Unkar Plutt: What about the droid?
Rey: What about him?
Unkar Plutt: I'll pay for him. Sixty portions.
Rey: Actually... the droid's not for sale.
Rey: What about him?
Unkar Plutt: I'll pay for him. Sixty portions.
Rey: Actually... the droid's not for sale.
So you have a beloved pet, a robotic friend, or just a Companion Cube you feel really close to. They mean the world to you and you could never imagine being apart from it. But, it turns out your friend is of great value and others are interested in your friend too. Buyers will bring out all sorts of outrageous offers to tempt you, but no matter what gets offered, you cannot sell them.
Very often, What Measure Is a Non-Human? is in play. It certainly helps if the friend in question has sentience and would not wish to be taken away themselves. Though in some instances, this can still apply to items that aren't alive or intelligent but are still treated as such by the owner.
At times, this may even serve as an important plot point when a particularly determined 'buyer' turns to more shady methods of acquiring the commodity, where the story shifts to getting the friend back.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Di Gi Charat: Upon seeing Puchiko for the first time, Kimura takes her to the register and asks to buy her. Dejiko is not amused by this:
Dejiko: PUCHIKO IS NOT FOR SALE, NYO!
- Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur: Nobita uncovers a living baby plesiosaur, which he names Pisuke (lit. "little Nobi") and adopts as a pet, only to draw the attention of the Dinosaur Hunters, who have interest in owning Pisuke as a "test subject" due to its ability to bond with humans. Having raised the baby and seeing Pisuke as a family, Nobita is quick to reject the Hunters' proposal (regardless of the price offered) but this only causes problems when the Hunters come after Nobita and friends.
- Dragon Ball: Goku originally treated the 4-Star Dragon Ball this way, believing the spirit of his late grandpa resided inside it. He refuses to let Bulma take it or to be bargained away from it. He only agrees after Bulma proposes borrowing the Dragon Ball until she has collected all seven so she can summon Shenron the wish-granting dragon, with Goku accompanying her for the trip. Unbeknownst to him, Bulma tricks him by leaving out the part where the Dragon Balls get scattered across the Earth upon making a wish, meaning that Goku would have to hunt for his keepsake again.
- Noragami: Double Subverted — Yato treasures Yukine, but when Ebisu, God of Fortune, comes and offers any price for him, Yato immediately begins seeing dollar signs. Yukine is outraged at how easily bribed Yato is until Ebisu offers to pay Yukine to leave Yato's service, getting similar results. But in the end, Yato doesn't give Yukine up despite the potential monetary gain.
- Pokémon the Series: XY: In one episode, Ash and friends head to the Parfum Palace to retrieve a Pokeflute used to wake up a Snorlax from the Spoiled Brat Princess Allie who took it for herself. The Princess refuses to give it back until she offers to trade the flute for Pikachu. When Ash refuses, she instead tries to buy Pikachu from him with a wheelbarrow full of treasure. Ash calls Allie insane for doing so and doubles down on his refusal, not that she cares.
- Steins;Gate: In the anime adaptation, when Mayuri loses the Metal Upa she got out of the dispenser on campus, she mentions to Okabe that it goes for an exorbitant amount on the net, making replacing it near impossible. When Okabe hears how much it's worth, he insists they find it, as it would fund the lab for some time. Mayuri is indignant.
Mayuri: I'm not gonna sell my friend!
- Suite PreCure ♪: During a street market sale, a citizen mistakes Hummy for a talking toy (not knowing she's a magical creature). The girls quickly retort that she is not for sale.
Comic Books
- Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Several stories have people offering to buy Little Helper, Gyro Gearloose's robot buddy. Gyro generally refuses outright, but in the rare cases where it does happen Little Helper tends to return to him sooner or later anyway.
Fan Works
- Arrow 18 Mission Logs: In "Arrow 18 Mission Logs: Lone Ranger"'s "Archive Seven: Bigger Surprises", when Twilight accompanies Randy to Canterlot, and some ponies think he's an exotic smart pet, they try to buy him, but he's not for sale.
Twilight even mentioned she got about a dozen offers to PURCHASE me from several of those who thought I was a pet.
- Dungeon Keeper Ami:
- From "Backfire - Part 2"
: Keeper Midori makes a minor attempt to buy Ami's new youma... But doesn't get very far in it due to being distracted, and Ami wouldn't take the offer anyway:
That's an adorable pet you have. Care to trade it for- hey, is that the freaking Avatar in that other crystal ball? You sure like having an audie-" - From "Cruising Along":
"You see, I am a collector of sorts. I collect interesting creatures as well as those with exotic skills. From what I have seen so far, you do have an interesting sorcerer for whom I'd be willing to offer-""No way!" Ami interrupted, outraged at the suggestion that she would trade her employees like slaves.
- From "Backfire - Part 2"
- Outsiders: Professor Sycamore repeatedly turns down a collector's offers to buy Brennaraki, a shiny Fennekin on the grounds, that said Fennekin is not an object. The collector later breaks into the lab to try to steal it, but Louise stops the attempt. Out of gratitude, Brennaraki becomes her first Pokémon.
Films — Animation
- 101 Dalmatians: Cruella De Vil desires to buy the litter of Dalmatian puppies so she can make them into a fur coat. However, the Radcliffes firmly refuse and state the puppies are not for sale. This then leads her to attempt to kidnap said puppies.
- My Little Pony: The Movie: In Klugetown, several residents corner the Mane Six, offering to buy things from them; one of which is Spike, Twilight's dragon companion, which she refuses vehemently.
- The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists: Zigzagged — Queen Victoria wants to buy Polly, the pirates' pet dodo. At first, they refuse to sell her, but later on, the Captain caves in and sells her behind the crew's backs, leading to them disowning him. Later, when it turns out the Queen wants to eat Polly because she loves eating endangered animals, they have to band together to get her back.
- Toy Story 2: This trope kick-starts the film. Woody's attempts to rescue Wheezy from the yard sale end with him being spotted by Big Bad Al McWhiggin, a greedy toy retailer and collector. Andy's mom, knowing Woody is Andy's favorite toy, refuses all of his offers to buy him so Al decides to steal Woody instead.
Films — Live-Action
- Star Wars:
- A New Hope: Teased by Obi-Wan Kenobi as he, Luke, and the droids enter the Wretched Hive of Mos Eisley and a checkpoint of Imperial troopers halt them for inspection. Kenobi, of course, has no such intention; the offer was made as a show of nonchalance.
Captain: How long have you had these droids?
Luke: [lying] About three or four seasons.
Kenobi: They're up for sale if you want them. - Return of the Jedi: Defied; C-3PO is shocked that Luke would be willing to give him and R2-D2 to Jabba the Hutt as gifts. It turns out Threepio was Locked Out of the Loop and this was really part of the plan to get an inside man in the Hutt's hideout.
- The Force Awakens: Rey gets offered an exceedingly large sum of food by a merchant for BB-8; however, Rey is not interested in selling her new friend.
- A New Hope: Teased by Obi-Wan Kenobi as he, Luke, and the droids enter the Wretched Hive of Mos Eisley and a checkpoint of Imperial troopers halt them for inspection. Kenobi, of course, has no such intention; the offer was made as a show of nonchalance.
Literature
- The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents: Shortly after the crew arrives in Bad Blintz, someone offers to buy Maurice the cat (supposedly for his ratting prowess), first offering five dollars, then seven, then four loaves of bread. Keith refuses, despite Maurice whispering that he should ask for ten. Maurice is furious, insisting that he could have been back in ten minutes, but Keith had suspected there was something wrong about a town where bread is that expensive. He's proven right when local resident Malicia tells them that the man probably intended to eat Maurice; meat is hard to come by in Bad Blintz.
- Animorphs: Played with during The Exposed, where an alien android named Erek King (who usually passes off as a human) finds the advanced holographic technology he uses is malfunctioning. Rachel and Cassie end up dragging him off to a sci-fi geek store and put a price tag of $5000 on him in order to disguise him from the public until his hologram can be reactivated. Erek however is quick to point out that his actual monetary value would be in the billions.
- Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: For Shea's own protection due to her being part of the Rabbit People, Hajime's party pretends she is his slave. Due to her beauty, however, people often try to buy her off him. Hajime firmly refuses. One merchant tries to make vague threats but is quick to back down when Hajime demonstrates he could kill him faster than he could blink. One rich guy who refuses to back down gets the crap beaten out of him for not accepting a "no" and attacking the group when money didn't work.
- Beware of Chicken: Bi De's cultivation results in him being a very impressive specimen of a rooster, with well-defined muscles and brilliant plumage. As a result, when Jin brings him to town, there are lots of offers for him, from outright purchase to a payment for every bird he sires. Since Bi De is fully sapient, however, and a very loyal friend, Jin isn't interested in any of it.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Veruca Salt's downfall begins when she tries to get Willy Wonka to sell her one of the squirrels that he uses to sort nuts and Wonka says that they are not for sale. It is unclear whether he does this out of affection for the squirrels, because he needs them for his business, or because he just doesn't like Veruca.
- Deltora Quest: While traveling in Rithmere, Jasmine is asked by a gambling merchant to rent Kree for his gambling game until sunset. Jasmine is unwilling until Kree himself tells Jasmine he would agree to 30 spins as his price. Once the spins are reached, the merchant refuses to give Kree back and tries to take him as his own, but Kree escapes and in the process exposes the merchant as a cheater to the crowd.
- The Homeward Bounders: Rather disturbingly inverted. Twelve-year-old Adam discovers that his new friend Joris is a slave, from a world where it's legal, and that Adam's older sister Vanessa would have high value there. Joris has a good life and likes his owner, Konstam. As he doesn't get on with Vanessa, Adam's first act on meeting Konstam is to try to sell her. It's Konstam who reacts with horror and anger; it transpires he's an abolitionist who only bought Joris to protect him (he was a child and vulnerable) and will manumit him as soon as he's old enough. And Konstam is extra upset because he very obviously finds Vanessa extremely attractive, and would be tempted — if it didn't go against his moral code. Fortunately for both, the attraction is mutual.
- Johnny Tremain: Rab teaches Johnny how to tame and ride Goblin, a very nervous horse that Rab's family had bought. Johnny trains Goblin to be somewhat calmer, but he still sometimes shies at sudden movements. Later on, Lieutenant Stranger wants to commandeer Goblin for Colonel Smith's army. Johnny says Goblin is not for sale, but Stranger insists and wants to ride him. Johnny and a washerwoman deliberately flap a sheet at Goblin, who throws Stranger off, leading Stranger to tell Smith that Goblin is too jumpy to be worth buying.
- Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon: It is made clear early on that Boxxo — the titular vending machine — would fetch a high price due to his ability to conjure food and water, but Lammis makes it just as clear that she would never sell him.
- Red Planet: In this Robert A. Heinlein juvenile novel, Jim Marlowe (the teenage protagonist, a human colonist on Mars) has a "bouncer", Willis, an at least semi-intelligent native Martian life-form. (Willis can talk, albeit often by repeating verbatim what other people say.) Jim very consistently denies that Willis is a pet, and proclaims that the bouncer is instead his friend. When someone offers to buy Willis, Jim immediately (and rather indignantly) refuses. (Later on, the new headmaster at Jim's boarding school simply confiscates Willis, and soon realizes he can get a good deal of money for Willis from the London Zoo. The headmaster even notes — in a private conversation with another character — that he is almost certain Jim won't sell Willis for any price...but by that point the headmaster has declared that Willis is "contraband" and has been legally confiscated.)
- The Star Beast: Heinlein re-visited the trope in another of his juvenile novels. John Thomas Stuart XI is another teenage protagonist who has made a pet/friend of an alien creature, in this case a very large and very omnivorous (but generally quite friendly) eight-legged creature named "Lummox". (Lummox can talk, but doesn't have any hands, and therefore legally speaking isn't quite considered "sapient" under the laws of The Federation.) After Lummox and John Thomas get themselves in a great deal of legal trouble, a man from the Museum of Natural History offers to buy Lummox, but John Thomas indignantly refuses, even though the sale would be extremely helpful under the circumstances — it could even save Lummox's life. Later on, John Thomas does decide he must go through with the sale...and feels like an animal that has chewed off a leg to get out of a trap.
- Tales of the Frog Princess: In the second book of the series, Emma rides a dragon into battle and meets her foe, Prince Jorge, at the front lines. Jorge immediately asks what her price for the dragon would be, and she has to stop the creature from disintegrating him on the spot while she tells him in no uncertain terms that the dragon is her friend who's helping her out willingly, not a mindless weapon to be bought and sold. Dragons are fully sentient, intelligent beings with their own society, language, and social structure in this world, making the idea of selling one even more offensive, though it's unclear if Jorge is aware they're more than just mindless animals.
- Thais of Athens: Late in the story, the title heroine is offered increasingly large sums for her beautiful slave Eris, but refuses every one of them, as Eris has long become her Best Friend and confidante. When the potential buyer decides to just kidnap Eris, Thais has enough and grants her freedom (over her objections), if only because an attempted kidnapping of a free woman will face harsher punishment than "theft" of a slave.
- Trickster's Duet: The ending of Trickster's Choice sees Aly's father arriving in Lombyn in the guise of a slaver to buy Aly from the Balitangs so that he can bring her home. Sarai, Aly's erstwhile mistress, objects to the notion of her beloved servant and friend being sold, not realizing this is a ruse to free her. Aly herself insists on staying with the Balitangs, as she promised to protect them from danger and intends to see her quest through.
Live-Action TV
- The Golden Girls: In "Old Friends" Blanche accidentally gives away Fernando, Rose's teddy bear to a not-Girl Scout girl named Daisy. Daisy refuses to return Fernando unless she receives a new bike as a ransom payment. She even sends the ladies one of Fernando's ears. When she comes to collect her payment, Rose talks about how it might be time to part with her bear. Once Daisy trusts Rose enough to let her within arm's reach Rose snatches the bear away and shoves Daisy out the door.
- My Mother the Car: One of the recurring subplots of the series is that Captain Manzini (a car collector) wishes to obtain Dave Crabtree's 1928 Porter car (the only one of its type around), and Dave refuses to part with it because the car is possessed by the spirit of his deceased mother. This means that Manzini, who is obsessed beyond reason with getting the car, is constantly either offering Dave money for it or, when Dave insists he won't sell it, plotting other nefarious methods to obtain it.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: In the episode "The Battle", the Ferengi try to buy Data:
Kazago: And the android was mentioned too. What is its price? We should like to purchase it.
Picard: He is not for sale. Commander Data is, um, is, um...
Riker: Is secondhand merchandise. You wouldn't want him. - Wishbone: The episode "Fleabitten Bargain" (adapting Faust) features an inventor who shows up at Joe's house and tries to get Joe to trade his beloved dog Wishbone for a VR machine that Joe had been interested in earlier. Joe's instant reaction is, "No way!" and when the inventor pushes the issue, Joe's mom Ellen stands by her son and tells the inventor to leave.
Video Games
- Fallout 4: Midway through the "Kid In A Fridge" quest, the player will encounter a Gunner merc named Bullet who wants to buy Billy, the eponymous Kid. One of your options is to tell him to shove off.
- Jak and Daxter: Happens to Daxter when a Wastelander notices how helpful he is to Jak. Of course since Daxter is actually Jak's best friend transformed into an ottsel, Jak declines. The Wastelander does not help his case by vocally figuring out how much Daxter's pelt and meat would be worth if he wasn't as helpful as he could be.
- Mass Effect 3: Admiral Daro'Xen expresses an interest in experimenting on Legion (or his replacement if Legion didn't survive or was never recruited in the second game). Paragon Shepard can shoot down that idea, saying that Legion helped them against the Collectors and deserves better than to be treated as a lab rat. When Xen tries to protest that Shepard's pistol also helped, Shepard can interrupt her to coldly tell her not to continue that line of thinking.
- Ratchet & Clank (2002): The duo's first meeting with the Shady Salesman has the black marketeer offer to trade a R.Y.N.O. for Clank. Ratchet jokingly agrees to the trade, before clarifying that he's not for sale.
- Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet: One of the most reoccurring plots is other players trying to buy or win over the Player's android companion, ArFAsys, which is an exceedingly rare Type-X model. However both the Player and ArFAsys will establish that ArFAsys is not for sale, as they are not an item but a friend.
Web Animation
- Minilife TV: In "Robots, Wizards, and Rock 'n Roll", Professor Lander tries to buy Archie the robot from Clair to replace his unreliable owl assistant and even offers her a love potion, but she insists he's not for sale.
Western Animation
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: In "The Waterbending Scroll", when the Gaang find a pirates' ship offering items for sale the captain tries to buy Momo to resell as an exotic pet. Aang protectively makes it clear that Momo is not for sale.
- Dennis and Gnasher: One episode has Dennis intentionally invoking this. Seeing that Lottie is interested in a dog that is the same breed as Gnasher, due to her favorite celebrity having one, Dennis feels this is the perfect opportunity to use Gnasher to extort tickets out of her. Lottie tries to buy Gnasher from Dennis using a variety of offers, with Dennis aptly refusing, until she decides to tempt Gnasher himself with his own personal chef and groomer. This was all part of the plan, as Dennis knew Lottie couldn't handle Gnasher and in the end, she does anything Dennis wants to get rid of him (including giving tickets)!
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: In the episode, "Affair Weather Friends", a rich boy named Barry Bling comes to Foster’s looking for an imaginary friend and decides he wants Bloo, who’s Mac’s imaginary friend. Barry tries to buy Bloo from Mac, offering one hundred dollars, then five hundred, then a thousand, and then ten thousand, but Mac says he wouldn’t trade Bloo for all the money in the world. Mac later finds out that Barry is actually Berry, Bloo’s psychotic Stalker with a Crush, who trapped a rich family in a room of their own mansion, took over the mansion and their money, and disguised herself as a human boy as part of a plot to steal Bloo from Mac.
- Futurama: Done as a side joke in "A Head in the Polls" when Bender tries to buy back his body the pawnbroker offers him fifty bucks for Fry. To which Fry retorts that his clothes are worth fifty and the broker agrees. Thus, Fry is naked in the next scene.
- Robotboy:
- In "Shelf-Life", a spoiled princess named Justine wants to buy the titular robot (who is deactivated at the time) from Tommy because she thinks he’s cute, but Tommy refuses because Robotboy is his friend. Not giving up, she bribes Tommy's older brother with money to steal him for her, but when Robotboy is finally in her possession, she gets bored of him quickly.
- In "Stuck On You", the wealthy Klaus Von Affenkugel tries to buy Robotboy from Tommy so he can remove his super-strong limbs and use them as prosthetic limbs. Tommy refuses to sell Robotboy, even when Klaus offers "eleventy-million" Affenkugels (gold coins with his own face on them, because he’s so rich that he can invent his own form of currency). Like Princess Justine, Klaus decides that if Tommy won’t sell Robotboy, he’ll just steal him.
- In "Tween For a Day", Principal Culpepper catches Tommy playing a video game at school and confiscates it. She then says that she could give it back to him and let him play it all day instead of going to his classes, if he gives her Robotboy so she can play with him like a toy. Tommy denies that Robotboy even exists. Culpepper then sweetens the deal by offering to also give Tommy a perfect report card for the rest of his life. Tommy just tells her "If there was a robot, and I’m not saying there is, he wouldn’t be for sale."
- The Simpsons: In the episode, "Rosebud", a series of coincidences causes Maggie to end up in possession of Bobo, the teddy bear that Montgomery Burns owned as a child. Burns learns of this and approaches the family to try and negotiate a sum of money to have Bobo returned to him, but Homer ultimately declines Burns' offer, citing the fact that Maggie has bonded with him and gets upset when they're apart. Subverted at the end of the episode when Maggie sees how miserable Burns is without Bobo and decides to give it to him.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: Double subverted in "Move It or Lose It". Plankton has a yard sale so he can raise money to pay people to sign the petition to save the Chum Bucket, and one of the customers asks how much his computer wife Karen costs. Plankton asks the customer how much money he has, only to decide (albeit somewhat annoyed) that Karen isn't for sale after she yells at him.
