Contract of Sale of a Good and Legal Obligations of Concerned Parties
Introduction
This research paper presents an analysis of a case study and is written to address breach of law of contract concerning sale of a good (bicycle) by a last year student named Jonas. He placed an advertisement in one of the sports magazine making an offer to the general public to sell his bicycle. Jonas was approached by two first year students named by Sarah and Saleh at different times on the same day. As this last year student was not aware about the telephonic message placed by Sarah, he sold the bicycle to another first year student named Saleh who appeared before Sarah to buy the good with a consideration in hand (money). Therefore, this paper has been designed to make Sarah familiar of any legal position she has n the court of law. This is so because she became angry when the bicycle was already sold by Jonas to Saleh with the former’s consent and acceptance of the consideration.
Contract Law
In law of sale of goods, a legally binding contract represents voluntary arrangements among different parties. It should be a legally binding agreement and is enforceable in jurisdictions of the court of law . A contract concerning sale of goods arises when all the concerned parties accept the offer through mutual consent and this transaction is finalised by an exchange of underlying considerations. In other words, a contract of sale of goods represents a promise that one party makes to the other one (counterparty) to deliver a given consideration . From a commercial point of view, a contract should involve hire or sale of any good or service accompanied a legitimate bargain, consent, offer and acceptance by both the parties . In the case of sale of good (a bicycle), the underlying good is a bicycle, consideration is £150 while there are three parties involved named Jonas (the owner and seller) as well as Sarah and Saleh (both the first year students acting as buyers of the good).
Elements of a Contract of Sale of Goods such as a Bicycle
This section is aimed at highlighting different elements that must be present in the contract of sales of a bicycle. They are discussed in detail so as to make Sarah aware about her legal position and justify whether the offer made by her is legally binding and she could sue Jonas in the court of law or not. Such elements are defined for the benefit of Sarah because a sale contract represents more than a legally binding arrangement between sellers and buyers. Justifications are provided in this section to assist Sarah on the basis of offer and acceptance, intentions of concerned parties in creation of a legally enforceable agreement, price to be paid in return or exchange (consideration that does not necessarily need to be money) as well as mutual consent of all parties . If any party exercises undue influence, duress (pressure), makes any false statement or indulge into unconscionable dealings, the contract about sale of a bicycle would become void and illegal.
Offer and Acceptance for Selling and Buying the Bicycle
A contract of sale would have formed in case both the seller and buyer accept the offer with mutual consent . This offer to buy a bicycle should be different from mere willingness of Jonas and Sarah to negotiate or deal the terms of contract and finalise the transaction. Even though Sarah accepted the offer (advertisement placed by Jonas, the owner) through a phone call which went unattended by the seller, she cannot legally sue Jonas or make him bound for selling the bicycle to her only.
Because Jonas was not aware of Sarah’s acceptance, he was free to sell his possession (bicycle) to anyone he pleases. This is so because he did not agree with Sarah to form a legal and enforceable agreement of the sale. In other words, as Jonas was unaware about Sarah’s acceptance of the offer (advertisement), she cannot sue the owner in the court of law while Jonas was not legally bound in any way to sell the bicycle only to Sarah. Had Jonas accepted Sarah’s acceptance through a phone call or any message, the contract would have been formed as legally binding and enforceable.
Another justification is that before Sarah’s offer could have been accepted by Jonas, he can withdraw from what Jonas has advertised and make sale to any other party. Even in this case, Sarah cannot become angry and sue Jonas for withdrawal of the offer (advertisement). Since Jonas did not happen to accept Sarah’s proposal or acceptance through any communication, the contract is not formed and becomes void ab-initio (from the very beginning).
Intention of All Parties to Create Legal Relations
For a contract of sale and purchase, between Jonas and Sarah to be legally binding, it should be backed by not only an agreement but also a mutual intention to enter into sale contract for it to be legally binding arrangement . Because the sale and purchase of Bicycle represents a domestic agreement, the law presumes that such an arrangement is not legally binding or enforceable except contracts of commercial nature. Sarah, in this case, needs to prove that her proposal was accepted (in return) by Jonas in order for her proposal to form a contract and be enforceable in the civil law.
Consent
Sarah must understand that in order for a sale contract to be enforceable, it must contain free will expressed by Jonas. At last of her conversation that was recorded over the phone machine, Sarah mentioned that if she hears nothing from Jonas’s side, she will herself assume that the proposal was accepted by him with consent. This is the place where Sarah is wrong since she has not yet obtained any consent or free will of Jonas to enter into contract and finalise it. Also, Jonas was not aware of what Sarah has proposed. In the meantime, Jonas accepted the offer proposed by Saleh with his genuine consent. Therefore, Sarah has no proof that Jonas has breached the contract.
Offer by the Purchaser
Before Sarah could approach the owner of bicycle (Jonas), he was approached by Saleh. Sarah was half an hour late on 7th of September while Saleh already made an offer at 06:00 p.m. In other words, Saleh’s offer to purchase the bicycle was accepted by Jonas whereas Sarah was late to approach the seller and express her interest face-to-face.
Acceptance by the Seller
Sarah must also bear in mind that she cannot sue Jonas in the court of law because in the contract of sale of goods, anyone who makes the final offer is ignored. However, all negotiations to sell and purchase bicycle came to an end when Jonas accepted the proposal expressed by Saleh and establish final terms/conditions. Acceptance of the offer was expressed by Jonas in action that makes the contract legal and effective between Jonas and Saleh.
Intention of Legal Consequences
Under the contract law of sale of goods, as Jonas accepted the proposal expressed by Saleh, both of them revealed their intention to create a contract with a legal consequence. This proposal acceptance was absent in case of Sarah because Jonas is not obliged by the law to deliver the bicycle to her since he never acknowledged Sarah’s proposal due to unawareness.
Conclusion
With a careful analysis of the given case concerning sale and purchase bicycle as well as close application of the contract law of sale of goods, it is found that Sarah cannot sue Jonas for any breach of the contract. In her case, there was no consent or free will ever expressed or communicated by Jonas to accept the proposal by Sarah. She was late communicate properly with Jonas and was also late to approach the owner.
In other words, as Saleh’s proposal was accepted by Jonas with genuine consent, they both entered into a legally binding contract of sale of the bicycle. In this case, minds of Jonas and Saleh were in agreement with each other through mutual consent. Even though the terms of the contract were expressed orally, both Saleh and Jonas had a legal obligation to deliver the consideration . Though the offer (advertisement) launched by Jonas was accepted by both the first year students, Sarah and Saleh, yet it is the acceptance of proposal by the seller (owner) which matters the most in contract law.
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