Sale of the Century shopping round

[TLEberle]

You could still become an undefeated champion and walk away with 6-figures with the other bonus formats, and this was in the 1980s.

Until the Money Game, I don't think it was possible to reach the pinnacle of the game and win less than a hundred grand. One of the things that amuses me is the guy who won the $109,000 cash jackpot at the beginning of the network run, and twenty-five years later, I bought a home for less than that.

It was damn good money for a champion who was willing to back himself to that degree, and that was one of the reasons the show is so beloved today.

[Kevin Prather]

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

"Oooh, I'm so sorry. You answered one too many questions, so you lose. Good day sir."

[BrandonFG]

You could still become an undefeated champion and walk away with 6-figures with the other bonus formats, and this was in the 1980s.

Until the Money Game, I don't think it was possible to reach the pinnacle of the game and win less than a hundred grand. One of the things that amuses me is the guy who won the $109,000 cash jackpot at the beginning of the network run, and twenty-five years later, I bought a home for less than that.

It was damn good money for a champion who was willing to back himself to that degree, and that was one of the reasons the show is so beloved today.

I can never remember, but the Money Game was what...$5,000/6K/7K/8K/9K/10K/car/50K? They started giving away more moderate-priced cars by then (upper teens), so that's $95K in cash plus the car and any front game winnings. Unless I misunderstood the pay structure.

/Would gladly take $109K in cash right now, let alone 25+ years ago
//And since Travis pointed it out, would "settle" for $50K now or in 20+ years ago

[TLEberle]

I can never remember, but the Money Game was what...$5,000/6K/7K/8K/9K/10K/car/50K? They started giving away more moderate-priced cars by then (upper teens), so that's $95K in cash plus the car and any front game winnings. Unless I misunderstood the pay structure.

No, you got it right. So if you won all eight times, that's $95,000 cash plus a midsize sedan-to-luxury car. So you're on $120,000 not accounting for the winner's prize that you scooped each of eight days. Then again, you could muff everything but the car and have fifty grand.

[Matt Ottinger]

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.

Pretty sure there are episodes on YouTube that would have prize rounds.  

/I might even be in one of them.  
//Except for the prize round.

[Bryce L.]

I have your episode, Matt, courtesy of YT. It might have been reckless to buy some of those Instant Bargains, but at least you got something to remember the show by...

[Strikerz04]

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.

Heck, the first few months were 55-120-185-250-335-420-(500/510)-600 before the speed round. The speed round adjusted those scores afterwards.

Usually the first prize would be 4-digit cheap, then progressively higher. By the time you get the car, its 20-40K (depending on the year, make, and model).

[PYLdude]

Couldn't the argument be made that the syndie Sale made the change for the sake of convenience? I mean, one show had one format, the other another.

(I'm aware that there wasn't a lot of time that passed between the daytime show's switch to the board and the premiere of the nighttime show, but then again it took quite awhile for the switch to occur there.)

[golden-road]

Then again, you could muff everything but the car and have fifty grand.

Actually, didn't the rules go that if you muff the car, you're gone, and winning it was the only way to have a shot at the $50K?

[TLEberle]

Actually, didn't the rules go that if you muff the car, you're gone, and winning it was the only way to have a shot at the $50K?

Yup. You win the car, which is about twenty to thirty thousand dollars, plus seven daily prizes at three grand each, plus the other slurry of stuff you pick up: fifty grand.

[Bryce L.]

Actually, didn't the rules go that if you muff the car, you're gone, and winning it was the only way to have a shot at the $50K?

Bingo. You lose the car, and you are out the door; at least that's MY reading of the rules...

[BrandonFG]

Actually, didn't the rules go that if you muff the car, you're gone, and winning it was the only way to have a shot at the $50K?

Bingo. You lose the car, and you are out the door; at least that's MY reading of the rules...

Wiki agrees with you, stating that you retired undefeated.

[PYLdude]

It happened at least twice that I can remember where a player was retired upon losing the car. One was early in 1988 where a champ retired with about $42K and the other was during the finale week where the champ retired with $70K plus.

I wanna say it happened a third time but I'm not sure.

[TLEberle]

Bingo. You lose the car, and you are out the door; at least that's MY reading of the rules...

What's the difference between YOUR reading of the rules and reality? I said that a champion could lose out on all the bonus money opportunities, but with a victory of the Winner's Big Car Game could have a seven-day winnings total of $50,000, most of which would be the car and the prizes that you received for winning the day's competition. Nothing about the final cash prize.

[That Don Guy]

Don't forget that in the earliest episodes, before the cash jackpot, the most expensive prize was a $50,000-or-so car plus about $5000 in cash (the amount of cash varied depending on the other prizes, as the total amount of all the prizes was exactly $95,000.)