"Not a critical error... the seller's original desired price was not conveyed"
Online secondhand transaction (PG)
[Created by Baek Su-jin] Illustration
A court has ruled that even if a seller mistakenly lists a selling price at one-tenth its intended amount on a secondhand trading platform, a completed transaction cannot be canceled.
According to legal circles on the 27th, Judge Noh Min-sik of Civil Division 35 of the Seoul Central District Court recently ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by secondhand trader A against buyer B for delivery of goods and other claims.
A filed a civil lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the secondhand transaction with B that took place in March last year.
At that time, A posted on a secondhand trading platform that he would sell expensive billiard equipment for 317,000 won, and upon seeing this, B immediately expressed his intention to purchase all the items.
With product delivery and payment completed, the transaction was completed within a day.
A only realized after the sales payment was deposited that he had mistakenly listed 317,000 won, which is 10% of his originally desired price of 3.17 million won.
A claimed contract cancellation due to a critical error and requested that B return the items.
Under the Civil Code, if there is an error in an important part of the contents of a legal act, the expression of intention can be canceled.
In response, B proposed either paying compensation of 500,000 won or having A repurchase the items he had bought, but as negotiations broke down, the dispute ultimately led to legal proceedings.
The court rejected A's claims, stating that B could not have known that A originally intended to sell the item for 3.17 million won.
Based on Supreme Court precedent, the court determined that A's mistake was not a critical legal error but merely a "motive error" (an error regarding the reason or motive for making the expression of intention).
The court stated, "To cancel an expression of intention due to a motive error, the motive must be known to the other party and recognized as part of the contract terms," and determined that "however, based on the evidence submitted alone, it is difficult to conclude that the fact that the desired selling price was 3.17 million won was conveyed to B."
The court determined that the transaction could not be canceled and dismissed A's claims.
nana@yna.co.kr
