Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

So many products are advertised on TV and sold, claiming to be able to do something which they dont. These come to mind:

Creams that promise to grow back hair from a balding head.

Bracelets and magnets that promise to heal and lower pain.

Water softners that work by magnets.

Pills and vitamins that claim to heal a variety of ailments.

and so on..

Is it legal to get a piece of paper, claim and advertise that it will bring good luck when burnt, and sell it for $100 a piece? Because this is what the companies who sell this rubbish seem to be doing.

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

Most of them have a caveat that it may not work, normally in very fine print when you're attention is elsewhere on the commercial. That's how they get away with it, by telling it it doesn't really work. Always read the fine print. As far as the paper question, yes it would work because there's no real way to prove it didn't. Also throw in a line "Results not typical and may vary." and you're fine.

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

Let the buyer be ware!

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

its called scaming people

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

because you are failing the customer's expectations.. and violating his/her intellectual property right... hehe! consumerism,peeps! ;)

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

If it doesn't work as promised it is fraud. However there are a lot of things that claim to do the impossible. It really comes down to common sense sometimes.

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

It's not, but when was the last time a business got hounded by a Republican government?

Don't forget Sprint, mis-leading car lease ads, bait and switch etc.....

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

If you find something that doesn't work as claimed you can report the company to the Better Business Bureau. Go to the below web site and find the location nearst you.

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

the old advice comes to mind: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't. we have a lot of gullible people and they buy anything because they expect it to work. advertizers make money on it, patent control makes money on it. and yes, if you have money to invest, you can make that paper legal and sell it.

how about that snowman poop in a jar? it's cotton balls in a pretty jar and sells for $3.95 at stores during xmas. What next?

Why is it legal to sell products that do not work as promised?

I think the sellers of such products play on human weakness of "desperation" - could be in many forms such as desire to own something, helplessness to get relived of certain problem or illness, having exhausted other known methods/means or such alternatives beyond reach ordinarily......

Normally, if someone has to spend his/her hard earned money, he/she remains reasonably alert about the real utility of the product or return of money worth - unless coerced upon to spend on those useless items.

Legally, it is wrong to sell all such items which don't conform to what they have been advertised to perform. But in majority of the cases, end users don't initiate legal actions for many reasons and the manufacturers / sellers go trouble free. However, whenever certain things are reported by reasonable number of end users, legal action is taken by the authorities due to public out cry. Yet unscrupulous elements do take chances time and again to launch and keep marketing these things. So the Public has to stay beware in the first instance and resort to appropriate action (complaints etc.) if feel cheated to check this menace.