^
Sounds about right. It's like having two job offers, you don't have to tell everyone you interview with "oh hey, I'm interviewing elsewhere as well." They should expect you are. And if you take what you deem to be a better offer (even if it's only better because it was more timely), that's entirely your prerogative. It's business, after all.
There isn't even a need to tell one that another has given you an offer.
Sure, but in this case it would be like you've already told one of them that they're the only one you're interviewing with. If you've told them that, you should probably give them a heads up when the situation changes.
Yes to this ^^^!!No. No. No.
Sorry. But, no. It *is* expected that when you receive an offer that you notify other agents who are considering the MS. Not doing so *is* bad form and will not make you look good. (The only exception would be if someone offers and you realize immediately that they are not the right agent for you and refuse the offer. Otherwise, an offer means you notify everyone who is looking at the MS that you have received an offer and they have X amount of time - usually 14 days - in which to finish reading and make their own offer if they wish or to withdraw from consideration.)
Eh, maybe. But maybe you could fudge things and say "hey, this other guy I queried before you got back to me and also requested the full, so hurry up!"
Some agents will ask to be notified if someone else has/does make a full request, but they typically ask for names. This is to keep you honest and lying about it will make you look bad.
That's true, some of them will. It's not the *exact* same scenario, but when I was in the query trenches and finally got an offer on my novel, I sent out my notifications to the other agents that had the full and one of them actually did ask who was making the offer. I'm sure part of it was curiosity, but another part was also that it is a small world, and it doesn't hurt to send out feelers and make sure that a potential client who just announced an offer is "legit," and really is just trying to narrow down choices, rather than try and force a situation into rushing everyone else into an offer.
Unfortunately, "fake offers" have happened. I believe there was as scam just earlier in the year with multiple agents all receiving the same "threat" of offer, like clockwork, two weeks after a query was submitted.
I ask for the names of offering agents for a number of reason. 1) If it's a friend or someone I think is better for the project, I'll step aside. 2) Fake offers abound, as do fake referrals. I've received enough to now question everything. 3) I'm a curious bee.