Superman Coins

I just got my latest issue of CCN, and in it a major western dealer advertises the gold Superman coin at $750.

Obviously, if you order the coin, you aren't going to get it for $750. And yes, at the bottom of the ad there is is a line that says All Prices Are Subject To Market Changes, which is their excuse for not selling you the coin at the advertised price.

Isn't that illegal? If a company advertises something is on sale at a certain price then isn't that company obliged to sell you that product at the advertised price? A car dealer wouldn't get away with that. An electronics dealer wouldn't get away that. A grocery store wouldn't get away with that.

I can see the need of protecting themselves in case the price of a precious metal suddenly sky-rocketing, but in terms of its precious metal content all the Superman coins are already vastly overpriced, so that isn't a factor. This is bait-and-switch advertising - advertise something at one price, then charge another when someone tries to buy at that price - and that is illegal. An advertised price is THE PRICE. A company can say they are out of stock and not sell any, that's up to them, but until a more current ad is published with the new higher price are they not legally obliged to stand by their published prices?

Yeah, I've read that, but in this case it's a hard copy newspaper ad, so it's not quite the same thing. Another dealer has an ad in the same issue for Superman coins but they do not include the gold coin.

You cannot advertise something that you are unwilling - not unable, because you don't have any more - but unwilling to sell at that price because you know you can get more. That isn't just unethical, it's illegal.

I'm more a cynic and see this as just typical of a business looking to make more profit.
I haven't seen many people live up to a promise when $1000+ are on the line, especially when it may be perceived that no real harm is done by not selling at a lower price. I wouldn't be buying from Talisman again but their actions, illegal or not, doesn't surprise.

Hummm... price printed on hard copy ad are the least reliable because they got outdated so quickly in this digital era. That is why hard copy ads always comes with fine print saying things like "limited quantity, price subjects to change, etc".

Just look at the Mint's catalogue, normally by the time we got the catalogue by mail, all the good coins were sold out already.

Maybe unethical but not illegal. Dealers are allowed to sell products for whatever price they wish. For newspapers ads, they can say they sold out at that price or a misprint

Talisman is different. Because once your order has gone through, it is a legal contract. People who don't get their coins have the right to sue for breach of contract.

@lyradnoj: Did you call them and try to order the coin at the advertised price?

No, but even over the phone it's not the same thing. They could just say it's out of stock, sorry, and there's nothing you can do about it because you can't prove it one way or the other. But if you go into any business with their latest flyer in hand then that business had better be prepared to sell you anything in that flyer at that price - provided they still have in stock.

You can't just arbitrarily up the price because a lot of people want to buy something, and as your stock dwindles you can't up the price because suddenly it's becoming scarce. Coin dealers do this all the time, but it isn't right. If you don't honour the prices you put in your ad then either state right up front that stock is limited - a nice broad term that covers just about everything and encourages customers to shop early - or like the other dealer in the CNN, don't include potentially hot items in your ad at all.

It would be nice if everyone could get Talisman removed as an official Mint distributor at the very least. You would think the Mint might listen to a group of collectors.