upfront costs
Money paid first
Upfront costs are expenses paid at the beginning of a transaction or project, before receiving goods, services, or benefits.
The term emphasizes timing—these costs come first, often as a barrier to entry: The upfront costs of solar panels are high, but you save money over time.
Contrast with ongoing costs, which recur, or hidden costs, which emerge later.
- down paymentInitial sum toward purchase
- depositPlace for safekeeping
- out-of-pocketPaid from personal funds
- out of pocketPaid from personal funds
- lump sumEntire amount at once
initial investment · entry fee · sticker price · sticker shock · buy-in · pay to play · skin in the game · cash on the barrelhead · setup fees · activation fee · prepayment · earnest money · retainer · advance · overhead · barrier to entry · commitment · risk
- pricingpricing, discount price, overpricing, discounts, overcharge
upfront costsmonthly installments
subscription fees · installment payments · periodic payments · payment plans · financing
front, cost, costs, costing, costly, costliness, frontal, frontage, fronted