History Main / AccidentalBargainingSkills

* Creator/TerryPratchett's reaction to the first offer for his manuscript of ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'' led to his agent going back to the publisher and telling them Pratchett wanted a larger advance, which they quickly extended. In fact he was so blown away by the initial sum that he didn't know what to say other than, "Oh."

* This was part of what caused negotiations to break down the first time Creator/{{Disney}} tried to buy Franchise/TheMuppets. They thought Creator/JimHenson's insistance that the ''Series/SesameStreet'' characters weren't included in the deal was some kind of negotiating tactic, rather than a sincerely held belief, and kept trying to work out what he ''really'' wanted for them.

* In ''Series/TheOddCouple1970'', Felix tries to give away an extra ticket, but the woman believes he's trying to sell it to her and offers him money. His stunned silence is interpreted as "holding out for more".

* In ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'', Felix tries to give away an extra ticket, but the woman believes he's trying to sell it to her and offers him money. His stunned silence is interpreted as "holding out for more".

'''Collector for the Poor #1:''' Oh, thank you, Mr. Scrooge! Thank you! And a *merry* Christmas to you!

* Creator/TerryPratchett's reaction to the first offer for his manuscript of Literature/TheColorOfMagic led to his agent going back to the publisher and telling them Pratchett wanted a larger advance, which they quickly extended. In fact he was so blown away by the initial sum that he didn't know what to say other than, "Oh."

* In ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', the first ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'' novel, the innkeeper of the Broken Drum tries to explain to tourist Twoflower that a room will be three coins a night by holding up three fingers to overcome the language barrier. Twoflower nods...and hands the flabbergasted man three ''rhinu'', solid gold coins that weigh over an ounce each and are worth more than the whole establishment. He comes from a culture where WorthlessYellowRocks is in effect.

-->-- ''Disney/MickeysChristmasCarol''

* In {{Discworld/The Colour Of Magic}}, the first {{Literature/Discworld}} novel, the innkeeper of the Broken Drum tries to explain to tourist Twoflower that a room will be three coins a night by holding up three fingers to overcome the language barrier. Twoflower nods...and hands the flabbergasted man three ''rhinu'', solid gold coins that weigh over an ounce each and are worth more than the whole establishment. He comes from a culture where WorthlessYellowRocks is in effect.
* ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': The Staryk [[TheFairFolk Fair Folk]] are ardent {{Debt Detester}}s, so a badly wounded Staryk refuses help until Sergey names his price for [[IOweYouMyLife saving his life]]. An increasingly confused Sergey demands one major favour after another until the Staryk accepts and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality compliments him]] on driving a hard bargain.

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->'''Scrooge:''' Good morning, gentlemen. I've something for ya.
->''[Puts a bag of coins on the second collector's head]''
->'''Collector for the Poor #1:''' Twenty gold sovereigns! Oh, no!
->'''Scrooge:''' Not enough? Here.
->''[Puts another bag on the collector's pants]''
->'''Scrooge:''' Fifty gold sovereigns!
->'''Collector for the Poor #2:''' Really, Mister Scrooge. It's...
->'''Scrooge:''' Still not enough! You drive a hard bargain. Here you are.
->''[Throws several bags at the collectors]''
->'''Scrooge:''' One hundred gold pieces, and not a penny more!
->'''Collector for the Poor #1:''' Oh, thank you, Mr. Scrooge! Thank you! And a *merry* Christmas to you!
-->''Disney/MickeysChristmasCarol''

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* Happens in the Literature/ErastFandorin novella ''The Jack of Spades'', where Fandorin tries to convince his future protege Tulipov to leave his old job and work for him full-time by making him increasingly generous employment offers--all the while Tulipov is at a loss for words because he's [[AscendedFanboy so flabbergasted by the very perspective of becoming Fandorin's assistant]].

* There was an episode of the sitcom ''Mixology'' where a man who mistakes one of the main girls for a prostitute, proposes she allow him to take her to Paris for $1,000,000. Her disbelief causes him to think that's too cheap, so he offers her next $2,000,000. She explains she's not a prostitute and he asks if she'd still like to go to Paris. She won't go for free.

* In ''ToyStory 2'', Al sees the Woody toy at the yard sale and tries to haggle with Andy's mom for it. Mom points out that Woody is not for sale, and only wound up in the yard sale by accident. Al thinks that she must be an expert haggler, and starts offering more money. He does eventually get the hint that Woody really ''isn't'' for sale--so he steals him.

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->'''[Puts a bag of coins on the second collector's head]''

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' has Grandpa Lou doing this in reverse as a RunningGag; he's so enthusiastic with his sales patter (and ignorant of inflation) that he keeps lowering the price of what he's selling (which is unfortunate, since the babies are "helpfully" moving ''everything'' outside).

A character is offered a deal and his reaction is mistaken for an attempt to drive the price up. A common form is a character reacting with disbelief that something of his can't possibly worth that much money. The other party misinterprets this and responds by offering even more.

Variations might include an escalation with several increasingly higher bids and revelations about the conditions (30? thirty-thousand of course! Dollars? No, Euro! X dollar as month? No, an hour!) It commonly concludes with the someone uttering the phrase "You drive a hard bargain" when nothing of that sort was intentionally done by the character.

* In the film ''Edison the Man'' Thomas Edison [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO2BTCy2pY8 sells his patent]] for the stock ticker to a couple of Wall Street Fat Cats. Initially they offer $20,000 and, as Edison gets more and more flustered at the prices offered, they up the offer to 30 and then $40,000. After the sale, one of the Fat Cats smugly tells Edison that they were prepared to go all the way to $60,000. Edison tells them that coming in he was prepared to accept $2,000.

* There was an episode of the sitcom ''Mixology'' where a man who mistakes one of the main girls for a prostitute proposes she allow him to take her to Paris for $1,000,000. Her disbelief causes him to think that's too cheap, so he offers her next $2,000,000. She explains she's not a prostitute and he asks if she'd still like to go to Paris. She won't go for free.
* In ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'', Felix tries to give away an extra ticket, only for the woman to believe he's trying to sell it to her and offer him money. His stunned silence is interpreted as "holding out for more".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode where Peter learns he's black and that his father-in-laws family owned his ancestor as a slave, Carter offers to pay him restitution money, and when Peter is surprised, Carter ups the price.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'', Leonardo Leonardo bribes Dante to forget their [[NoodleIncident unspecified indiscretions]] the previous night by offering him a position coaching a Little League team. Dante pauses a moment, clearly pleased and flattered by the offer, but Leonardo mistakes his hesitation for reluctance and reaches for his checkbook, saying, "Fine, would a million dollars change your--" before Dante, oblivious, accepts.