Concept
Ackerman Model
The Ackerman model is a bargaining plan in which a buyer sets a target price, opens at 65% of it, raises the offer in three shrinking steps to 85%, 95% and 100%, and ends on a precise, non-round number.
Chris Voss describes the Ackerman model in Never Split the Difference as the method he learned from Mike Ackerman, a kidnap-for-ransom consultant, and used in kidnapping cases. It replaces improvised haggling with a plan made before the conversation. The shrinking steps signal that you are nearing your limit, and a precise final figure such as 37,893 rather than 38,000 looks calculated and therefore firm. Two further rules matter: let the other side counter before each raise, using empathy and calibrated questions rather than bargaining against yourself, and add a small non-monetary item to the final offer to show you have nothing left to give. The same logic can be reversed by a seller.
A real-life example
A café owner in Eskişehir wants a second-hand espresso machine listed at 120,000 lira and sets 100,000 as her target. She opens at 65,000, waits for the seller to counter, then moves to 85,000 and 95,000, asking 'How am I supposed to do that?' between steps. Her final offer is 99,850 lira with a spare set of filter baskets included. The seller keeps the baskets and takes the price.
How to use it
- 1Before bargaining, write down your target and its 65%, 85% and 95% values.
- 2Raise only after the other side has countered, and make each step smaller than the last.
- 3Make the final number precise and non-round, and attach a small non-monetary request.