intransitive verb
: to stock, promote the sale of, or purchase higher priced merchandise or property
a big opportunity to trade up into higher price lines … is seen by Buffalo housedress buyers — Women's Wear Daily
a certain percentage of the customers who come into a store … to buy the leader end by trading up and purchasing a higher-priced product — J.G.Lippincott
a homeowner who wants to move or trade up — Time
transitive verb
: to persuade (a customer) to purchase a higher-priced item
showing her the better garment … helps trade a good many of them up and out of the price bracket they had intended to stay within — Dry Goods Journal