An order bump is a small, relevant add-on shown at checkout — before the buyer completes their purchase. One checkbox, one click, and your average order value goes up. Here's how they work for course creators, what to offer, and an honest look at which platforms support them.
I'm Abe Crystal, PhD — founder of Ruzuku. I'll be straightforward about something upfront: order bumps are one of the features we hear about from creators comparing platforms, and it's a feature Ruzuku doesn't currently offer in the traditional sense. We support upsell offers after purchase, but not pre-checkout order bumps. I'm writing this guide because I think you deserve honest information about how order bumps work — including whether they're the right focus for your business right now.
What exactly is an order bump?
An order bump is a low-friction add-on offer displayed on the checkout page while a buyer is entering their payment information. It appears as a checkbox — usually with a brief description and a price — that the buyer can check to add the item to their order. No separate checkout, no additional payment entry. The buyer is already committed to purchasing; the bump just gives them one more thing to consider.
The concept comes from e-commerce (think "add gift wrapping for $5" at checkout) but has been adopted by course creators and digital product sellers. The psychology is simple: the buyer has already decided to spend money and is actively entering payment details. Adding a $37 workbook to a $297 course purchase feels like a small, obvious decision.
How are order bumps different from upsells?
The distinction matters because they work differently and convert at different rates:
Order bumps: pre-purchase, low-priced, high conversion. Shown on the checkout page before the buyer clicks "buy." Typically priced at 10-30% of the main product. Acceptance rates range from 20-40% because the decision is low-stakes and the buyer is already in purchasing mode. The buyer adds it with a single checkbox — no new decision process required.
Upsells: post-purchase, can be higher-priced, lower conversion. Shown on the thank-you page or in a follow-up email after the initial purchase is complete. Can be 50-100% of the original purchase price or higher — a $497 coaching upgrade after a $297 course, for example. Conversion rates are typically 5-15%, lower than order bumps but on a higher price point. The buyer has to make a new decision after they've already committed.
Cross-sells: related products, any stage. Recommending related courses or products — "Students who bought this also bought..." — either during checkout, after purchase, or via email. Cross-sells work well for creators with multiple courses because they help students discover relevant offerings they didn't know existed.
What should you offer as an order bump?
The best order bumps pass two tests: they're obviously relevant to the main course, and they're priced low enough that adding them doesn't require deliberation. Here are specific options that work for course creators:
Workbooks and templates ($17-47). A printable workbook that accompanies your course lessons, or a set of templates the student can customize. If your course teaches email marketing, the bump might be 20 proven email templates. If you teach yoga, it might be a printed pose reference guide. These work because they enhance the course experience in an obvious, tangible way.
Bonus mini-modules ($27-67). A short, focused module on a related topic that doesn't fit in the main course. A course on photography basics might offer a bump on "Phone Photography Quick Start" — related, useful, but not essential. Keep these short (30-60 minutes of content) so they feel like a bonus, not a second course.
Resource bundles ($27-47). Curated collections of checklists, swipe files, cheat sheets, and reference materials. These appeal to students who want everything organized in one place. A course on launching a podcast might bundle a guest outreach template, equipment comparison chart, and episode planning worksheet.
Community or coaching access ($17-37/month). Access to a private discussion group, monthly Q&A call, or peer accountability pods. This can be structured as a recurring add-on. It's effective because students who are committing to a course are precisely the ones who benefit most from community support — and our data shows that community dramatically improves completion.
Extended access or lifetime updates ($27-67). If your course has a time-limited enrollment window, the bump might extend access from 6 months to lifetime. Or it guarantees free access to all future updates of the course content.
What kind of revenue impact can you expect?
Let me walk through realistic numbers rather than best-case scenarios.
Say you sell a $297 course and add a $47 workbook as an order bump. If 30% of buyers accept the bump — a reasonable middle estimate — your average order value increases from $297 to $311.10. That's an extra $14.10 per sale.
Over 100 sales, that's $1,410 in additional revenue from a product you created once. Over 500 sales, it's $7,050. The effort-to-revenue ratio is excellent because the workbook creation is a one-time investment that generates revenue on every sale.
A more aggressive bump — say a $67 bonus module with a 25% acceptance rate — adds $16.75 per sale, or $8,375 over 500 sales.
These aren't life-changing numbers on their own. But they compound: a course with an order bump, a post-purchase upsell, and a well-timed email cross-sell can increase total customer value by 25-40% over the first 30 days.
Which course platforms support order bumps?
This is where I need to be straightforward, because platform capabilities vary significantly:
Platforms with native order bumps: ThriveCart (a dedicated cart platform, not a course platform), Kajabi, and ClickFunnels all support true checkout-page order bumps. Kajabi's implementation is the most seamless for course creators because it's built into the course platform itself.
Platforms with post-purchase upsells: Teachable, Podia, and Ruzuku support upsell offers after purchase but not pre-checkout bumps. On Ruzuku, you can offer related courses, coaching upgrades, or resource bundles to students who've just enrolled.
The hybrid approach: Some creators pair a course platform they love with a dedicated cart tool like ThriveCart for the checkout experience. You build and deliver your course on your preferred platform, but the actual purchase happens through ThriveCart's checkout page — which supports order bumps, upsells, and payment plans. This adds complexity, but gives you the best of both tools.
I've talked with creators who left platforms specifically for order bump functionality — Dani Fankhauser, for instance, mentioned this as a factor in her platform decision. It's a legitimate need for creators running high-volume sales funnels. But it's also worth asking whether order bumps are the right priority given where your business is today.
When order bumps matter (and when they don't)
Order bumps deliver meaningful ROI when you're selling at volume — at least 50-100+ course sales per launch or per month. At that scale, even a modest $15 increase in average order value adds up.
If you're selling 10-20 courses per launch, the total revenue impact from an order bump might be $150-300. That's not nothing, but your time would generate more revenue by improving your sales page, adding testimonials, or creating a better lead magnet.
The creators I see building sustainable six-figure businesses on Ruzuku typically focus on three things first: building a course-plus-coaching model that commands premium prices, creating genuine community engagement that drives completion and referrals, and developing a portfolio of courses that serve students at different stages. Order bumps are a fine optimization — after those foundations are solid.
Your next step
If you already have a course selling consistently, create one complementary asset — a workbook, template pack, or bonus module — and test it as an order bump or post-purchase upsell on your platform. Track the acceptance rate for 30 days and calculate the revenue impact before creating additional bumps.
If you're still building your course business, focus on the core offer first. A great course with no order bump will always outperform a mediocre course with a perfect sales funnel.
Ruzuku supports post-purchase upsells and makes it easy to offer related courses and coaching upgrades to your students — with zero transaction fees on every plan. Start free and build from there.