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If I remember correctly, in these cases (bunk beds and televisions) the orders were never fulfilled. The court ruled that a sales contract is not binding if the

If I remember correctly, in these cases (bunk beds and televisions) the orders were never fulfilled. The court ruled that a sales contract is not binding if the buyer can reasonably suspect that the price shown is so absurdly low that an error on the side of the seller is apparent. That is, you can try to order the item, but the seller has no legal obligation of fulfilling it if they can proof beyond reasonable doubt that a mistake was made, and can return the money instead.

LeonidasXIV 7y ago
This is because (at least in many shops in the EU) ordering does imply a sale, no contract has been made, it is only a notion of intent (which if you read the T&C in the order confirmation you'll find pretty often). The contract is only made when the company ships it, thus agreeing to the sale.
- Uberphallus 7y ago
  Actually the contract is in place when the order is confirmed. At least from EU webshops it's common to receive two mails, one for order received, another for order confirmed (potentially hours or even days later). This actually hit the spotlight recently in Spain as Dell advertised 1000-1800€ laptops for 29-35€ on their site[0]. Many people bought, received the first AND the second email around 5h later. If it wasn't for that second email, they could cancel the order no questions asked, but actually someone on their side said "yep, this order looks fine" and clicked confirm. Consumer associations are hitting Dell with all their force. [0] In Spanish: https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/portatiles-Dell-clientes-enfadados-marketing_0_907110099.html https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/portatiles-Dell-clientes-...
  - mlonkibjuyhv 7y ago
    My god Dell's webshop is a steaming pile of fun. I've only had to deal with being unable to order months on end - this sounds much more friendly!
    - Uberphallus 7y ago
      Not friendly, they canceled the orders, breaching their own contract and the law doing so. They went past the "no backsies" point in the transaction and they actually backed out.
nickjj 7y ago
> The court ruled that a sales contract is not binding if the buyer can reasonably suspect that the price shown is so absurdly low that an error on the side of the seller is apparent. How can you prove something like that in court in this camera case? For example, let's say you were just getting into photography and were window shopping by browsing around Amazon's site. You run into a camera that has a 4.7 average rating with 3,000+ reviews and the example pictures that people were posting look great to you. You have no idea about camera specs but you see it for $149, so you buy it. That doesn't seem too unrealistic, especially not when phones cost $1,000. You could totally think "oh, well $150 for just a camera sounds about right".
- JustFinishedBSG 7y ago
  Because you can infer that the "-99%" near the price is weird.
  - nickjj 7y ago
    The a6000 is normally $550 and was marked down to $95. That's not a big enough discount to infer it was a price mistake. Especially not when Amazon advertises this as one of the biggest discount days of the year.
    - tripzilch 7y ago
      And it's quite possible that a Dutch court would rule different in that particular case.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  >How can you prove something like that in court in this camera case? Go look at the screenshots in the article it shows the prime savings at checkout: >Prime Savings -$1,204.52 That is a pretty clear indication that "wow, this is astronomically discounted" which should reasonably clue any adult with their full mental faculties in to "something strange is going on here".
  - 7y ago

LeonidasXIV 7y ago

This is because (at least in many shops in the EU) ordering does imply a sale, no contract has been made, it is only a notion of intent (which if you read the T&C in the order confirmation you'll find pretty often). The contract is only made when the company ships it, thus agreeing to the sale.

Uberphallus 7y ago
Actually the contract is in place when the order is confirmed. At least from EU webshops it's common to receive two mails, one for order received, another for order confirmed (potentially hours or even days later). This actually hit the spotlight recently in Spain as Dell advertised 1000-1800€ laptops for 29-35€ on their site[0]. Many people bought, received the first AND the second email around 5h later. If it wasn't for that second email, they could cancel the order no questions asked, but actually someone on their side said "yep, this order looks fine" and clicked confirm. Consumer associations are hitting Dell with all their force. [0] In Spanish: https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/portatiles-Dell-clientes-enfadados-marketing_0_907110099.html https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/portatiles-Dell-clientes-...
- mlonkibjuyhv 7y ago
  My god Dell's webshop is a steaming pile of fun. I've only had to deal with being unable to order months on end - this sounds much more friendly!
  - Uberphallus 7y ago
    Not friendly, they canceled the orders, breaching their own contract and the law doing so. They went past the "no backsies" point in the transaction and they actually backed out.

nickjj 7y ago

> The court ruled that a sales contract is not binding if the buyer can reasonably suspect that the price shown is so absurdly low that an error on the side of the seller is apparent. How can you prove something like that in court in this camera case? For example, let's say you were just getting into photography and were window shopping by browsing around Amazon's site. You run into a camera that has a 4.7 average rating with 3,000+ reviews and the example pictures that people were posting look great to you. You have no idea about camera specs but you see it for $149, so you buy it. That doesn't seem too unrealistic, especially not when phones cost $1,000. You could totally think "oh, well $150 for just a camera sounds about right".

JustFinishedBSG 7y ago
Because you can infer that the "-99%" near the price is weird.
- nickjj 7y ago
  The a6000 is normally $550 and was marked down to $95. That's not a big enough discount to infer it was a price mistake. Especially not when Amazon advertises this as one of the biggest discount days of the year.
  - tripzilch 7y ago
    And it's quite possible that a Dutch court would rule different in that particular case.
ryanmercer 7y ago
>How can you prove something like that in court in this camera case? Go look at the screenshots in the article it shows the prime savings at checkout: >Prime Savings -$1,204.52 That is a pretty clear indication that "wow, this is astronomically discounted" which should reasonably clue any adult with their full mental faculties in to "something strange is going on here".
- 7y ago