Japanese Internet shoppers thought they got an amazing deal last month when they paid just 1,000 yen (US$10) for a 18,840 yen package of three premium Japanese steaks. Word of the 95 percent discount on the shopping site Rakuten Ichiba spread like wildfire with a flurry of tweets, blog posts and message board announcements. Alas, things were not quite as they seemed.
The set included three kinds of the highest-quality A5-ranked beef from Kochi prefecture. Named in honor of the area’s samurai revolutionary Sakamoto Ryoma, the set also included free shipping, making the price almost too good to be true.
▼ A screenshot to prove the incredibly delicious 1,000 yen deal
Shoppers alerted others to the sale with some promising to give it as a gift to their family. Others were excited at the prospect of eating something luxurious for a change from their humdrum diet.
But alas, all that glitters is not gold (or beautifully marbled meat), because the store soon caught on to the “sale” and realized their mistake. Although the steak set was supposed to be on sale, the intended price was 10,000 yen, not 1,000 yen. What a different a single zero makes! The store apologized for the mistake, but sadly canceled all the existing orders as processing the huge number probably would have caused some serious financial damage.
Disappointed shoppers went without their deeply discounted steak that day and hopefully they did not cry into their instant ramen. Maybe the lesson of the day is when you come across an unbelievable deal, be selfish and just keep it to yourself and hope the store does not notice.
▼ Because selflessness will never get you this beauty
Images: Rakuten
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