ps3console

Update at 7:50 AM 17 Jan 2011 – At some point during the night both of the PS3 pages were pulled at Amazon and Target.  Now it will be interesting to see how the clean this up.  I wonder how many sales were made?

Update at 1:05 AM 17 Jan 2011 – For everyone who is commenting on the fact that the Amazon.com’s sales page for this item, which is fulfilled by Target, only shows details of a console being sold and therefore it should be honored needs to take a look at Amazon.com’s Pricing page and find this part:

With respect to items sold by Amazon.com, we can’t confirm the price of an item until you order; however, we do NOT charge your credit card until after your order has entered the shipping process. Despite our best efforts, a small number of the items in our catalog may be mispriced. If an item’s correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation.

This policy applies only to products sold and shipped by Amazon.com. Sellers may follow different policies in the event of a mispriced item.

Emphasis is mine.  Target is the seller and therefore their pricing policy comes into effect which is the price is not confirmed until they ship the product.

No one is getting $40 PS3 consoles through this mistake – just a lot of cancelled orders.

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No Virginia – Target is not selling a PS3 Console for just $39.99 although it looks like they are.

ps3targetad

Yes the above screen shot does show a PS3 for sale for that price but if you scroll down a little further you will see the description is for the Sony PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter controller:

    The official PlayStation®Move sharp shooter provides the most intuitive and immersive control experience for shooter games. Its authentic design and precision ensure the most engaging gameplay experience. Easily accessible buttons and adjustable shoulder stock allow for hours of comfortable gameplay. Take aim and Move into the firefight.

Anyway, you can read more at Target Glitch Puts Sony PS3 60GB Price At $39.99; Expect Lot of Cancellations about the situation and what the results of a phone call to Target was about this.

Before all of you who placed the order get in an uproar about the mistake – Target is within their rights to cancel every one of the orders and not be liable for a penny of the mistake because of this on their Pricing Policy page:

Confirmed Prices and Pricing Errors
We cannot confirm the price of an item until your order enters the shipping process nor will we charge your credit card until your order enters the shipping process.

Please note that your Order Acknowledgment means that your order request has been received; it does not mean that your order has been shipped or that the price of an item has been confirmed.
Despite our best efforts, a small number of the items on our Web site may be mispriced. As part of our shipping procedures, we verify price before an item is shipped out.

•    If an item’s correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower amount and ship you the item.

•    If an item’s correct price is higher than our stated price we will cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation via email.

The emphasis is mine.

So what do you think – should Target have some accountability here or does this line on their pricing page make it all right?

I am guessing there are a lot of people who are thankful that they do not simply adjust the cost to the right price and charge for it.

I guess that would not be fair either.