Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

[pjbmd]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

gentlemen
i appreciate all the feedback
some of what i am reading confirms that others would have felt the same way in this given situation

[mbenga28]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

since Steiner is dealing with the Yankees and their items are always in demand, why would they consider honoring an error price and lose out on a profit? sure, they might lose that customer and their reputation might take a hit but there are plenty more new ones who will replace him and pay full or close to full price.

[1929tudor]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

I would think when a company puts something for sale or in an auction they would go back and look at it to make sure the price is right. Like the previous post it's called proof reading. When I list something on Ebay I go back and look to make sure it's priced right.

[rose14]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Mistakes happen but lets get real here. Any reputable company that post something on their website rather correct or not should honor those prices. It was their mistake and it's called customer service. Steiner had a chance to make corrections before submitting it on the world wide web. It's called proof reading. Steiner making mistakes is something that seems to happen all too often and things like this make them look like a greedy and poorly managed company.

[mbenga28]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

what about when Steiner lists on MLB Auctions an item that is simultaneously on sale on their website, then if the item get sold on their site the MLB Auction listing is removed even though there are bids placed. is that fair to those bidders?

[commando]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Personally, I think it would be classy of Steiner to honor the prices, if not morally incumbent. At the same time, one does not want to have to second guess every good sale that comes up--nor does one want its customers to do so! Thus I think the ideal solution would be bringing those errors down to the point where they're so insignificant that one can either honor the prices, keeping everybody happy while having little affect on the bottom line, or cancel the orders, that action being unusual enough that it's shrugged off. Everyone understands that these problems happen from time to time, but when they become commonplace, they serve as a poor reflection on what can come to be seen as a tacky and mercurial company. After all, no company wants "if it seems too good to be true it probably is--so just don't bother" as its motto.

I agree this may be a moral issue -- but I think I see it 180 degrees from your perspective. If an honest mistake is made, or a computer glitch is responsible for an obviously ridiculous price on an item, I would personally feel like I pulled a fast one if I know in my heart this seller will be losing money (maybe alot of money) on the deal.

In a way, we have talked about this before in regards to how people act at ballparks. If an outfielder looks at a kid, tosses him a ball, and some other guys steps in the way and snags the ball, what just happened there? As far as I know no illegal crime was just committed, but in my eyes (and many others reading this), the guy basically stole the ball from that kid.

Regarding mistakes, they happen. It's not reasonable to expect any business -- or individual -- to be mistake-free. The other day I was surfing eBay and decided to bid on a wax box of baseball cards from the 1980s... I wanted to bid $20, but accidentally bid $200 (hey, it was three in the morning). Well, for this very reason, eBay allows you to retract your bid. I did just that, and all was well.

Everyone has their own opinion, including judges. But in regards to my personal moral beliefs, I will not take advantage of someone else's mistake unless they decide to honor it because they wish to.

I'm not gonna sell my soul for thirty pieces of silver.

[LWMM]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Dave, i understand where you are coming from and read the entire article. It also state that to prevent from forming a contact you should post the terms of sale on the companies terms/conditions of use page. That's what i posted

That's not quite true. The article suggests that the Terms and Conditions give the company the right to not honor the sale of a mistakenly priced item. However, this is only one step--and the most basic, at that--of what should be multiple to protect such an ability. As the article explicitly states, in fact, "Terms and conditions merely posted somewhere within a company’s website", i.e. the ones you reference, "are called 'browse-wrap' agreements and some courts refuse to enforce them unless customers validly and reliably assent to their terms." Beyond that (and I don't know if Steiner does indeed do this), the article urges companies to make customers actively accept the Terms and Conditions before ordering.

Even with that, I felt that the Terms and Conditions section of the article was really just the precursor to the main substance. What is really harked on is delineating between a customer's "offer" and "purchase". In essense, the formation of a contract is not delayed by the Terms and Conditions of a company, but rather by the way in which an order is structured. With the Amazon example, purchases are set up so that a customer wanting to purchase something sends in what amounts to an offer, which is then accepted (forming a contract) following a specific email from Amazon.

To recap: the article does not "state that to prevent from forming a contact you should post the terms of sale on the companies terms/conditions of use page". It suggests that one do so to limit liability, but gives other measures to prevent the contract from immediately being formed following an order.




However, all this is really a non-issue: it's not as if anyone's threatening litigation, and getting weighed down in the legal mumbo jumbo is tangential and perhaps even captious. In fact, it's also not your job. What's more important, and I think the intent of pjbmd in posting, is the moral issue here. I'd also be curious to know, ereyes, if you actually could autonomously agree to honor the prices, or if someone else would first have to sign off on doing so; it would just help to know exactly who we're talking to/about here.

Personally, I think it would be classy of Steiner to honor the prices, if not morally incumbent. At the same time, one does not want to have to second guess every good sale that comes up--nor does one want its customers to do so! Thus I think the ideal solution would be bringing those errors down to the point where they're so insignificant that one can either honor the prices, keeping everybody happy while having little affect on the bottom line, or cancel the orders, that action being unusual enough that it's shrugged off. Everyone understands that these problems happen from time to time, but when they become commonplace, they serve as a poor reflection on what can come to be seen as a tacky and mercurial company. After all, no company wants "if it seems too good to be true it probably is--so just don't bother" as its motto.

[kudu]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Though I see your point, I disagree with it.

That pretty much means that if we see a J. Bench bat on EBay with a BIN of $50 that we shouldnt hit the "Buy" button because its too good to be true. Clearly the seller meant a different price, right? Whether they did or not, 100% of us would hit the "Buy" button, yourself included.

What if Steiner was cleaning out inventory for a specific category for the end of the year and put them at awesome prices...but I didnt buy any because I decided to go with your theory of..."the price is too good to be true"?

Either way, this isnt the first time Steiner has had this problem. Fix it and we wont be having this discussion!

Sure you can hit the "buy it now", but the seller can refund your money and cancel the transaction. The seller may receive a negative feedback, but that was the their mistake. Essentially, this post is a "negative feedback" to Steiner.

[legaleagle92481]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

I agree with the OP and Joel on this one. They should honor the prices. Yes they have the right to cancel any order but how fair is that? Many states and localities have laws that require merchants to honor the price on the shelf and how is this any different than going into Macys and buying something. Clothes, collectibles, tvs, etc. it does not matter they are all goods. Although since this is the Internet those laws do not apply here and Dave as an attorney I disagree with you that he has a legal remedy the TOCs are on the site they are pretty clear no court is going to say they aren't. This is a doing whats right thing rather than a legal issue.

There seems to be alot of glitches on the Steiner site and if they want to stop things like this from happening they should address that problem. And if they lose some money that is a great incentive for them not to let it happen again. As far as the items in question except for the Jeter item they seem like items that someone could reasonable believe were on blowout. Noone on earth is going to pay $1,000 for a Melky jersey not even someone in his own family the guy is no longer a Yankee and was nontendered by the Braves so who knows if he will even ever play another big league game so one could reasonably believe that was on blowout. Justin Christen is a soon to be 31 year old prospect who began last year in the Atlantic League and has career stats of zero hrs and six rbis in the big leagues and is currently in the minors. $750 for his jersey is a bad joke so again a closeout would not be a shock as people are not tripping over each other to buy his stuff. The ALCS base also was not likely flying off the shelves at $2,500 since only a select few people collect bases and it was not used in the championship round. Being that the 2009 ALCS is long over someone reasonably could have believed it was also on closeout. Even the Jeter item it could have been damaged in some way or the signature may not have been mint or whatever.

[ereyes]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Dave, i understand where you are coming from and read the entire article. It also state that to prevent from forming a contact you should post the terms of sale on the companies terms/conditions of use page. That's what i posted

[CollectGU]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Dave hope you've read the entire article and also have read every word on our order confirmation email. Here's some of the verbiage from our Terms of Use page. We've had other mistakes on our site but most of those have been related to different discount coupons. Trust me its not like we enjoy when these mistakes happen and are working hard to prevent them in the future.

Order Acceptance
Please note that there may be certain orders that we are unable to accept and must cancel. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse or cancel any order for any reason. For your convenience, you will not be charged until your payment method is authorized, the order information is verified for accuracy and your order is shipped. Some situations that may result in your order being canceled include limitations on quantities available for purchase, inaccuracies or errors in product or pricing information, or problems identified by our credit and fraud avoidance department. We always make every effort to deliver to you the exact item that you purchased. However, at times items are lost or stolen, damaged or recalled by a team or athlete. If for any reason we are unable to deliver to you the item you have purchased, while we may assist you in trying to find another comparable item, you agree that your sole and exclusive remedy, and our sole obligation, is to provide you with a refund of the money paid for such item.

We may also require additional verifications or information before accepting any order. We will contact you if all or any portion of your order is canceled or if additional information is required to accept your order. If your order is canceled after your credit card has been charged, we will issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of the charge.

Some products consisting of sports equipment are not intended for use in connection with any physical activity, such as used merchandise which may no longer be suitable for its original purpose or promotional items that were never intended to be used in connection with any physical activity. You agree that you are responsible to determining whether or not any such products are suitable and you release STEINERSPORTS.COM from any liable for the use of such products.

Efrain,

I am only noting that the courts have ruled in favor of the buyer if the confirmation email is sent out. I doubt anyone would take you to court over such a small thing but they would have a leg to stand for sure. My guess is that your wording should be pop up at the the point of purchase and not in the confirmation email...Who cares at this point

Dave

[mdube16]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Bottom line is....there is nothing wrong with placing the order, however when it turns out to have been a mistake you cant be mad, disapointed or even surprised.

[ereyes]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Dave hope you've read the entire article and also have read every word on our order confirmation email. Here's some of the verbiage from our Terms of Use page. We've had other mistakes on our site but most of those have been related to different discount coupons. Trust me its not like we enjoy when these mistakes happen and are working hard to prevent them in the future.

Order Acceptance
Please note that there may be certain orders that we are unable to accept and must cancel. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse or cancel any order for any reason. For your convenience, you will not be charged until your payment method is authorized, the order information is verified for accuracy and your order is shipped. Some situations that may result in your order being canceled include limitations on quantities available for purchase, inaccuracies or errors in product or pricing information, or problems identified by our credit and fraud avoidance department. We always make every effort to deliver to you the exact item that you purchased. However, at times items are lost or stolen, damaged or recalled by a team or athlete. If for any reason we are unable to deliver to you the item you have purchased, while we may assist you in trying to find another comparable item, you agree that your sole and exclusive remedy, and our sole obligation, is to provide you with a refund of the money paid for such item.

We may also require additional verifications or information before accepting any order. We will contact you if all or any portion of your order is canceled or if additional information is required to accept your order. If your order is canceled after your credit card has been charged, we will issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of the charge.

Some products consisting of sports equipment are not intended for use in connection with any physical activity, such as used merchandise which may no longer be suitable for its original purpose or promotional items that were never intended to be used in connection with any physical activity. You agree that you are responsible to determining whether or not any such products are suitable and you release STEINERSPORTS.COM from any liable for the use of such products.

[intheminors]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

Thanks ereyes... That's the most communication I've received from Steiner in over a year.

[subway22]

Re: Forum Advice on Late Night Steiner "Sale"

no the buyer should use common sense, unless the items we own are worthless you should be able to tell when a price is too good to be true

Though I see your point, I disagree with it.

That pretty much means that if we see a J. Bench bat on EBay with a BIN of $50 that we shouldnt hit the "Buy" button because its too good to be true. Clearly the seller meant a different price, right? Whether they did or not, 100% of us would hit the "Buy" button, yourself included.

What if Steiner was cleaning out inventory for a specific category for the end of the year and put them at awesome prices...but I didnt buy any because I decided to go with your theory of..."the price is too good to be true"?

Either way, this isnt the first time Steiner has had this problem. Fix it and we wont be having this discussion!