Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Defending Dan's Deal


ICYMI, the Children's Place made what appears to be a pricing error on their web site, and after Dan Deals announced it, some pronounced Dan's behavior "disgusting."

That's cool, by me. You're allowed to think its "disgusting"  when someone capitalizes on a corporation's pricing mistake. But you run into problems when you try to speak about this from the vantage point of halacha.

See, here are some things that need to be taken into consideration before you go paskening that Dan is disgusting:
  1. Who says this is a pricing mistake?  Corporations do all sorts of things to attract attention and generate buzz. Slashing prices on a few items drives traffic to the website and gets people talking. 
  2. If it is a mistake the company may have forgiven the loss. They retain the right to cancel sales at their discretion. If they allow the sale to go through, you can assume they are honoring the price and accepting the loss.
  3. If it is a mistake and they aren't mochel, there still might not be a real loss. Making less then your wanted to make on a sale isn't a loss. Its an unrealized gain.
  4. A pricing error that causes a loss (as opposed to an unrealized gain)  is, technically, an aveida, a loss, and we have no halachic obligation to return an aveida to a corporation
Now, if your personal morality says different, kol hakovod.  Just don't make it about halacha. Make it about your own opinion.

 Search for more information about Dan's Deals at4torah.com

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