Jewish Law

Lesson # 560 Laws of Sales (3)

At the end of the last lesson I wrote that if the seller sold the item because he was under financial pressure to sell, he cannot later protest the sale as being subject to the rules of discrepancy in price. Similarly, if the buyer had great need for the item and overpaid in buying it, he cannot later protest the sale as being subject to the laws of discrepancy in price. If neither the community, Beit Din, nor the merchants have a policy of setting prices, then each individual seller may set his own prices. A seller is entitled to sell merchandise lower than the market price in order to entice customers to enter his store. The other merchants cannot complain about such conduct. The halacha also states that the merchant is permitted to distribute candies and nuts to children to encourage them to buy in his store. If a person sells real estate or notes of indebtedness the laws of discrepancy in price do not apply to the transaction. The halacha also exempts from the requirements of abiding by the laws of discrepancy in price transactions in which the Holy Temple is (hopefully will once again very soon be) a party. The exemption results from the Torah verse that states one should not wrong his neighbor and the Holy Temple is not one’s neighbor (see Vayikra 25:14). A lease of personal property is considered a temporary sale of the thing leased so that the laws of discrepancy in price may apply if they would have applied to the thing itself had it been sold instead of leased. There is no time limit set as to when the wronged party, whether the lessor or the lessee may avail himself of his rights under the discrepancy in price laws under leases. A lease of real estate is considered a sale of real estate for a limited time, and since the laws of discrepancy in price do not apply to real estate, they do not apply to leases for real estate. Similar concepts apply to contractors who are engaged to do a specific job, as distinguished from laborers. A contractor engaged to build a house or to sow the owner’s field is considered to be working on real estate, and the laws of discrepancy in price do not apply to him. However, if a contractor is engaged to work on personal property, such as a tailor to mend a garment, the laws of discrepancy in price do apply. Regarding wages of laborers, they are treated for the purpose of the laws of discrepancy in price to be similar to slaves, and the laws of discrepancy in price do not apply to them.
The halacha treats brothers who inherited personal property from their father (or any other relative) or partners who are dividing the personal property part of the partnership assets as a seller regarding the share received by the other brother or other partner and a as buyer regarding the shares that they received.

• Other Jewish Law
• Lesson # 582 Persons Ineligible to Participate in a Sale
• Lesson # 579 Going Out of Business Sale
• Lesson # 578 Pit Damage (cont.)