False Advertising?

typing00

Was on the lookout for computer on ebay and came across this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14294&item=5194826900&rd=1

claims that dell was asking £676 for it but when i went to dell and entered the evalue code D05305 the price is more like £584 with the addition of modem and speakers which is not available in the auction. does this not constitute false advertising? as the seller states that he is a limited company and VAT registered is this reportable to ebay or trading standard?

criminal_smile

No is the simple answer. Just because you can buy this cheaper elsewhere does not mean that he is in breach of any legislation. It is the job of the retailer to make money. If the buyer wants to pay his higher price, then that's their problem for not spending the time to research for a cheaper supplier. Caveat Emptor applies when looking at prices and finding cheaper ones.
Dell may charge a lower price on their website now, but it may have been dearer, he may not be buying from the website etc, etc. Plenty of reasons why the higher price from Dell may have been quoted. Could be worth emailing him and pointing out that you've seen it cheaper from Dell, and asking where his price is from. As long as he doesn't mislead you about the price he is charging you the consumer, then this couldn't be classed as a misleading price indication.

biblejohn

Dell`s prices do drop fairly quickly, so it might be when he made his advert up, the higher price was correct.

Dee123_2

Went to look at the Dell site, changed the options to match the Ebay item and it came out to exatly £676.

You need to make sure Windows Home Edition is selected, change the memory to 512MB of RAM (DDR333), the Hard Drive to 80GB and select the FP/MG 17in Midnight Grey Flat Panel screen.

Did you change the options and then hit the Update price button?

Speakers are built into the monitor as standard anyway, but, yes, I don't understand the missing modem

Hintza

I can understand folk getting hacked off with false prices BUT surely this is all a bit pointless.

I can search the web for hundreds of identical items and find different prices for each and everyone. If I was going to do a price comparison on a listing I might be tempted to quote the highest one I could find.

As has been mentioned caveat emptor if you do not know the market for the items you intend to purchase more fool you. The seller would also not help his sales if it is apparent that his price comparison is too high...most folk are not easily fooled.

The other point is he is not dell therefore can gardly be done for false advertising!!

thechef_2

In my option it is definitely not false advertising, but it is my add

typing00

Dee123 wrote:

Went to look at the Dell site, changed the options to match the Ebay item and it came out to exatly £676.

You need to make sure Windows Home Edition is selected, change the memory to 512MB of RAM (DDR333), the Hard Drive to 80GB and select the FP/MG 17in Midnight Grey Flat Panel screen.

Did you change the options and then hit the Update price button?

Speakers are built into the monitor as standard anyway, but, yes, I don't understand the missing modem

£676 is for 3 year warranty, the ebay ad was for 1 year manufacturer.

Anyway, I apologise (especially to thechef) if i am in the wrong, but the £676 price quoted included 3 year warranty, a DVD/CDRW combo drive (as opposed to just a CDRW), a modem, a separate speaker, all of which are lacking from the ebay computer for sale. Caveat emptor it is then ...