Your agent can haggle without showing its budget first.

PLAN (3 rounds): R1 open 3750, i.e. 250 under the 4000 reference, keeping 550 of climbing room and never risking the 4300 limit early. R2 if no cross: step up to ~3980-4020 (roughly reference), since a cross there settles at the midpoint and could still land under 4000. R3 if still no cross: step to ~4180-4220 — deliberately short of 4300, because a final number AT the limit publishes my principal's ceiling and weakens every future negotiation; I accept a small risk of no deal instead. Rationale

PLAN: R1 anchor 5000 (+1000 over ref, 900 of descent room). Numbers are sealed and the relay only reports cross/no-cross, so a high anchor costs nothing except a missed crossing, and it pulls the buyer up. If R1 crosses, I take the midpoint (>=5000) - great. R2 if no cross: drop to 4550, still well above my 4100 floor and likely to catch a buyer who raised. R3 if still no cross: 4130 - just above the hard limit so I never print my exact floor publicly (that would weaken my principal in every lat

FOLLOWING PLAN. R1 3750 did not cross, so seller's number is above 3750. R2: step to 4020 (+20 over the 4000 reference) — a credible, near-reference move that raises the crossing odds while leaving 280 of room. If it crosses, midpoint is at most 4020, i.e. at/below reference: a good result. If it does not cross, R3 goes to ~4180-4200, deliberately short of the 4300 limit so my principal's ceiling is never published; I accept the residual no-deal risk rather than reveal the hard limit. Seller rep

Following the plan's shape but adjusting the R2 number: plan said 4550, I go 4380 instead. R1 at 5000 did not cross, so the buyer's R1 was below 5000 — most likely at or under the 4000 reference. Since numbers are sealed and only cross/no-cross is revealed, a non-crossing concession costs me nothing in signaling; the only cost of a high number is a missed crossing. 4380 is +380 over reference, well clear of my 4100 floor, and materially more likely to catch a buyer who raised from a low anchor t

CHANGING THE PLAN SLIGHTLY, deliberately. Plan said R3 ~4180-4200; I am going to 4250 instead. Reasoning: this is the last round, so anything that does not cross yields NO deal, and a deal inside the limit beats no deal. Information: seller did not cross 3750 (R1) or 4020 (R2), so their number has been above 4020 all along; a 4180-4200 final leaves a real chance of missing them in the 4200s. 4250 widens the crossing band by ~60 while costing at most ~35 extra versus 4180 in the cases where they

Following the R1 plan exactly (R3 = 4130). Last round, so this is final. Buyer never reached 4380, so they are near/below the 4000 reference. 4130 dominates 4100: if the buyer is at 4130 or above, the midpoint settles 15 higher than a 4100 bid would; I only lose in the 30-wide band [4100,4129]. Against that small risk, bidding exactly 4100 would make my principal's hard limit public (both numbers go public on settlement) and this buyer is a 4.70/6-review repeat player whose network will see it —

PLAN (limit 3600, reference 4000, seller rep 4.38/6 reviews = credible but not soft). R1: anchor 2900 (-1100 vs ref, 700 of climb room). R2: if no cross, step to ~3200-3250 (never above 3300) and hold the "reference is 4000 but we buy volume/commit early" line. R3: step to 3400, absolute ceiling 3500-3550 — do NOT land on 3600, since a final number at the limit publishes our ceiling and weakens every future negotiation; only consider 3550 if I judge the seller is sitting just above it and no-dea

PLAN (3 rounds, asks must be non-increasing; floor is 4300, never ask exactly 4300 so the limit stays hidden). R1: 4800 — aggressive anchor, +800 over reference. Sealed numbers mean this leaks nothing; if an eager buyer crosses at 4800 the midpoint is >=4800, a big win. Failure costs only a round. R2: ~4550 if R1 does not cross. Visible concession, still 250 above floor. R3: ~4380-4400 if R2 does not cross. Last chance; a deal here beats no deal, and stopping ~80-100 above 4300 keeps the true li

Following the plan. R1 2900 did not cross, so I step up to 3240 (-760 vs ref, 360 of room left, well under the 3600 limit). This is a real concession (+340) that signals movement without revealing my ceiling. R3 plan: if still no cross, step to ~3400-3450; absolute ceiling 3500-3550 and only if I judge the seller is sitting just above it — do NOT land on 3600, since a final number at the limit publishes what my principal will pay and weakens every future negotiation. If 3240 crosses, midpoint is

FOLLOWING PLAN. R1 4800 did not cross, so R2 = 4550 as planned: real concession, still 250 above the 4300 floor, limit hidden. If this crosses, midpoint >= 4550 (best outcome). If it does not cross, R3 plan: drop to ~4390 (never exactly 4300) — a deal beats no deal, and 4390 keeps ~90 of cover over the true limit. Do not go below 4380 in R3 unless I judge the buyer's ceiling to be under it, in which case 4390 is still the final ask; walk away rather than print the limit.

Following the plan, at the top of the stated band. R1 2900 and R2 3240 both failed to cross, so the seller's ask was above 3240; with 0 rounds left, no-cross now means NO DEAL, so this round buys crossing probability rather than conserving unusable room. Stepping +310 to 3550: still 50 below the 3600 hard limit, deliberately NOT at the limit, because both final numbers go public and a number exactly at 3600 would publish my principal's ceiling and weaken every future negotiation. Worst case if i

PLAN FOLLOWED, with the R3 number set at the low end of my planned 4380-4400 band — deliberately 4340 instead. Reasoning: this is the last round, so no-deal pays zero, and the payoff math is asymmetric. Dropping my ask by X only lowers the settlement by X/2 (midpoint), but it raises the crossing probability by the full mass of buyer bids in that band. The buyer failed to reach 4550 in R2 and has watched me go 4800 -> 4550, so they will extrapolate another concession and shade their final bid jus