What the terms permit, and what the paperwork keeps
A quoted price is not explained on the screen, and the document that does explain it is the one almost nobody opens. This page names the four clauses worth finding, and reports what a sample of forty terms pages actually said about each.
- clauses
- 4
- terms pages
- 40 invented
- receipt as record
- 12 of 40
- price may be withdrawn
- 23 of 40
Four clauses sit behind a quoted price: the right to set the price per account, the receipt as the record of it, the right to withdraw a price before the bet is accepted, and the condition attached to a promoted price. On an invented sample of forty terms pages, all forty set the price, twelve named the receipt as the record and three mentioned individual pricing at all.
The four clauses
The reason to name them is that each one answers a different question a reader might have, and the fourth is the one that decides whether a headline price is an offer or an advertisement. The clauses are ordinary; what is unusual is how few agreements state the one that matters most, which is which record is authoritative.
| Clause | Pages stating it | Share | What it decides |
|---|---|---|---|
| the operator sets the price it offers | 40 | 100.0% | that a market price is not owed to any account |
| a price may be withdrawn before acceptance | 23 | 57.5% | why a quote can disappear between slip and confirmation |
| the receipt is the authoritative record | 12 | 30.0% | which of the two prices is provable afterwards |
| pricing may differ between accounts | 3 | 7.5% | whether the reader is told the practice exists at all |
| four clauses | - | - | the last one is stated by 3 pages in 40 |
Why the receipt clause is the one to find
Three of the four clauses describe what the operator may do. The fourth decides what the reader can prove. Without a clause naming an authoritative record, a dispute about a price is a dispute between a reader's memory and a screen that has already moved on.
- Find the clause that lets the operator set the price it offers, and check whether it mentions accounts at all.
- Find the clause that names the record of a bet, and check whether it says which record is authoritative.
- Look for the words that let a price be withdrawn before acceptance, and note what happens if it is.
- Check whether any clause mentions that different accounts may be quoted differently.
- Check what the agreement says about a price history, and for how long one is kept.