From The HOTLINE

A Project of the Business Halacha Institute
All content has been reviewed by Harav Chaim Kohn Shlita for accuracy

by Rabbi Meir Orlian, Yerushalayim

I am interested in opening up an internet business. I need to figure out what is considered reasonable pricing for my specialty products so that I can be competitive, yet profitable.� The most effective way for me to obtain the information that I need is to contact my competitors and find out how much they charge for the same product or service.� Some of this research can be done online, but the majority would require me to speak to a representative of the company.� I have heard that there is a halachic issue with going to a store to inquire about pricing without the intention to purchase anything.

Q: Am I permitted to contact my competitors to find out their pricing?

A: Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 228:4) elaborates on the prohibition against ona�as devarim � verbal exploitation.� Cases of verbal exploitation include reminding someone that he is a ba�al teshuva (a descendant of converts) or asking someone a question that requires knowledge which the questioner knows the person does not have.� One of the examples mentioned is that one may not inquire about the price of an item if he is not interested in making a purchase.� This ruling would seem to prohibit �window shopping� where the customer inquires about the price of an item without intent to purchase.� Shulchan Aruch Harav (Laws of Ona�ah and Geneivas Da�as par. 28) states that this prohibition is violated when the customer�s intent is to deceive his friend. When a purchase is not made, the friend will realize that the customer�s intent was to deceive him, and this will cause him to be anguished by the incident.� Accordingly, as long as the owner/employee does not realize that the customer had no intent to make a purchase and will not feel that someone deceived him, the prohibition is not violated.

Based on this more narrow definition, it is certainly permitted for one to go �window shopping� if the business owner is not led to believe that someone was taking advantage of him.� Returning to your initial inquiry, it is permitted to inquire about the competition�s pricing following the same guidelines � as long as the business owner will never realize that the one making the inquiry had no intention of making a purchase.

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