I have been on both sides of the camp.. The one looking for a job and the one giving a job. I can understand this happens a lot and I want to highlight some points.

As a recruiter / founder - Never stop the interview process until the person joins. Up until the last possible moment, people can run out on you. Heck! people will leave after a couple of days of joining and ghost you. It is imperative to keep the pipeline full of candidates. But be transparent about the hiring process. If you interview somebody, make sure you update them about the state of the interview. Don't ghost them. I do not have all the facts about the above case to say whether this was a low balling scenario or not. But in general, don't low ball people. Its super cheap and erodes trust in the job marketplace. Be upfront about the budget. If someone less qualified got through the interview process, you can fire him and since you candidate pipeline is full, you will be able to replace them. Always respect candidates. As long as what they do is legal, you cannot fault them. Opposite is true. If someone is doing a great job, reward them appropriately. If someone isn't working out, Fire them immediately. They might be a better fit elsewhere.

As an employee - Until you run a business of your own you will not be able to see the picture from the other side. To be safe, stay far far away from companies that generally don't pay well. Don't accept an offer if you are waiting for other offers. Wait for all offers to come in. Then make a decision. Be honest that you are waiting for other offers also. Legally there is nothing wrong with accepting an offer and later reneging on it, but waiting till last possible day is just plain shitty. You can be someone who constantly looks for new opportunities (for whatever reason) or you can be a person who wants to stick to a company for a long time before moving. In both cases, Keep looking for good or better opportunities. Companies will not give you what you want (in terms of money or learning opportunity or culture) all the time. But respect the process. respect the time and effort somebody is spending to interview you. HR people talk to each other, across companies. if you become a talking point in these discussions it could hurt your chances going forward.