Orders made during pricing error cancelled

For a few hours, Sears.com shoppers thought they were getting the sale of the century: brand-new 16GB iPad 2s were offered on the department store's website for $69, CNN reports. The deal quickly "went viral" on social networks and many people placed orders and even received confirmation e-mails, but that evening the company posted a statement online blaming the error on a third-party vendor and stating that all orders would be cancelled, leaving some customers irate.

The normal price of a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad is $500, though due to the continuing shortage of stock in some areas, third-party sellers often sell the units for far higher prices: the normal price of the base-model iPad as offered by the "Marketplace" seller using Sears' site is $745. Similar units are offered by third-party Marketplace vendors for as high as $925 for the same 16GB, Wi-Fi, black model. The same third-party vendor also offered a 32GB model for $179, again far below the normal retail price of $600.

Sears runs their "Marketplace" section in a manner similar to Amazon's third-party vendors, lending the name brand's credibility and vetting and using its website to handle the technical aspects in exchange for either a flat fee or percentage of the sales. Sears does not impose price controls on vendors, but does handle billing and ensures fulfillment of the order.

"We want you to know that, unfortunately, today one of the Marketplace third party sellers told us that they mistakenly posted incorrect pricing information on two Apple iPad models on the Marketplace portion of the website. If you purchased either of these products recently, your order has been cancelled and your account will be credited," said the statement posted on the company's website. This was not enough to placate some of those who ordered, according to the article. The news site quotes a Riverview, Florida woman who ordered one to replace a stolen unit for her disabled son, and who threatens to never shop at Sears again if the order isn't honored.

"They want to blame a third party, but the order confirmation e-mail I got was from Sears," the woman said.

A Sears spokesman could not comment on the number of orders during the errant pricing period. Other vendors have occasionally mis-priced iPads, including AT&T, which in late April very briefly offered 64GB 3G iPads for the same price as 32GB 3G iPads, a $100 error, but the Sears Marketplace snafu was by far the most dramatic "price mistake" yet seen for iPads. [via CNN]

by MacNN Staff