PsychologicalMANIPULATIVE

Highball/Lowball

What it is

Opening with an extreme offer to anchor the negotiation range in your favor.

How it works

The first number in a negotiation sets the anchor. A seller starting extremely high (highball) or a buyer starting extremely low (lowball) shifts the entire zone of possible agreement. Even though both parties know the opening offer is unreasonable, it still psychologically anchors subsequent discussion around that number.

Real-world examples

  • •A used car seller pricing a $10,000 car at $18,000, expecting to "negotiate down" to $14,000.
  • •A job candidate requesting a salary 40% above market rate to anchor negotiations higher.
  • •A plaintiff demanding $10 million in a lawsuit worth $1 million to shift the settlement range.

Ethical guidelines

  • ●Extreme opening offers are standard negotiation practice but can shade into bad faith.
  • ●The line between aggressive anchoring and dishonest pricing depends on context and norms.
  • ●Opening offers so extreme they insult the counterparty can destroy negotiations.

How to defend against it

  • ►Always research independent benchmarks before entering any negotiation.
  • ►Counter an extreme anchor with your own extreme counter-anchor to rebalance the range.
  • ►Ignore the opening offer entirely and state what you believe the fair value is with evidence.

From the Defense Playbook

Decide Before You Look (Pre-commitment)minutes

Fix your criteria, budget, walk-away point, or answer in writing before you see the offer, the anchor, or the pressure, so that the decision is made by the cool version of you.

Every playbook entry states how strong its evidence is and when not to use it. Browse the full playbook.

References

  1. Galinsky, A. D., & Mussweiler, T. (2001). First offers as anchors: The role of perspective-taking and negotiator focus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(4), 657–669
    The entry's central claim that the first number anchors the negotiation: across negotiation experiments the party who made the first offer obtained better outcomes, and the effect was reduced when the other party focused on their own alternatives or target — which is the entry's defence.
  2. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124–1131
    The underlying anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic: estimates are biased toward an initial value even when it is known to be arbitrary, supporting the entry's claim that an opening offer both parties know is unreasonable still shifts the subsequent range.
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