Darul Ifta Ibn Masood

Claiming a refund due to finding the item cheaper elsewhere

· 24 Rabiʻ I 1444 AH1 min readEnglish

Question

A few days ago, I purchased an item online. The item arrived, I opened it, and used it.

Today, I discovered the same item available at another store for almost half the price which I had originally paid for the item.

I’d like to know if it will be permissible to purchase the same item from the second store (i.e. the store that was cheaper) and then return these unopened items purchased from the second store, to the online store (i.e the store where I had first purchased the items from)?

Answer

We understand that you are now regretting your purchase as you could have purchased the goods at half the price. However, the Fuqaha have written that the purchased item must be available in the possession of the purchaser for the validity of a refund. If the purchased item is destroyed the refund will not be valid.

In your instance, we assume that the purchased item has already been used and worn out to some extent or completely. This means that the actual purchased item is no longer available in its original form. Hence, it is your intention to purchase another item and claim a refund. Based on the Mas’ala quoted above, it will not be permissible to do so.

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

يَلْزَمُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمَبِيعُ قَائِمًا وَمَوْجُودًا فِي يَدِ الْمُشْتَرِي وَقْتَ الْإِقَالَةِ فَلَوْ كَانَ الْمَبِيعُ قَدْ تَلِفَ لَا تَصِحُّ الْإِقَالَةُ (مجلة الاحكام الْمَادَّةُ 194)

Answered by
Mufti Mohammed Desai
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Source: Darul Ifta Ibn Masood — https://fataawa.co.za/claiming-a-refund-due-to-finding-the-item-elsewhere/
Fatawa SA: https://fatawa.co.za/fatwa/ibnmasood-20545

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