Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) in negotiating, to make a lower than realistic offer.

1957		N.Y. Times 16 June II 25: What the trade calls ‘low balling.’ In effect this is quoting a low price initially and then reneging or saddling a purchaser with extras when the time comes to consummate the deal [HDAS].
1978		Business Week 3 July 23/3: It is a shrewd move [...] but you can’t lowball a price and expect to buy anything .
1991		M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World [film script] benjamin: I’ll need two contracts [...] Long term, low-ball, get us everything.
1995		A. Heckerling Clueless [film script] Well, some teachers are trying to low-ball me, Daddy. And I know how you say, ‘Never accept a first offer’, so I figure these grades are just a jumping off point to start negotiations.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 49: Fariq had learned to decipher the stock pages, when to lowball a buyer, and if he were dumb enough to pay taxes, how to leap through the gaping loopholes.
2021		C. Hammer Opal Country 354: ‘That’s where he fucked up: he tried to low-ball Bullshit Bob’.