Sale of the Century shopping round

[Bryce L.]

As a hobby of mine, I create revival concepts for the classic shows. I know they will never be picked up, but oh well.

For Sale of the Century (Perry years), I am trying to figure out how the purchase prices for the end game prizes went... Here is what I remember (correct me if I am wrong anywhere)

The first prize cost roughly $85, OR if the winner had not achieved that score on Day 1, they could buy the prize for their full score.
The car cost $530; every prize on stage was $640; and finally, every prize PLUS the jackpot was $750.

What I want to know is what the in-between items cost on average (I can't recall if there were 5 or 6 prizes), AND if you guys were to redo the show, how you would value the prizes.

[Jimmy Owen]

$420

[Bryce L.]

huh?

[TLEberle]

What I want to know is what the in-between items cost on average (I can't recall if there were 5 or 6 prizes),

170-265-335-440-530-640-750.

[Bryce L.]

Thank you Mr. Eberle! That's EXACTLY what I was looking for...

[Vahan_Nisanian]

Regarding the shopping round, is it true that you had to get EXACTLY $750 in order to buy the whole thing?

[SuperMatch93]

Regarding the shopping round, is it true that you had to get EXACTLY $750 in order to buy the whole thing?

You needed at least $750.

[TLEberle]

Regarding the shopping round, is it true that you had to get EXACTLY $750 in order to buy the whole thing?

Of course it was.

(Really?)

[MikeK]

Regarding the shopping round, is it true that you had to get EXACTLY $750 in order to buy the whole thing?

Absolutely not.  If someone went into the game with $745 and had to get $750 on the nose, it would be just a smidgen difficult to win the game with $5.

[TLEberle]

Absolutely not.  If someone went into the game with $745 and had to get $750 on the nose, it would be just a smidgen difficult to win the game with $5.

I could absolutely get my score down to five bucks. Winning the game from that position, that's another matter entirely.

And what's to say you didn't pick up an instant bargain or six along the way, leaving your account on something like $721. You not only have to win the game on that low a score, but you have to make sure that you spend mod-1 in the gift shop.

(Yes, one of the contestants won his lot spang on the money. Another managed to rip off twenty correct answers in a row to squeak it by four bucks. For the others, it wasn't really an issue.)

[Bryce L.]

What would be typical examples of the $85-$170-$265-$335-$440 prizes? I know $530 was the car, $640 was everything, and $750 was everything + $50,000.

[MikeK]

Absolutely not.  If someone went into the game with $745 and had to get $750 on the nose, it would be just a smidgen difficult to win the game with $5.

I could absolutely get my score down to five bucks. Winning the game from that position, that's another matter entirely.

OK, Mr. Smart Guy.  What if you're at $749 and need $1 to win?  What are you gonna do there?  Huh?  Huh???

;-)

[TLEberle]

OK, Mr. Smart Guy.  What if you're at $749 and need $1 to win?  What are you gonna do there?  Huh?  Huh???

Pray for Jokers and meteor strikes. (Touche, and well done, sir.)

(Really, people. The answers to the questions were available in copious amounts on YT. Watch an episode and that will tell you the prices of each prize level. Find an episode with a lot win and that will tell you the answer to needing to hit the 750 bullseye, which sounds laughable on its face. Please do a little legwork on your own.)

[Vahan_Nisanian]

A shame the budgets became too much for both the NBC and syndicated version Sale to handle, hence why they changed endgames. The shopping format will always be the best. The other two had absolutely nothing to do with the game.

Reminds me of another Reg Grundy show that sort of went the same way in Scrabble. Originally, the highest anyone could win was $55,500. Then it was changed to $40,000 in 1985. Finally, in 1986, when the bonus sprint was adopted, the money for winning the sprint round was $1,000 instead of $1,500, and the jackpot started at $5,000 (+$1,000 if it was not claimed). The minimum average amount of money a contestant could win under the 1986-1990 format was $47,500 (three $1,000 bonuses for guessing the word on the pink square, + $500 for winning the front game + $1,000 for winning the sprint round + $5,000 for winning the Bonus Sprint, wash, rinse and repeat for the next 4 days).

However, even with that said, while Sale's format got worse, I think Scrabble's format got better. But that's another story.

[BrandonFG]

A shame the budgets became too much for both the NBC and syndicated version Sale to handle, hence why they changed endgames. The shopping format will always be the best. The other two had absolutely nothing to do with the game.

You could still become an undefeated champion and walk away with 6-figures with the other bonus formats, and this was in the 1980s. In fact I believe Mark DeCarlo did so. The formats may not have had anything to do with the show, but I find it hard to believe the budget had anything to do with the changes. The way I read it was that NBC wanted an end game that felt more like a bonus round, where you could actually win something each day.

Then it was changed to $40,000 in 1985. Finally, in 1986, when the bonus sprint was adopted, the money for winning the sprint round was $1,000 instead of $1,500, and the jackpot started at $5,000 (+$1,000 if it was not claimed). The minimum average amount of money a contestant could win under the 1986-1990 format was $47,500 (three $1,000 bonuses for guessing the word on the pink square, + $500 for winning the front game + $1,000 for winning the sprint round + $5,000 for winning the Bonus Sprint, wash, rinse and repeat for the next 4 days).

I don't see how that's really such a massive budget cut and never even considered it until now.

However, even with that said, while Sale's format got worse, I think Scrabble's format got better. But that's another story.

The bonus formats you mean? The shows themselves pretty much stayed the same.