[jeffbee]

I know it seems like that but most people simply “negotiate” by getting multiple offers and taking the one that suits them best, or leaving one company and joining another. In that way it’s a bit like a blind auction. Whatever room to negotiate you’ve left at the top of your offer represents risk that you’ve underestimated the other partys’ offers.

[vidarh]

If we kept having a lot of people turn down offers, that'd likely be the case, but even if we assumed all rejected offers was down to pay, it'd mean most people are not "negotiating" that way either.