Originally from Remedies in International Sales - Hardcover
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§4.1 General
Price reduction, naturally a unilateral right of the aggrieved buyer to whom non-conforming goods have been delivered, is another remedy reflecting the focus on preserving the contract. There is agreement that this remedy enables the bargain to be preserved. “The purpose of the remedy is to allow the buyer to keep defective goods and pay the price it otherwise would have paid had it been aware of the hidden defects in the goods.” Especially under those legal systems where the remedy of damages is limited to cases of fault, price reduction is a particularly useful remedy, since, unlike contractual damages, the buyer can obtain the remedy without having to prove fault on the part of the seller.
Initially a Roman law tradition (actio quanti minoris), price reduction entered into most codifications, including those of socialist and third world nations, as a supplement to the remedy of damages, a remedy which these legal systems limit to cases where there is fault. Where the buyer accepts that goods do not conform with the contract, and the seller is not at fault, price reduction provides a further remedy of pecuniary compensation; it is a popular and important remedy in daily national and international practice.