We have already said that a unilateral contract is a contract in which the bidder makes a promise and the target recipient demonstrates its acceptance through an action. Problems arise when a supplier of a unilateral contract tries to withdraw the offer after the service begins, but before the service is completed. The Court of Appeal concluded that the letter with the words “for immediate acceptance” was solid evidence of an offer – rather than a price offer – that would create a binding contract if accepted. Therefore, the seller was responsible for the breach of contract, since the buyer had accepted the offer by requesting the ten Mason jars. [19] However, the language used to respond to a potential buyer is crucial. In one case in Kentucky, a buyer sent a letter to the seller inquiring about the price of Mason jars. [17] The seller responded by entering prices for certain sizes and providing the language “for immediate acceptance.” [18] The buyer responded by trying to buy ten Mason jars, but the seller did not fulfill the order because the Mason jars were already sold to another party. The buyer then filed a lawsuit for breach of contract. A fixed offer is one that must remain open for a certain period of time. The company`s offers are subject to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Under the UCC, the time limit for a fixed offer cannot exceed three months. Here is an example of a fixed written offer: “The seller agrees to offer 100 units of furniture at a price of $50 per unit, valid for 60 days.” The deadline for a firm offer may be exceeded by submitting a new firm offer or by entering into an option contract after the expiry of the first offer. The jurisdiction differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but an option contract can be created either implicitly immediately at the beginning of the service (the reprocessing view) or after a “material performance”.
Cook v. Coldwell Banker/Frank Laiben Realty Co., 967 P.W.2d 654 (MB. App. 1998). Marissa and David are looking for venues for their next wedding. Sam offers them a place for the date they want to get married. Although they love it, they are not yet ready to sign the agreement to book the place. Sam agrees in writing that Marissa and David can decide by next Monday if they want to keep the venue for the specified date.
Marissa and David pay Sam two hundred dollars in exchange for the right to decide by next Monday. This is an option contract. Under an option agreement, Marissa and David can accept or reject the offer until next Monday. After this period, the option contract expires and the offer becomes revocable. [31] In our next module, we will discuss the final building block of a binding contract: the rule that consideration is required for the applicability of a contract. Indeterminacy or missing clauses generally do not result in the nullity of a contract. On the contrary, a contract can be enforceable even if important conditions are missing. [8] Courts may, in the circumstances, as “gap fillers,” provide appropriate conditions to compensate for missing conditions. Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which applies in all states to contracts for the sale of goods, lists several of these shortcomings. [9] The UCC even goes so far as to enforce a contract if the price is missing, allowing the court to enforce the sale at a “reasonable” price at the time of delivery.
[10] The option contract plays an important role in unilateral contracts. In the case of unilateral contracts, the promisor shall endeavour to be accepted by performance by the promisor. In this scenario, the classic contractual view was that a contract was only concluded when the service requested by the promisor had been fully provided. This was because the counterpart of the contract was the execution of the promisor. Once the promisor was fully fulfilled, the consideration was fulfilled and a contract was concluded, and only the promisor was bound by his promise. There were no conditions in the contract regarding delivery or the time of shipment. The court noted that, since the parties had not indicated at the time of the conclusion of the contract which ship would carry the goods, the contract was enforceable in writing and the defendant was required to accept the shipment […].