Question by nickelRev: Is it illegal to sell ordinary items for high prices by claiming they have ‘metaphysical’ properties?
For example, look up “The Tesla Shield” which is obviously just one of those aluminum pill container keychains. I mean, they just made up all this crap about it and people actually buy it for 90 dollars.
What I’m trying to get at, is can they nail you for false product claims when you can neither prove or disprove the claims you’re making? (i.e. If somebody tries to sue you, can the court really prove or disprove that such-and-such an item contains the Healing Magicks from the Satyrs of Yore, Tachyon Reinforcement Energies from Orgone Power Astrals, etc.)
Best answer:
Answer by hoolicatt
Rofl… This Question Is Awesome… Ok, Here Is The Deal… You Can Claim An Item Has Some Spiritual Or Supernatural Power Or Contains An Item Of Such Nature And Charge More Legally, However, The Item Has To Be Hand Made. You Can’t Just Buy A Bunch Of Things From A Company, And Resell Them For More, Because You Will Be Advertising A Product Differently From It’s Original Advertised Purpose. You May However, Buy An Item And Add To It. Like, Put Something In It. Rofl, Have Fun Ripping People Off.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Yes it is illegal and they can nail your hide to the wall for making false claims (Truth in advertising law).
The court does not have to prove or disprove any claims,the plaintiff must prove the claims are false and the defendant must prove the claims are true.
Burden of proof lies with the prosecution. As long as your claim eludes any type of testing one way or the other (i.e. consulting the Satyrs of Yore) you should be ok.