[thelist] Selling over the internet - UK law

M. Seyon evoltlist at delime.com
Tue Oct 25 17:02:57 CDT 2005


Message from Sales @ Lycosa (10/25/2005 10:31 PM)

>Hi,
>
>I have just completed a web site for http://www.the-stone-shop.com and
>it went live yesterday. Unfortunately, my client added a product without
>adding the price. A web customer has spotted this, and ordered the item
>(worth around £35) for £0 + £4 postage. They have paid with PayPal.

The question I'd ask, were I your client, is how could my developer give me 
a website that allows me to sell a product for no price, and can/should I 
hold him liable for this oversight.

So I'd say you can take away a couple things from this situation:
1. Do you have a limitation/exemption of liability clause in your contract? 
If you don't, do you see where it might come in handy?
2. As part of best practice development, should you allow "incomplete" 
product entries to be displayed on a public site? If not, what steps are 
you going to put in place to prevent this from happening?

Whether you're legally required to or not is a question best answered by a 
lawyer in your area, but I agree with Joshua, the PR cost of not honouring 
the sale is probably not worth the lost revenue.

You could even offer to modify the app to prevent unpriced products from 
being displayed in the future.

regards.
-marc 



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