In this edition
[INSIGHT] The psychology behind selling time
[CASE] From street kiosks to fast-track lanes
[CASE] How Starbucks turns friction into margin
[TACTIC] Real examples of “Sell Time” upsells for ecom and services
[TACTIC] “Bundle by Behavior” models for creators and tools
This summer in San Francisco, I stopped by a small ice cream kiosk with a long line under the sun. Next to the counter, a handwritten sign said: “Skip the line — buy 1kg of ice cream.” No app, no loyalty program, just clean business logic. They weren’t selling more ice cream; they were selling time. The longer the line, the stronger the upsell.
What looked like a street hack was actually a pricing lesson in human impatience. The kiosk turned waiting into leverage, transforming a queue into a conversion engine. It’s a reminder that founders don’t always need to add new features to grow revenue. Sometimes the winning play is removing friction and letting people pay to move faster.
[INSIGHT] Pain-to-Gain Conversion: The Logic of Selling Time
Traditional upsells add something — more features, larger portions, extra perks. But the smartest upsells remove pain instead: less waiting, less friction, less uncertainty. The kiosk didn’t sell an extra product; it sold control over time. That same principle drives the economics of priority lanes, fast support, and same-day delivery. The key isn’t penalizing those who don’t pay, it’s rewarding those who do with a feeling of speed, control, and progress. Once time becomes a variable, you can price the desire to skip.
[CASE] From Street Kiosk to Fast Track: How Businesses Monetize Impatience
Whether it’s a €3 fast-track at the airport or a €10 VIP entry at a concert, people pay to remove delay. For budget airlines, this is core strategy — but it’s now mainstream in hospitality, events, and digital platforms. Each case relies on the same principle: time has elastic value. Someone late for a flight values 10 minutes differently than someone on vacation. When you anchor pricing to urgency, the upsell becomes self-targeting — the customer with the highest time pressure identifies themselves and upgrades without persuasion.
[CASE] Starbucks Pre-Order: The Invisible Upsell Hidden in Convenience
Starbucks doesn’t advertise it as an upsell, yet mobile pre-orders consistently increase average order value. Without the pressure of a queue, people spend more time browsing, adding extras, or upgrading sizes. The app doesn’t sell a coffee; it sells freedom from waiting. Internal data shows that mobile orders lift AOV even when volume is flat, because digital ordering removes friction that normally caps spending. The insight: in consumer behavior, convenience multiplies margin.
[TACTIC] Sell Time: Playbook for Founders and Small Operators
• Rush Processing for makers: many Etsy sellers offer a “Rush / Skip the line” add-on that moves your order to the front of the queue. It’s operationally simple and adds urgency-based revenue in 24 hours.
• Priority Fulfillment for Shopify stores: add a small “Priority Processing” fee at checkout through plug-ins. It’s low lift but drives higher AOV and segments customers by urgency.
• Priority Delivery for local marketplaces: mirror Uber Eats’ “Priority Delivery” option, which lets users pay a transparent fee for faster dispatch. You’re not speeding the driver — you’re selling control.
[TACTIC] Bundle by Behavior: Digital Models that Reward Early Movers
• Early Access as an upsell: on Substack or Patreon, early access is the cleanest “skip the line” format — sustainable and natively supported for content drops or templates.
• Sponsorware / Insiders for indie tools: GitHub Sponsors often use this to offer “early access to insiders” before public launch, monetizing exclusivity.
• Priority Booking for consultants: use routing forms or Calendly workflows to route top leads to faster slots. The upsell is speed of engagement, not added hours.