Sale of the Century (US)

Original version opening spiel:

"Today on the Sale of the Century, the total retail value of our prizes is more than $XX,XXX. These three players/two couples will have an opportunity to buy these prizes. (Players names, hometown, and occupation), (and welcome back our returning champion(s)) (champion(s)) who told us (s)he/they would like to buy (prizes)) And now here is the star of the Sale of the Century, Jack Kelly/Joe Garagiola!"

80s 1st NBC opening spiel:

''"Today on America's biggest bargain sale we're offering a brand new car/(insert car name) valued at $XX,XXX for $XXX. (A [insert prize] valued at $XX,XXX for $XXX.) (A cash jackpot of $XX,XXX for $XXX.) Cash & prizes worth over $100,000 for $XXX. Two of the incredible bargains on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

80s 1st Syndicated opening spiel (early episodes):

''"Today/Tonight on America's biggest bargain sale we're offering a brand new car/(insert car name) valued at $XX,XXX for $610. All of the prizes and the Cash Jackpot of $XX,000/Cash & prizes worth over $100,000 for $830. Two of the incredible bargains on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

80s 1st Syndicated opening spiel:

''"Today/Tonight on America's biggest bargain sale we're offering a brand new car/(insert car name) valued at $XX,XXX for $530. Cash & prizes worth over $100,000 for $750. Two of the incredible bargains on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

80s 2nd opening spiel:

''"Today/this week, we're offering/one of our contestants/players will win (insert two/three prizes), and a trip to (insert trip). And continue a journey toward a fortune in cash & prizes, including (insert car or other vehicle) and $50,000 in cash. In total, over $100,000 on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

This is about the American version of Sale of the Century.

Premise
The format centered around three contestants answering general knowledge questions, buying prizes at a low cost, and attempting to win a huge cash jackpot.

Gameplay
Three contestants (one a returning champion) were given $20 to start. The host asked a series of questions, all of which were toss-ups, and only one person can answer each one. The first contestant to buzz-in with a correct answer gets $5, but an incorrect answer loses $5.

Instant Bargain
During the game, the player in the lead or contestants who were tied was given a chance to buy a special prize for a bargain price. To buy the prize, the contestant must hit his/her buzzer; doing so won the prize which became his/hers to keep win or lose, but the bargain value of the prize was deducted from his/her score. Jim Perry usually tempted the contestant by offering some extra cash and/or lowering the bargain price of the prize, and afterward he said, "Going once, Going twice." If the contestant did not ring in, he said, “No sale.” Sometimes instant bargains offered "Sale Surprises", which were bonus cash amounts ranging from about $500 to $1,000, and the contestant who bought the prize got the bonus cash. The surprise would only be revealed either after the player bought the prize, or after Jim said, “No sale.”

Instant Cash
Beginning in March 1986, the third Instant Bargain was replaced with the new Instant Cash. The player in the lead faced three black boxes numbered 1, 2 and 3. Two of them had $100 bills while the one remaining one contained a cash jackpot which started at $1,000 plus $1,000 more for every day it's not won. To play, the player in the lead must surrender his/her lead (the price was the difference between the leader and the second place player). In case of a tie for the lead, a dutch auction was held between those players. If he/she decided to play (by hitting his/her buzzer) or whoever decided to play, the player selected one of the boxes and whatever the amount inside was his/hers to keep.

Fame Game
In the 80s version, and in all three rounds, all three players got to participate in the Fame Game. The host read a "Who am I?"-typed question in which the clues get easier as time progressed. The first player to buzz in had a chance to answer. An incorrect answer forced that player to sit out the rest of the question without money penalties. The first contestant to buzz in with a correct answer faced a game board with nine numbers (1-9). Behind those numbers were cash awards, prizes, surprises and Money Cards ($10, $15, and $25) which were added for each round, there was an occasional $5 Money Card as well. The player in control chose a number, and whatever he/she found now belonged to that player. If a Money Card was found, its value was added to the player's score. Plus, there were two spaces that gave the player in control to either take a cash prize or choose another number (one marked $400, the other a mystery amount between $1.75 & $1,500).

When the show started, the Fame Game board consisted of faces of celebrities (many of them NBC-related) instead of numbers. There was only one Money Card (the $25 Money Card) hidden on the board, and the rest were prizes. So finding the $25 Money Card early made the other Fame Game(s) useless since there were only prizes left. The other two Money Cards would come in the later months.

Beginning in October 1985, the board became randomized (ala Press Your Luck). Lights around the numbers would flash at random, and stopped when the player in control hit his/her buzzer. In addition "Mystery Money or Pick Again" was renamed "Mystery Money or Try Again"; plus, the Money Cards were revealed at the outset. Once the player landed the number and whatever the player gets, whatever's hit will be taken off the board for the next Fame Game to come after.

Final Round
For the first year, host Perry would read three more $5 questions for a total of $15. This was scrapped when many games were already decided prior to this, in favor of the well-remembered Speed Round.

Speed Round
In the Speed Round, the host would ask as many questions as possible during the next 60 seconds.

The player with the most money won the game. If there was a tie at the end, the host would read one final question (a Fame Game/Who am I question in the earlier months). A correct answer won $5 more and the game, but an incorrect answer cost $5 and the game. In the case of a three way tie, the first contestant to buzz-in and miss was out of the game. The winning player became Sale of the Century champion and in the final years of the show also won a bonus prize (originally a choice of one behind numbers 1-6), while the losers kept their final scores in cash in addition to everything else.

Shopping
The champion won a chance to buy a grand prize at a bargain price using his/her winning score. Six prizes were on display with the biggest prize being a brand new luxury car. The champion can either buy the grand prize which he/she had enough money to buy with and leave the show, or return on the next show with the money scored that day being added to the next day's winning score. In the 60s & 70s version and in the 80s version Tournament of Champions, (grand) champions can buy more than one prize. Occasionally in the 80s version, if a champion scored more than enough to buy the next prize in line while shooting for the intended target prize, then the champion had a choice of two prizes. In the Temptation revival, the contestant always had a choice of prizes no matter how much money s/he had. In the 60s & 70s version and in the Temptation revival, the highest the winning contestant can buy was a new car.

On the 1973-1974 syndicated series, the winning couple answered a series of questions worth $100 and could stop at anytime and buy one of three prizes (trip, fur, or car). Later, the couple must correctly answer three questions, the difficulty of which depended on the value of the prize; low end prize was $50 a question, medium $100 and high end $200.

Shopping prices
1983-1984 daytime

During the first few months of the 1980s run, the prices for the six onstage prizes tended to vary, although $510 was always originally the goal for the Lot. By about mid-April 1983, the prices were fixed to:
 * $55 - $2,000 to $2,500 prize
 * $120 - $3,500 to $4,000 prize
 * $185 - $5,000 to $7,000 prize
 * $250 - $10,000 to $12,000 prize
 * $335 - $20,000 to $25,000 prize (typically a boat, but occasionally other prizes)
 * $420 - $35,000+ car (in the earliest months a Mercedes-Benz, later a Cadillac)
 * $510 - Originally, all of the above plus enough cash to round out the Lot to exactly $95,000. Beginning on May 30, 1983, this level became a Cash Jackpot that started at $50,000 and went up by $1,000 per day until won.
 * $600 - Once the Cash Jackpot was added, $600 was the goal for the Lot (all six prizes and the Cash Jackpot).

Once the Speed Round came into play in March 1984, the values were upped to the following:
 * $75
 * $160
 * $245
 * $330
 * $435
 * $540 (car)
 * $650 (Cash Jackpot)
 * $760 (The Lot)

1985 nighttime

When the syndicated series debuted, the prize structure ran as follows, with each of the first five levels below roughly corresponding to the same spot prize-wise as the daytime run:
 * $85
 * $195
 * $285
 * $390
 * $485
 * $610 (car)
 * $720 (all prizes)
 * $830 (The Lot)

Beginning on the 16th episode (January 28, 1985), these were tweaked slightly to their more familiar structure:
 * $85 (unchanged)
 * $175
 * $260
 * $340
 * $445
 * $530 (car)
 * $640 (all prizes)
 * $750 (The Lot)

The price drops were probably done to make getting the prizes a bit easier: during the first three weeks, no champion stayed on for more than four days, no player banked more than $223, and nobody opted to purchase an endgame prize. Note also the progression: for the first three weeks, the price jumps were $110-$90-$105-$95-$125-$110-$110, whereas the standard structure had jumps of $90-$85-$80-$105-$85-$110-$110.

Big Winners during the 80s shopping era
Daytime
 * Mort Kamins: Was the very first Lot winner in the 1980s revival, and the only one to win the original $95,000 Lot, in early 1983. He later went on to win the very first Tournament of Champions (November 1983), winning a grand total of $249,982.
 * Richard Heft: Won an $82,000 Cash Jackpot in July 1983. Was the first person to claim the jackpot.
 * Barbara Philips: Won $151,689 in August 1983, becoming the first contestant to win over $150,000 on a daytime network show. On her final show, Phillips needed $116 to win all the prizes plus the Cash Jackpot ($68,000), and she won everything in dramatic fashion, needing to answer the final three $5 questions correctly, thus making her the only player to win all the prizes and the Cash Jackpot as well as the second and final daytime player to win the Lot – all the other big network winners took the Cash Jackpot and left.
 * Kathy Riley: Won a $78,000 Cash Jackpot in January 1984, albeit in a rather anticlimatic fashion – Kathy was $15 ahead of Bob, one of her opponents, as the game was going to the final three questions, ergo Bob needed to answer all three to tie the game. Roger, who was in a distant third, buzzed in on the first question, therefore giving Kathy the Cash Jackpot by default...although nobody seemed to realize this until Bob missed the second question, at which point Jim threw away the last and declared Kathy the winner. The Speed Round was instituted shortly thereafter.
 * David Rogers: Won $122,084 in April 1984, including a $109,000 Cash Jackpot (the highest ever won on the show). His big win came just two weeks after a previous champion, Dawn McKellar, tried for a $99,000 Jackpot but lost the game by just $2. Rogers was among the first big winners since the incorporation of the Speed Round, and later appeared on Jeopardy! in 1987 (under the name David Nagy).
 * Bill Baxter: Won a $70,000 Cash Jackpot in somewhat dramatic fashion in May 1984 and left with total winnings of $85,256. Baxter had a total of $659 in his account the day of his big win, and would've needed to come back the next day and win with at least $101 to get the Lot, which totaled $142,855.
 * Stephanie Holmquist: Won a $74,000 Cash Jackpot in June 1984 with her bank account on the show. Her cash and prize total was $83,337. Stephanie had $723 when she bought the Jackpot, and she would have needed at least $37 or more on the next show to win the Lot, which totaled $147,095. In 1985, she appeared again, this time in the Tournament of Champions, where she won $35,000 and a Porsche. Her total winnings were $152,897, which was the highest ever in daytime at that time, until her record was overtaken by Tom O'Brien two years later.
 * Susan Wolfe: Won $69,798 in Summer 1984, including a $61,000 Cash Jackpot.
 * Bill Fogel: Won $66,459 in late 1984, including a $61,000 Cash Jackpot, but not before winning the game with $145 (setting an all-time main game record). Bill was the last big-money winner of the NBC shopping era and had a total of $721 in his account the day of his big win; a win of just $39 more would have won the Lot, which totaled $131,761.

Syndication
 * John Goss: Won $156,339, including a $72,000 Cash Jackpot, in February 1985, becoming the first player on this version to win the Lot. In his final game, Goss had $655 in his account, needing at least $95 to win everything on the stage, and he won the game with exactly $95. It was revealed after his big win that John was between jobs at the time, making the fact he continued to take risks that much more remarkable.
 * Helaine Lowey: Won $142,974 in February 1985, including a $64,000 Cash Jackpot. On her final show, Lowey had $703 in her account, needing at least $47 to win the Lot.
 * Alice Conkright: Won $141,406 in April 1985, including a $77,000 Jackpot, in only six shows (the shortest amount of time it took anyone to do so on the American version; the three other nighttime lot winners all needed eight shows to win) and won every single show with at least $115, including a record $145 (tying Bill Fogel's record) on two separate occasions. On her first show, she defeated Michael Friedman, who himself needed $101 to win the $72,000 Cash Jackpot. In her final show, Conkright had $660 in her account, needing at least $90 for the Lot. She won her final game easily with $115 to her opponents who finished with $20 and $25 respectively.
 * In addition to her adeptness at answering questions, she refused to buy any of the Instant Bargains she had a chance to take despite the cajoling of host Jim Perry, even when she had seemingly insurmountable leads (which kept her scores relatively high). Jim remarked on her final show she had turned down a total of $11,000 in cash offers along with the Instant Bargain prizes.
 * Tim Holleran: Won $166,875 in September 1985, including a $90,000 Cash Jackpot (the highest it ever got on this version, and second only to the $109,000 jackpot won by David Rogers in daytime), becoming the biggest winner in American Sale history (notwithstanding tournaments). In his final show, Holleran had $707 in his account, needing at least $43 for the Lot. In 1987, Holleran competed in the International Invitational Tournament, and was the United States' representative in the Finals. He finished second place to Cary Young of Australia, but won additional money during the Tournament, giving him a final total of $183,373. NOTE: A young Kevin Nealon appeared onstage to congratulate Tim after his Lot win.

80s Bonus Games
In the later years of the 80s revival, the shopping format was dropped, and new bonus rounds were played.

Winner's Board
Starting in October 1984 on the NBC version, and November 18, 1985 on the syndicated version, the winning contestant faced the Winner's Board. The Winner's Board consisted of 20 numbered squares. Behind those numbers were eight matching pairs of prizes (one of which was $3,000), and two WIN cards which constituted an automatic match. The champion picked off numbers to reveal the prizes; the first prize matched was the prize won. If at any time one of the WIN cards was revealed, the next prize revealed was the prize won. The two biggest prizes were $10,000 and a new car; they both appeared only once. To win either one of those, the player must first find one of the WIN cards, then find one of the biggest prizes. Should the two big prizes be left on the board, then only two numbers hiding those prizes would be shown. There was no bonus for finding both WIN cards in succession; the champion simply picked another number.

The combined value of all the prizes, including $13,000 cash, nominally added up to between $50,000-$60,000.

Once the board was cleared (all prizes matched), the champion must then make a decision to either keep all the prizes and retire, or play one more game for a chance at adding an additional $50,000. The catch in the latter instance was that the contestant, if they wanted the opportunity, had to put all 10 of the Winner's Board prizes up as collateral -- essentially, it was a form of the player competing against the house. (All front game prizes were not at risk.) Winning the game won the $50,000 bonus plus keeping the 10 Winner's Board prizes and retiring undefeated. However, if one of the contestant's opponents won, the champion lost all 10 Winner's Board prizes.

Based on circulating episodes and fan recollections, all contestants who took the risk won their final game. However, more than once, the final game came down to the closing seconds of the Speedround before the win was secured, and at least once -- in the case of Mark DeCarlo, in April 1985 -- a tiebreaker was needed to determine the day's winner; he won after the opponent he was tied with at the end of the Speedround rang in too early and gave an incorrect answer, costing her $5 and the game. Furthermore, there were at least three daytime contestants -- Jeff Hewitt and Margerite Newhouse (both in 1984), and Andy Ross (1987) -- who opted to walk away after winning their 10th game.

In the transition from the Shopping to the Winner's Board, the champion at that point was given the option to leave with the prize offered, or keep the prize and continue as champion into the new format. In both the daytime show and the syndicated series, the champion chose the latter. Debbie Morris, the champion on the NBC show kept a prize and on the first ever Winner's Board show the champion successfully defended her crown (winning a TV). The champion on the syndicated show kept a $5,000 custom women's wardrobe (by French designer Ted Lapidus) and on the first syndicated Winner's Board show the champion successfully defended his crown (winning a Beverly Hills Shopping Spree).

Big Winners from this era

 * Jeff Hewitt: One of the first contestants to clear the board, Jeff declined to go for the $50,000 cash bonus, leaving with $72,794 in cash and prizes.
 * Margerite Newhouse: An early big winner of this format in late 1984, winning over $65,000 in cash and prizes, including winning a new Mercedes Benz in dramatic fashion during her next-to last game with four prizes and two numbers left on the winner's board. Newhouse decided not to go for the $50,000 bonus after winning all 10 prizes on the board. During the debut of the Winner's Board format, she lost due to an error (Debbie Morris, the last winner of the previous bonus won that day), so she was brought back a few weeks later.
 * Mark DeCarlo: His final game (in 1985) came down to a climactic tiebreaker. His opponent buzzed in early and answered incorrectly, which by default netted him the win and the $50,000 bonus, for a grand total of $115,257 in cash and prizes.
 * Cindy Barr: Won $111,590 in cash and prizes in 1985.
 * Jeff Colbern: Won $123,753 in cash and prizes in 1985.
 * Linda Credit: In 1987, she won $140,457 in cash and prizes, including a $14,000 Instant Cash jackpot. She then played in the 1988 tournament of champions and won another $5,700, for a total of $146,157. One of the last big winners during the Winner's Board era.
 * Tom O'Brien: Towards the end of the winner's board era, Tom O'Brien had won $102,000 in cash and prizes before his eleventh game. When the game was over, Tom had won back all his major prizes plus an extra $50,000. He won a total of $152,847 in his first eleven games. He was brought back for the final Tournament of Champions in 1988 and added another $20,217 to his winnings, giving him the biggest ever daytime total of $173,064 cash and prizes.
 * Curtis Warren: One of the last big winners on the syndicated show, in 1986. He would later go on to win $1.41 million on Greed in 2000, which at the time was the all-time winnings record (has since been broken 4 times, most recently by Brad Rutter). He also won $700 on Win Ben Stein's Money after he failed to beat Ben in the Best of 10 Test of Knowledge.
 * Lisa Muňoz: Another big syndicated winner, taking home $122,551 in cash and prizes.

Winner's Big Money Game
On December 28, 1987, the bonus was changed one more time. In the Winner's Big Money Game, the day's champion had solve a series of six-clue word puzzles within the time limit. To start, host Perry gave the champ a choice three envelopes (red, yellow, or blue). Whatever the choice, the player started to hear and see the words of each puzzle appear one at a time; as soon as the contestant knew what the puzzle was talking about he/she must hit a plunger in front of the player to stop the clock (the clock started when the first word appeared). If the champ is correct, he/she won the puzzle and a circled checkmark lit up on the winner's podium. The champion can miss one time and continue, but two misses or time running out ended the game. The player can buzz-in and opt to pass without penalty if he/she can't come up with an answer. Solving four puzzles in 20 seconds (originally five in 25 seconds until sometime in 1988) won the champion $5,000 plus $1,000 for every return trip till he/she played the $10,000 game (a grand total of $45,000 for the first 6 Winner's Big Money Games); and then the next Winner's Big Money Game was worth a new car. Losing that game meant the player left the show, but winning the car gave the champion the right to play one more game. Winning that final game earned a chance to play one last Winner's Big Money Game for $50,000.

Two people made it to the $50,000 Winner's Big Money Game, but only one won it. Veteran game show contestant LaRae Dillman in January 1989 and Darrell Garrison during the last week of the show in March 1989 both made it to the seventh Winner's Big Money Game, but both lost when playing for the car. The $50,000 bonus appears to have been eliminated in November 1988, as Darrell was told on-air that his last time playing the bonus would be for the car and there was no mention of the $50,000 bonus when LaRae Dillman was playing for the car. There wasn't a mention of the $50,000 bonus during the Christmas Week of 1988 when a contestant won two consecutive Winner's Big Money Games.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:
 * The Winner's Big Money Game was originally the bonus round of the unsold 1985 Reg Grundy pilot Matchmates, hosted by Michael Burger.

Big Winners from this era

 * Rani White: Won $140,011 in May 1988. She was the only contestant to win the $50,000 bonus during this era.
 * Phil Cambry: Won $91,323 in October 1988. He won his final game, but missed the $50,000 bonus.
 * Darrell Garrison: Won $79,348 during the final weeks of the series in March 1989, but missed the car on the final attempt.

In Popular Culture
Sale of the Century was featured in the 1988 film Rain Man.

The glass money briefcase used to represent the cash jackpot or $50,000 was also used on Sale of the Century's sister show Scrabble during the finale of its 1985 Tournament of Champions.

In 2001, TV Guide ranked Sale of the Century #41 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time. Prior to this, the show was also mention of "The 60 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time" as a list of "The Other 50" (in alphabetical order) in 2013.

In 2006, GSN ranked Sale of the Century #34 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time. The special was hosted by Bil Dwyer. Interestingly enough, Sale (80s version) has never been on the GSN schedule (save for a few clips in a GSN special) until 2013.

Quotes/Catchphrases
"Welcome to Sale of the Century. I'm delighted to be back with you on NBC and thrilled to be here with a show that I know you're gonna enjoy. I'm gonna enjoy everyday introducing our lovely hostess, Sally Julian!" - Jim Perry (on the first episode of the series)

"Welcome to Sale of the Century. Let's welcome back to our champion (insert name). Win today, you'll be playing the Winner's Big Money Game for (insert cash jackpot). - Jim Perry (on a returning champion on the last show during the Winner's Big Money Game era.)

"Here to introduce the challengers, Sally Julian/Lee Manning/Summer Bartholomew." - Jim Perry

"You're right for another $5." - Jim Perry

"Oh, no. (insert correct answer). A quick buzzer cost you $5." - Jim Perry (on a contestant ringing in early and answered incorrectly.)

"It's time for an Instant Bargain. Player in the lead can buy bargain merchandise." - Jim Perry (at the start of the Instant Bargain.)

"It's normally priced at (insert amount), but it can be yours for only (insert amount) on Sale of The Century" - Hostess (1)

"It's normally priced at (insert amount), but today on Sale of The Century, it's yours for only (insert amount)." - Hostess (2)

"Going Once... Going Twice... No Sale!" - Jim Perry

"We'll knock the (insert amount) off your score..." - Jim Perry after a contestant made an Instant Bargain purchase.

"It's time for the Fame Game. We're playing, not for dollars, but for picking/controlling the board of the Fame Game. (It could be Money Cards, cash, or prizes.) Players, buzz-in when you know about a Famous Person/Place/Thing." - Jim Perry (at the start of the Fame Game)

"Incorrect. Out of the rest of the question. (You stay at (score)/No dollar value.) We'll clear it, continue for (insert opponents)." - Jim Perry (on a contestant ringing in and answered incorrectly during the Fame Game)

"No!/Incorrect! And (insert last contestant) gets the rest of the question all to himself/herself." - Jim Perry (on a second contestant ringing in and answered incorrectly during the Fame Game)

"Yes!/You are right! With very little/limited information. (Nicely done/solved.)" - Jim Perry (on a contestant ringing in early and answered correctly during the Fame Game)

Jay: "And behind number (insert number), we have (insert Money Card, cash, or prize)." - Jay Stewart when he/she selects either the Money Card, cash or a prize on the Fame Game.

Jim: "(insert amount) dollar money card where, Summer?" - During the second version of the Fame Game

Summer: "Behind number (insert number)!" - During the second version of the Fame Game

"Come on (insert amount) dollar money card...NOW!" - Contestant

"(insert amount) dollar money card...NOW!" - Contestant

Jim: "No, it lands on number (insert number) and he/she gets..." - During the second version of the Fame Game

Jay/Don: "(Insert cash or prize)." - When a contestant doesn't land on the Money Card during the second version of Fame Game

"(Very) Good/Excellent prize. That's yours to keep no matter how you finish in the game." - Jim Perry

Jim: "Where were those Money Cards?" - During the first version of the Fame Game

Summer: "Behind number (insert numbers.) - During the first version of the Fame Game

"And now, we finish up the game with the Speed Round. (I'll ask as many questions as I can in 60 seconds.) May I have 60 seconds on the clock. (Insert score recap.) We start the Speed Round now!" - Jim Perry

"We have a tie. (Last place contestant's name), you're out of it, you can't/cannot answer. It's just between (insert two tied contestants). Remember if you answer correctly, you'll add $5, and you would win, and if you answered incorrectly, you lose $5, and lose." - Jim Perry (on a Tiebreaker)

"Let's Go Shopping!" - Host

"You must stop the clock before the double-zero." - Jim Perry during the Winner's Big Money Game

"Three new challengers next time on Sale of the Century. Bye for now." - Jim Perry upon a champion's retirement

"Well, that wraps it up for Sale of the Century. First of all, on a personal note, this is my wife June. And if it were not for her and 30 years, I wouldn't be standing here today. And if it were not for all of these people behind us and all of the people up in the booth, we wouldn't have had 6¼ years of Sale of the Century where we have given away over $8,500,000 and I know of instances where we changed people's lives for the better. I hope for you that we have given you some joy, and some pleasure and entertainment, and somewhere along the line, possibly a little bit of knowledge that has added to your day. A lot of you have been very supportive of us for a long time. It has been almost 2,000 episodes of Sale of The Century, and we leave this show with great pride, a show that has been a wonderful show. And all of these people that we're going to see their faces, Summer and all the on-camera people, and all the people behind. It's because of them that it has been the great joy that it has. I thank you. I bless you. Goodbye, my friends." - Jim Perry (on the final episode of the series)

Music
1983 - Ray & Marc Ellis (updated in 1987)

Spin-Off/Revival
Temptation (US)

Links
The Best 80s & 90s Game Shows: Sale of the Century

Rules for Sale of the Century @ loogslair.net

Rules for Sale of the Century @ Game Show Temple

Josh's Sale of the Century Rules Page

Travis' Sale of the Century Rules Page

Another Sale of the Century Rules Page

A Blog about "Sale of the Century"

GSN's Press release for Sale of the Century

Sale of The Century on the Game Shows Wiki

Official Pearson website for Sale of the Century via Internet Archive

Sale of The Century (programme description) @ Fremantlemedia's former subsite (via Internet Archive)

Sale of the Century Video Slots sub-site @ igt.com