Doctrine of Caveat Emptor

In general, it was believed that the business have the duty responsibility to provide products that fulfill the claims that the business explicitly made about the products on the markets to their consumers. Consumers form expectations about the products they are going to buy based on those claims and thus, leads them enter into a buying contract. The company has the duty to provide consumers what they pay for. However, consumers today were assumed to be wise, knowledgeable and doubtful. The doctrine of caveat emptor, meaning “let the buyer beware”, proclaims that consumers were entitled to buy at their own risk unless a warranty is given by the sellers. It was because that the consumers nowadays have their absolute right to choose what they want to buy freely; therefore, they were expected to take the responsibility to inspect and check any potential buying carefully based on their own judgment and were asked to accept the risk that the products have the possibility to be either defective or unsuitable to their needs.

Products with this information prevented sellers or manufactures from any lawsuit regarding to consumers’ negligence and carelessness during the buying or using processes that the consumers might get injured when they use the products they bought. Anyhow, the doctrine of caveat emptor is not designed to protect the sellers/manufacturers who trying to concealed any hidden defects or making misleading claims about the quality or condition of the products they sold that may amounting to fraud and bad faith of the company so consumers must clearly know their rights and be alert to any possible scams. Nevertheless, product safety is an ethical obligation nowadays, so the products were assumed to be safe for ordinary use all the time. Product liability comprises “all claims or action brought for personal inquiry, death, or property damage caused by the manufacture, design, formula, preparation, assembly, installation, testing, warnings, instructions,

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