Free tool · Negotiation
How to Find Trades in a Multi-Issue Negotiation: A Package Trader
In a negotiation with several issues, the sides rarely value the issues in the same way. A buyer may care most about delivery speed and little about the length of the contract; the seller may care the other way round. Each side can then concede on what matters less to it and gain on what matters more, which leaves both better off than splitting every issue down the middle. This is called log-rolling or integrative bargaining. To find the trades, list every issue, give each a weight for how much it matters to you, estimate the weights for the other side and compare them: claim the issues where you care more and give those where they care more. Score a package on a scale of 0 to 100 for each side by weighting where each issue sits between entirely theirs and entirely yours. Ask about the other side’s interests, offer packages and watch the reaction, share your own priorities selectively, and never misstate facts. A deal can be fair and still leave value on the table.
Tool · Package Trader
This package scores 50 for you and 50 for them. Trading across issues could raise the combined score from about 100 to about 125 out of 200.
This package
You 50 · Them 50
Best trade
You 78 · Them 48
Combined (of 200)
100 now · 125 possible
Trades to consider
- Delivery speed. They seem to care about this more than you do (ratio 0.3). Offer movement here, and ask for something in return.
- Length of the contract. You care about this more than they appear to (ratio 2.5). Ask for more here, and pay for it on an issue that matters more to them.
Issues ranked by how much more you care than they do: Length of the contract (2.5), Price (1.3), Payment terms (1.0), Delivery speed (0.3).
- Your weights are your own priorities. Their weights are an estimate of what they value: treat them as hypotheses and test them with questions such as ‘what matters most to you in this?’
- The score shows how the package divides what each side values, on a 0 to 100 scale. It does not value the issues in money, and the scales of the two sides are not directly comparable.
- Ask for the other side’s priorities and share yours selectively, since a trade works only if the other side sees a gain too.
Most negotiations have several issues, and the other side rarely values them as you do. For each issue, enter how much it matters to you and your estimate of how much it matters to them (0 to 100), and where the package currently sits: 0 means entirely their way, 100 entirely yours. The tool scores the package for each side and shows which issues to claim and which to give, because trading what you value less for what you value more can leave both sides better off. Their weights are a guess to be tested. Invented data. Runs in your browser; nothing is stored or sent.
How to use it
- List the issues, with how much each matters to you and your estimate of how much it matters to them.
- Move each slider to where the package currently sits, between theirs and yours.
- Read the score for each side and the trades the tool suggests.
- Test your estimate of their weights with questions in the real negotiation.
Common questions
What is a Pareto-efficient deal?
One where no change can make one side better off without making the other worse off. A deal can be fair yet not efficient, if a trade that would have helped both was not made.
Are the scores in money?
No. They compare packages on a 0 to 100 scale using the weights you enter, and the scales for the two sides are not directly comparable. Use them to spot trades, not to say who is winning.
How do I learn what they care about?
Ask about interests rather than positions, offer two or three packages that are equal for you and see which they prefer, and notice what they dwell on and what they concede quickly.
Learn the law behind the tool
This tool is part of our Negotiation course, with lectures, concept maps, flashcards, interactive exercises and a capstone case. Negotiation Analytics: Multi-Issue Deals and Trades.
More free law tools
General information, simplified, mainly on American law, not legal advice. States and countries differ, and real cases turn on facts that a tool cannot capture.