If things go that way, the headhunter lost their cut of that 50K. Instead, a good headhunter should have some idea of what the company is willing to pay.

For me, I find things usually go the other way. I could spend a lot of time working through the process, only to find out that I'm too expensive for the company. I don't need the frustration of working through the process at several companies just to find out that none of them will pay me.