5
Bargaining Strategies
In the scene below, from the comedy classic Monty Python’s Life of Brian, our hero is on the run from a phalanx of Roman soldiers.1 He races into a crowded marketplace, spies a vendor’s stall, and grabs an artificial beard—the perfect disguise. All he needs to do is make a deal for it.
Brian: How much, quick!
Harry the Haggler: Ah—twenty shekels.
B: Right. (Slaps a coin on the counter.)
HH: Wait a minute, we’re supposed to haggle!
B: I haven’t got time—
HH: Look at it. Feel the quality! That’s none of your goat.
B: All right, I’ll give you nineteen then.
HH: No, no, no, come on, haggle properly. This isn’t worth nineteen.
B: You just said it was worth twenty!
HH: Oh dear, oh dear. Come on, haggle!
B: I’ll give you ...
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