"Give Up" has been considered a sleeper hit—its reaction was initially muted, but grew steadily via word-of-mouth in the following years. The LP arrived with virtually no promotion; besides the ensuing tour, there was "little mainstream press, and airplay confined to college stations and public radio." In its first four months of release, it moved between 2,000 and 3,000 units per week. During the week of Christmas in 2003, the LP had its overall best sales, selling 9,000 copies in a week. Through their relationship with the Alternative Distribution Alliance, Sub Pop began to carry the album at larger retailers, such as Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, and Best Buy. Megan Jasper, then the general manager at the label, estimated that Best Buy moved the most product of the three. "Billboard" Michael Paolettta broke down that sixty percent of its sales at that time came from retail chains, thirty percent through independent record shops, and the remaining ten percent from "mass merchants and nontraditional sellers."