Exam 13: Formation of Contracts: Offer and Acceptance

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

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.

An offer that is indefinite may be clarified by reference to another writing through:

If not an offer,the first statement made by one of two persons is most properly termed a(n):

If an offer is indefinite or vague,no contract arises from an attempt to accept it.

A revocation of an offer is ordinarily effective only when it is communicated to the offeree.

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

An agreement that consists of two or more parts and calls for corresponding performances of each part by the parties is called a:

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?

When an offer has been accepted:

If an offer does not state how long it shall remain open,it remains open for ten days.

To make an offer,the offeror must appear to intend to create a binding obligation.

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

A party to an existing contract can modify the agreement without the other party's actual acceptance or approval.

Contractual intention is determined by objective standards.

An offer is terminated upon rejection by the offeree unless:

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.

At an auction sale,each bid is:

An offer gives the offeror the power to bind the offeree by contract.

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