<html> The following dialogue took place between RZev Sero and RMicha Berger:<br><br>RZS: First of all, it would be $5.00; the shtus is milgav, not milbar.<br><br>RMB: The mishnah's case (BM 49b) is someone who pays an extra 4 maneh on<br>something worth (or priced) 1 se'ah (=24 maneh). That comes to adding<br>1/6 to the list price, ie milebar. Similarly, the Rambam (Mekhirah 2:12)<br>discusses paying 5 or 7 for something that costs 6.<br><br>RZS: Second, mayo is a condiment, not a food, so IIRC (haven't got seforim<br>> to check) the permitted profit margin is actually 100%.<br><br>RMB: This is the first I heard that ona'as mamon is different for food than<br>non-food. I looked at the sugya on BM 49b - 50b, and Hil' Mekhirah<br>12. Didn't see any such chiluq being made.<br><br> Two different topics are being conflated here. One is ona'a, charging more or less than the going market price. One is not permitted to charge more than that price if the buyer is unaware of the overcharge; one is not permitted to pay less if the seller is unaware of the undercharge. In this case, there are three distinctions: if the difference between the charged price and the market price is greater than one-sixth, the deal is void unless the cheated party wants it to remain valid, in which case the over- or undercharge must be returned. If it is exactly one-sixth, the deal is valid and the difference is returned. If it is less than one-sixth, there is tacit m'chila, and the deal is valid with no obligation to make good the difference. This does not mean that it is permitted to overcharge less than a sixth or take advantage of an inadvertent undercharge of such an amount; according to many rishonim, the cheating party violates the issur of ona'a even in that case, but there is no obligation to make good the amount cheated. If both parties are aware of the true value, but agree on a price which is either higher or lower, there is not only no obligation to repay -- there is no ona'a to begin with, since no one was cheated. Thus, e.g., if a person has an object whose market value is $100, and someone wants to buy it from him, he can say "It's only worth $100, but I won't part with it for less than $500, because (e.g.) it has sentimental value to me," and if the buyer agrees, there is nothing wrong.<br><br> Then there is a din against profiteering in d'varim sheyeish bahem chayei nefesh. That is, in such matters the din assesses a maximum allowed profit, which is a one-sixth markup. As the g'mara states in Bava Basra 90a, "hamistakeir al yistakeir yoseir mish'tus." To the best of my knowledge, this means one-sixth mil'bar, what the seller paid for it, and not one-sixth mil'gav, what the buyer buys it for. (This is unlike ona'a, where if it's a sixth either mil'gav or mil'bar, the din of "kana, umachazir ona'a" applies.) If the seller does charge more, he is not guilty of ona'a; he has violated a takkanas chachamim.<br><br> As R. Micha noted, there is nothing in the dinim of ona'a, as listed by the Rambam in Hilchos M'chira Perek 12, distinguishing between food and other items. However, the profiteering din, which is in 14:1, does make that distinction.<br><br> As for the mayonnaise, it is, as R. Zev noted, a condiment, so that there is no limit on a markup, so long as both parties are aware of the true value. I believe that even if it would be a staple, the limit does not require one who made a windfall purchase to charge less that the market value. It would seem that the proper price to charge would be its replacement cost to the seller, $4 -- unless the sale is still going on.<br><br>EMT</html>
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