condition must be met.

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Step 2: Pick the upsell product

1. Click Add Upsell and search for the product the customer should receive instead.
2. If the replacement is a subscription, select Subscription only as the purchase option and pick the selling plan.
3. If the replacement is a one-time purchase, select One-time purchase only.
4. For a variant or quantity swap of the same product, pick the same product and adjust the variant or quantity controls.

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Step 3: Enable Replacement Upsell

In the offer’s advanced settings, enable Replace item in original order with upsell. This is the toggle that turns a standard upsell into a Replacement Upsell. With it enabled, you can also configure:

• Allow replacement when target has a discount. Off by default, which skips orders where the trigger line carries an order-level discount. Turn it on to let the replacement fire anyway (see Discount handling).
• Override quantity. Set a specific quantity for the replacement line, useful when swapping a single unit for a multi-pack.
• Refund shipping fee. When on, the replacement refund also returns the shipping the customer paid at checkout. The shipping refund is included in the same refund as the replaced item, and the order’s shipping line shows as refunded in Shopify. Off by default. When this is on, the offer’s Shipping adjustment line shows “Shipping fee refunded” instead of $0.00.

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Step 4: Set the product to replace

Click Edit product to replace and pick the exact product and variant that should be removed when the offer is accepted. This must match what the customer actually has in their cart. For variant swaps of the same product (Small → Large), point Product to replace at the Small variant specifically. If you point it at Large or any variant the customer did not buy, the offer skips with no error.

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Step 5: Add an optional discount

If the replacement is a subscription, you can apply a first-cycle discount to make the offer more attractive. It applies to the first billing cycle of the new subscription; future renewals charge at the regular subscription price. For one-time replacements, the discount applies to the one-time charge on this order.

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Step 6: Customize the offer copy

Make the refund-and-replace mechanic explicit in the copy:

• Title: clearly describe the swap (for example, “Upgrade to the 3-pack and save”).
• Description: explain that the original is refunded and the replacement is charged.
• Accept button: defaults to the net price; customize to “Switch to subscription” or “Upgrade my order” if you want a verb-based CTA.

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Testing a Replacement Upsell

Before going live:

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Worked examples

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Scenario 1: One-time Coffee purchase to a monthly Coffee subscription

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Scenario 2: Single Coffee to 3-pack Coffee

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How Replacement Upsell works

For the full mechanics behind the feature, see the Replacement upsells reference:

• How a replacement is processed (the refund-and-replace changeset).
• Supported and blocked scenarios.
• What the customer sees and Payment method requirements.
• Discount handling and Per-variant funnels.
• The Beta failsafe and Troubleshooting.