Tropes about when characters make deals.
For less mercantile agreements, compare its sister Promises and Vows Index. See also Gambling Tropes, Money Tropes, and the Indebted Index.
Tropes
- Absurdly High-Stakes Game
- Accidental Bargaining Skills
- Accidental Bid
- Auction
- Auction of Evil
- Baby as Payment: A baby is used as part of a deal.
- Bachelor Auction
- Bargain with Heaven: Getting what you desire by making a deal with God or some other divine being.
- "Begone" Bribe
- The Bet
- Black Market
- Chain of Deals: Someone has to make deals with a whole bunch of people in order to get what they want.
- Chess with Death: Playing a game with The Grim Reaper so that you get to live a little longer in the event that you win.
- Comically Small Bribe: Trying to bribe someone with a ridiculously small amount of money or an absurdly mundane offer.
- Comically Small Demand: A person agrees to do what they're asked in exchange for a minor favor.
- Cooperation Gambit
- Deal with the Devil: Getting what you desire by making a deal with Satan or some other evil being.
- Discount Card
- Do You Want to Haggle?
- Fictional Geneva Conventions: The Laws and Customs of War are typically based on agreements between nation-states.
- Friend in the Black Market
- The Gambling Addict
- Heroism Incentive
- Honest John's Dealership: A salesman who tries to trick customers into buying shoddy products.
- Humiliating Wager
- I'll Be Your Best Friend: Bribing someone by offering them your friendship.
- Intangible Price
- Join or Die
- Leonine Contract
- Lint Value: A person offers to pay for something expensive with very little money or things of little value, usually all that they have.
- Lost Him in a Card Game
- Magically-Binding Contract
- Never Lend to a Friend
- Paying in Coins
- Plea Bargain
- Pro Bono Barter
- Professional Gambler
- Scolded for Not Buying
- Sex for Services
- Shady Scalper: Scalpers and similar types who purchase items for resale in a less-than-scrupulous manner.
- Shiny New Australia: Someone offers ownership of a large, but not very populous, territory in exchange for helping.
- Silent Offer
- Sold His Soul for a Donut: A Deal with the Devil where the object to be gained is something trivial.
- Tear Up the Contract: A primitive but sometimes effective way of undoing an agreement the character no longer wants.
- Third-Party Deal Breaker: A third party interferes in a deal and ruins it.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: Someone does something they wouldn't normally do, to satisfy a debt collector.
- Wager Slave: Instead of gambling money, someone has gambled their freedom, usually humorously.
- Whammy Bid
- Will Talk for a Price: Someone has information but wants payment before they'll talk.
- Work Off the Debt: Someone is unable to pay their bill, so they end up working for the company until they've worked off all the money they owe.
