Moral Theology / A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities

by John A. McHugh; Charles J. Callan

(b) The manifestative norm for commodities that are in common use (such as the necessities of life and the more usual luxuries) is the common judgment expressed either in law (legal price) or in the free custom of buyers and sellers at a particular place and time (market price); for objects that are not in common use and that have no settled price (e.g., rare archeological finds, ancient documents or paintings) the norm is the prudent and free judgment of the parties, or the decision of an expert chosen by them.

2126. The Obligation of Observing Prices Settled by Law Or Custom.—(a) The legal price (e.g., in some countries the prices on government monopolies, such as tobacco and salt), which in modern times is rare, is ordinarily obligatory in virtue of commutative justice, since its disregard harms one of the parties to the sale. But in exceptional cases the price may for reasons of equity be no longer obligatory (e.g., when the lawgiver does not insist on its observance).

(b) The market price is ordinarily of like obligation, and for the same reason. But it should be noted that the current price allows of some latitude, since the common estimate does not agree on exactly the same figure, and hence there is a highest, a lowest, and an average price. Injustice is done when one sells above the highest market price, that is, when one charges a sum notably in excess of that charged by others at the same place and time; or when one buys below the lowest market price, that is, when one pays a sum notably less than that paid by other buyers. St. Alphonsus gives as a rule that when a commodity is valued at 5, it may be sold for 6 or bought for 4; when valued at 10, it may be transferred or acquired for 12 or 8; when valued at 100, it may be exchanged for 105 or 95.

2127. When the Market Price May Be Disregarded Without Injustice.—In some exceptional cases one may disregard the market price without injustice, if there are reasons that justify this.

(a) Reasons that rest on the matter of the contract are that the thing on sale has increased or decreased in value (e.g., the merchandise is of extraordinary excellence or rarity), or that the contractant would lose or risk loss from the sale itself by keeping to the market price (e.g., the buyer would by his purchase deprive himself of money that could be used more profitably in another transaction; the article if sold would have to be replaced by the seller at a higher price; the vendor by waiting can make a better sale later; the object which a person wishes to purchase is especially prized by the owner and cannot be duplicated). In these cases, however, the vendor should give notice to the buyer that for special reasons a higher price is being asked, so that the latter may have the choice of going elsewhere, if he prefers.

(b) Reasons that rest on the manner of the contract are that certain exceptional forms of sales are justified by law or custom and do not violate basic justice. Auction sales are of this kind, and, if the conditions of aleatory contracts are observed so that the risk will be equal on both sides, it is not unfair to take a price above the highest current price or to bid and buy below the minimum price.

2128. If the reason for the increase is the accommodation of the sale itself to the purchaser, because he specially prizes the article, does it justify an increase above the market price?

(a) If the article has become of greater value to many because of its own worth, the market value has also risen, and one may raise one’s price; but if its greater value to many is due only to public distress, as in time of war, it would be a cruel form of injustice known as profiteering to raise the price exorbitantly.

(b) If the article has become of greater value to one person only, the seller may not raise his price for that reason, since the special worth the article has is not inherent in it, and hence it may not be sold by the owner as if it were his own possession. If, however, the purchaser wished to add something as a free gift, there would be no objection to his doing so. The same principles apply to the purchase of an article at less than its value, for the sole reason that ready money has special value for the seller.

2129. Unjust Sales Based on Ignorance of Real Value.—There are also cases in which an object is purchased at an unjust price because its true value was unknown to the contractants or was hidden.