Buy or Sell

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Host Bob Barker and a contestant in front of the "Buy or Sell" board, with its original color scheme

Buy or Sell is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on March 27, 1992, it is played for three four-digit prizes, each valued between $1,000 and $4,000; along with a cash bonus.

[edit] Gameplay

The contestant is shown three prizes, each with incorrect prices. The prices could either be above or below their actual values.

One at a time, the contestant must determine whether to "buy" a particular prize (if it is underpriced), or "sell" the item (if it is overpriced).

After all three prize decisions are made, the actual prices are revealed, one at a time. One of two outcomes for each prize is possible:

For a correct decision, the difference between the two prices is added to the contestant's bank.

In the event of a wrong decision, the difference is subtracted from the contestant's bank.

After all three prices have been revealed, if the contestant has at least $100 in the bank (as the differences are always in multiples of 100), he wins all three prizes plus any accumulated cash. "Breaking even" (finishing the game with $0 in the bank) is considered a loss, although the game is usually designed to prevent this from happening.

[edit] Trivia

The cash bonus was not added to the game until October 30, 1997.

Since the bonus was added, if there is a negative amount in the bank after the first or second price reveal, host Bob Barker will usually joke that the contestant has to pay the show the amount in the bank if he loses the game.
The highest cash award possible in the game -- which has been achieved three times -- is $1900, since the differences used are always multiples of 100 and the tote board can't display anything other than "1" as its thousands digit.

Buy or Sell's tote board was staged in several different locations over the course of its first few playings. Later, the digital readout on the board was changed from red neon lights on a blue background to greenish-blue LCD-type digits displayed on a black background, as the original tote board was hard to read.