Exam 12: Formation of Contracts: Offer and Acceptance

A(n)__________ contract is a contract to buy all requirements of the buyer from the seller.

Contract terms may not be implied from the parties' conduct.

An otherwise vague contract may be clarified by references in the contract to other documents or agreements.

Mary offered to sell Mike several pieces of rare Chinese art at a very good price because they were duplicates in her own collection.Mike could not accept the offer at that time,but he did give Mary $500 in return for her promise to keep her offer open for three (3)weeks.Mike returned with the agreed-upon balance two weeks later to find that Mary already had sold the pieces she had offered to sell to him.Mary explained that she had been able to get a better price from another buyer.She offered to return Mike's $500 and insisted that this was all she was obligated to do.Is Mary right?

A requirements contract is too vague to be a legally-enforceable agreement.

When it is claimed that a contract is too indefinite to be enforced,a court will do its best to find the intent of the parties and thereby reach the conclusion that the contract is not too indefinite.

Arthur made a bid at an auction by calling out the amount of $250.The auctioneer acknowledged Arthur's bid.There were no higher bids,and before the fall of the auctioneer's hammer,Arthur announced that he was withdrawing the bid.The auctioneer said that it was too late for Arthur to withdraw his bid,because the bid had already been acknowledged.What is the result?

Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC),a firm offer applies to:

An option is itself a contract to refrain from revoking an offer.

A "best efforts" clause is always deemed too indefinite to be enforceable.

A properly mailed acceptance takes effect when mailed,even if it never is received by the offeror.

If an offeree accepts an offer before it is effectively revoked:

An output contract is too vague to be a legally-enforceable agreement.

If no termination date is specified for an offer,the offer will remain open:

A revocation of an offer is ordinarily effective after the offer has been accepted.

Bart owned 100 shares of a stock that was actively traded on a national stock exchange.Bart wanted to sell the shares but felt that his profit would be seriously diminished by selling through a broker and paying the customary brokerage commission.Bart offered the 100 shares to any of a group of six people in a conversation at a party.The offered price was $72.50 per share,the price at which the shares had closed that day.No one really responded to the offer at that time.Ten days later when the shares were trading at $76.25,Marie,one of the offerees at the party,appeared at Bart's office saying that she accepted the offer.Bart claimed the offer no longer was available.Evaluate the legal outcome of this dispute.

At an auction sale,a statement made by the auctioneer to draw forth bids constitutes an offer.

If an offer requires that acceptance be communicated by a specific date and the acceptance is properly dispatched by the offeree on the final date,

When an offer has been accepted:

If no time is stated for the duration of an offer,it continues indefinitely if the offer relates to durable goods or land.