That would be my position (and, I suspect, that of a court). A stated price
is an invitation to treat. The prospective buyer makes an OFFER to
purchase, subject to acceptance at the vendor's discretion. At auctions,
unlesss there is a specific statutory provision (or a signed agreement
between the auctioneer and the owner) prohibiting it, a seller can withdraw
his/her item from teh auction at any time before the auctioneer pounds the
gavel and yells, "sold".
A unilateral contract is something like me saying, "If you build me a
doghouse, I'll pay you $100." Once you have completed the doghouse, or even
embarked (in a non-trivial way) upon building it, the offer is deemed
accepted and I would be bound.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chris Brogden
Sent: April 23, 2001 10:24 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Or Best Offer: a misleading--and dishonest--phrase
On Mon, 23 Apr 2001, Bucky wrote:
> Yes, there is. A unilateral contract is a contract for which performance
of
> a condition constitutes acceptance. "Unilateral" refers not to the number
> of parties involved, but rather o the fact that once the offer is out
there,
> the vendor (or offeror) has ceased to have legal discretion in the
matter -
> if it is accepted, a binding contract crystallizes. There is ample
> jurisprudence in English, Canadian, and US jurisdictions dealing with the
> subject.
Then there's the matter of acceptance. Could it be that the seller is
saying, "I want to sell this lens for this price to someone," and that it
is the *buyer* who makes the offer to purchase it, which the seller must
choose to accept or not? eBay rules let sellers cancel bidders' bids if
they want to, suggesting that it is ultimately the seller who must accept
the buyer's offer. Sellers have the right to refuse to accept an offer.
Just something more to think about. :)
chris
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