upfront fee
Payment before service
An upfront fee is money paid before a service begins or a transaction completes, as opposed to payments made during or after.
Loan applications, contractor deposits, and consulting engagements commonly require upfront fees: The lawyer charged a $500 upfront fee before taking the case.
In some contexts, upfront fees signal potential scams—legitimate lenders rarely demand payment before approving loans.
- advance paymentPayment made beforehand
- depositPlace for safekeeping
- retainerUpfront professional fee
- down paymentInitial sum toward purchase
- prepaymentPayment made beforehand
skin in the game · lump sum · commitment · closing costs · earnest money · sign-on · administrative charge · setup cost · out of pocket · one-time payment · pay to play · service charge · cover charge · kickback · invoice · escrow
upfront feeinstallments
Periodic partial payments
installment plan · payment plan · monthly payments · subscription fee · periodic payments
up, front, fee, fees, upfront, fronts, fronted, fronting, frontal