The verb vendre is the most direct and common way to say 'to sell' in French, and it's probably the first one you learned. But what if you want to talk about liquidating stock, clearing out old inventory, or marketing a new product? The French language, rich in nuance, offers a variety of verbs to express the specific context of a sale. Whether you're a business professional, a savvy shopper, or simply looking to expand your vocabulary, knowing these alternatives will make your French sound much more precise and natural. Let's dive into 9 different ways to talk about selling in French!

1. The Standard 'to sell' – vendre

The most common and direct way to say 'to sell' in French is with the verb vendre. It is the go-to verb for nearly all situations involving a sale.

Vendre is a regular -re verb. This is great news for learners because it follows a predictable conjugation pattern shared by many other common French verbs like attendre (to wait), répondre (to answer), and perdre (to lose).

To conjugate vendre in the present tense, you first drop the -re ending to find the stem, which is vend-. Then, you add the standard endings for regular -re verbs: -s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent.

Here is the full present tense conjugation for vendre:

• je vends - I sell
• tu vends - you sell (informal)
• il/elle/on vend - he/she/one sells
• nous vendons - we sell
• vous vendez - you sell (formal/plural)
• ils/elles vendent - they sell

You can use vendre for selling almost anything, from a single croissant in a bakery to a large asset like a house. It is versatile and appropriate in both formal and informal contexts.

A very important phrase derived from this verb is à vendre, which means 'for sale'. You will frequently see this on signs for real estate or used cars.

💡 * Je vends ma vieille voiture. (I am selling my old car.)

• La boulangerie vend du pain frais tous les jours. (The bakery sells fresh bread every day.)
• Ils ont vendu leur maison l'année dernière. (They sold their house last year.)
• Cette maison est à vendre depuis six mois. (This house has been for sale for six months.)
• Combien vendez-vous ces tomates ? (How much are you selling these tomatoes for?)

1. The 'to market' or 'to commercialize' – commercialiser

The verb for 'to market' or 'to commercialize' is commercialiser.

Commercialiser is the direct French equivalent of 'to commercialize.' It specifically refers to the entire process of bringing a product or service to the market, making it available for sale to the public.

This is a key verb in the world of business, marketing, and economics. You'll use commercialiser when discussing product launches, distribution channels, and sales strategies. It's a formal term appropriate for professional settings.

While you might use vendre (to sell) for a simple transaction, commercialiser encompasses the broader strategy: advertising, pricing, placing it in stores, and launching it. It's about making something a commercial product, not just selling one item.

Good news for learners: commercialiser is a regular -er verb, so its conjugation follows the standard, predictable pattern. For example: L'entreprise commercialise (The company markets/commercializes).

💡 * L'entreprise va commercialiser son nouveau produit en Europe l'année prochaine.

• Ce médicament a été commercialisé après des années de recherche.
• Il est difficile de commercialiser une idée sans un bon plan d'affaires.
• Ils ont décidé de ne pas commercialiser la version la moins chère du logiciel.

The 'to sell off' or 'to clear out' a stock – écouler

When you need a verb that means more than just 'to sell'—specifically 'to sell off,' 'clear out,' or 'liquidate' stock—the French verb écouler is the perfect choice.

In a commercial context, écouler describes the action of getting rid of merchandise, often implying a need to sell it quickly or to clear an entire inventory. It focuses on the movement and depletion of stock, unlike the more general verb vendre (to sell).

The verb's core meaning is related to 'flowing.' This helps to remember its business sense: you are making the stock 'flow' out of the warehouse. This literal meaning is also used for liquids (l'eau s'écoule - the water flows) and time (le temps s'écoule - time passes).

Good news for learners: écouler is a regular -er verb. It follows the standard conjugation pattern, making it straightforward to use in various tenses (e.g., j'écoule, nous avons écoulé, ils écouleront).

The reflexive form, s'écouler, is most common when talking about time or liquids passing. In a business context, it can be used to say that goods 'are selling well' or 'are being sold off,' putting the focus on the products themselves. For example: 'Les nouveaux modèles s'écoulent très vite.' (The new models are selling out very quickly.)

💡 * Le magasin doit écouler son stock d'hiver avant l'arrivée du printemps. (The store has to clear out its winter stock before spring arrives.)

• Ils ont écoulé tous les produits en promotion en une seule journée. (They sold off all the promotional products in a single day.)
• C'est difficile d'écouler cette marchandise sans une réduction de prix. (It's difficult to move this merchandise without a price reduction.)
• La société a réussi à écouler 50 000 unités de son nouveau gadget. (The company managed to sell off 50,000 units of its new gadget.)

The 'to liquidate' or 'to sell off' assets – liquider

The 'to liquidate' or 'to sell off' assets – liquider

The verb liquider primarily means 'to liquidate' or 'to sell off,' especially in a business or financial context. It refers to the action of converting assets into cash, often to close a business or pay off debts. Think of a 'liquidation sale'.

This term is frequently used in phrases like liquider une entreprise (to liquidate a company), liquider ses stocks (to sell off one's stock/inventory), or liquider une succession (to settle an estate). It implies a final, often urgent, sale.

In a much more informal and darker context, liquider can be used as slang for 'to get rid of,' 'to bump off,' or 'to kill' someone. This usage is common in crime films and novels, mirroring the English slang 'to liquidate an opponent'.

💡 * L'entreprise a été forcée de liquider ses actifs pour payer ses dettes.

• Le magasin liquide tout son stock à -70% avant fermeture.
• Il faut liquider cette affaire au plus vite.
• Dans le film, le tueur à gages a pour mission de liquider le témoin.

1. To Sell Cheap: Brader

The verb brader means 'to sell off cheap,' 'to sell at a giveaway price,' or 'to clear out.' It carries a stronger connotation than simply offering a discount; it implies selling something for far less than its value, often to get rid of it quickly.

You'll most often encounter brader in the context of clearance sales (liquidations), closing-down sales, or when a person needs to sell a personal item in a hurry. It's the perfect verb to describe a drastic price cut.

This verb is directly related to the noun une braderie, which is a large street market or flea market where people sell secondhand goods at very low prices. The Braderie de Lille is the most famous example in France.

Figuratively, brader can also mean 'to sell out' or 'to devalue' something intangible, such as principles, reputation, or heritage. For example, brader son héritage means to sell off one's heritage cheaply.

In short, use brader when the sale is drastic and the main goal is to get rid of the item. It's more intense than solder (to put on sale) and much more specific than vendre (to sell).

💡 * Le magasin brade tout son stock avant fermeture. (The store is selling off all its stock before closing.)

• J'ai dû brader ma vieille voiture pour m'en débarrasser. (I had to sell my old car cheap to get rid of it.)
• Ils bradent les modèles de l'an dernier à des prix incroyables. (They are selling off last year's models at incredible prices.)
• Il ne faut pas brader les services publics. (We must not sell off public services.)

The 'to transfer ownership' or 'to cede' – céder

The French verb céder translates to 'to cede,' 'to yield,' 'to give up,' or 'to transfer.' It carries the core idea of relinquishing something, whether it's an object, a position, or resistance, often due to pressure, a formal agreement, or a superior force.

In a formal, legal, or business context, céder is the precise term for transferring ownership of property, a company, or rights. For example, céder un bien immobilier means to formally hand over or sell a real estate property. It's more formal than donner (to give) or vendre (to sell).

Figuratively, céder is commonly used to mean 'to give in' to an emotion, temptation, or demand. You might hear phrases like céder à la pression (to yield to pressure) or céder à la colère (to give in to anger). In this sense, it means to stop resisting an internal or external force.

Céder can also describe a physical structure or object breaking or collapsing under stress. For instance, le pont a cédé sous le poids du camion means 'the bridge gave way under the truck's weight.' It implies a failure to withstand physical force.

💡 * Il a dû céder sa place dans le bus à une personne âgée. (He had to give up his seat on the bus to an elderly person.)

• L'entreprise a cédé ses parts à un concurrent. (The company sold/ceded its shares to a competitor.)
• Ne cède pas à la tentation de manger tout le gâteau ! (Don't give in to the temptation to eat the whole cake!)
• La digue risque de céder si la pluie continue. (The levee is at risk of breaking if the rain continues.)

The informal 'to flog' or 'to palm off' – refourguer

The verb refourguer is a colloquial and informal term used in French to describe the act of getting rid of something, typically by selling it. It often implies that the item is unwanted, of poor quality, or that the seller is eager to offload it quickly. It's the equivalent of the English slang 'to flog,' 'to palm off,' or 'to offload.'

Because of its informal and slightly negative connotation, refourguer is primarily used in casual conversation among friends or family. You wouldn't use it in a formal business context. It can be used for physical objects, like a car or a piece of furniture, but also for abstract things like an unwanted task or responsibility.

Grammatically, refourguer is a regular -er verb. This makes it easy to conjugate. It follows the same pattern as common verbs like parler (to speak). For example, in the present tense: je refourgue, tu refourgues, il/elle/on refourgue.

💡 * Il a essayé de me refourguer sa vieille voiture, mais je l'ai refusée. (He tried to palm off his old car on me, but I refused it.)

• J'ai réussi à refourguer mes vieux meubles sur un site de petites annonces. (I managed to flog my old furniture on a classifieds site.)
• Mon chef m'a refourgué le dossier dont personne ne voulait. (My boss offloaded the file that nobody wanted onto me.)

The 'to put up for sale' – mettre en vente

The phrase mettre en vente is the direct and most common French equivalent for "to put up for sale" or "to put on sale."

Literally translating to "to put in sale," this expression is used universally when an item, property, or service is officially offered for purchase to the public. It signifies the action of making something available to be bought.

To use this phrase, you conjugate the verb mettre (to put) according to the subject and tense, and then follow it with the object being sold and the fixed expression en vente. For example: Il met sa voiture en vente (He is putting his car up for sale).

You will encounter mettre en vente in various contexts, from real estate listings and online marketplaces to announcements for event tickets or new product launches. It is a standard term in both commercial and personal transactions.

💡 * Le propriétaire a mis son appartement en vente la semaine dernière.

• Les billets pour le festival seront mis en vente le 1er mars.
• Après des années de collection, il a décidé de mettre ses timbres en vente.
• La boutique met en vente sa nouvelle collection de printemps.

The 'to retail' or 'to sell in detail' – détailler

The French verb détailler most commonly means 'to detail,' 'to itemize,' or 'to explain in detail.' It stems from the noun détail (detail) and refers to the action of breaking down a larger concept or object into its smaller, constituent parts for clarity.

In a commercial context, détailler specifically means 'to sell retail' or 'to sell in small quantities.' This is the direct opposite of selling wholesale (vendre en gros). When a shopkeeper sells items one by one to customers, they are said to détailler their products.

The two meanings are logically linked. The act of selling retail involves breaking down a large shipment or stock (un gros) into individual items or 'details' for the consumer. Therefore, whether you are itemizing a list or selling individual products from a larger batch, the core idea is to break down a whole into parts.

As a regular -er verb, détailler is conjugated just like common verbs such as parler (to speak) or aimer (to love), making it relatively easy to use in different tenses.

💡 * Pouvez-vous me détailler le plan d'action ? (Can you detail the action plan for me?)

• Ce fromager détaille des produits exceptionnels. (This cheese seller retails exceptional products.)
• Elle a détaillé chaque dépense dans son rapport financier. (She itemized every expense in her financial report.)
• Nous n'avons pas le droit de détailler ces articles ; ils sont vendus en lot uniquement. (We are not allowed to sell these items retail; they are sold only as a set.)

Are there other ways to say 'to sell' in French?

So, are there other ways to say 'to sell' in French beyond the common verb vendre?

Our list covers the most frequent and useful verbs for 'to sell' in French. But the world of commerce is vast, and so is its vocabulary! You'll find other terms in specific industries, legal contexts, or even in casual slang.

To discover more specialized vocabulary, you can perform an online search for phrases like 'vocabulaire de la vente en français' (French sales vocabulary) or look up terms related to a specific field, such as real estate or retail.

Whenever you encounter a new synonym for vendre, like céder (to yield, to sell) or écouler (to sell off, get rid of), pay close attention to the context. This will help you understand the subtle differences in meaning and formality.

Immerse yourself in French business news, watch French shows about entrepreneurship, or browse French e-commerce sites. You'll naturally absorb the correct terminology and sound more like a native speaker.

For a deeper dive into the nuances of commercial language, online dictionaries like WordReference or Larousse are invaluable. The entry for vendre often includes idiomatic expressions and related terms that can enrich your vocabulary.

I hope this guide has helped you expand your commercial French. To close, here's a fitting thought from French writer Honoré de Balzac: 'Les affaires, c'est bien simple : c'est l'argent des autres.' (Business is very simple: it's other people's money.) Mastering these verbs is the first step to navigating that world in French!