Negotiators are often told they should eschew competitive negotiations, where parties fight for what’s on the table. They should instead increase the size of the pie and seek win-win scenarios. But in reality, competitive negotiations are often unavoidable. Sometimes, there doesn’t seem to be any room for tradeoffs. And when we are unlikely to see our counterparties again, it can remove reputational concerns on both sides.

For example, if you purchase a used car from a private seller, all you really care about is how much you pay for it (once you find the model you want). There’s hardly a pie to expand in this case, and if you live in a big enough city, you’re unlikely to deal with the same seller again. It comes down to haggling over price, i.e., a competitive negotiation.

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