Should Compensation Be Made for a Packaging Weight Error?


Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

My face cream packaging stated 30 grams, but it contained only 25 grams. Should I compensate the resellers who purchased from me or the consumers who bought from the resellers?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

Your issue is with the reseller, as it is with him that you have established a sale contract regarding the face cream you were selling. This reseller has been wronged because he has received less than the amount agreed upon when you concluded the sale. Thus you should warn him as soon as possible about this mistake.

The reseller will have two options:

– Demanding financial compensation for the missing product from you, which will make you religiously liable to refund him the value of the 5 grams of the missing product.
– Canceling the sale if the product is still available. Thus, you will have to give him back the money he has paid you, and you will be entitled to repossess your product.

[Maydani, Lubab]

Of course, the customers of the reseller have also the same options with the reseller and it is the duty of the reseller to warn them, not yours, because you have no contractual relationship with those customers.

Allah, Most High, says: “O believers! Do not devour one another’s wealth illegally, but rather trade by mutual consent.” [4.29]

And Allah knows best.

[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat 

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching for ways to learn Islam reliably and was disappointed at the answers he found locally.

Then, he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.

He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.