Question

Dave Brown owns a bike shop that specializes in selling top-of-the-line new and used bicycles to consumers in Charlottetown. Dave sells three brands of new bikes: Trek, Ibis, and Fuji. Dave's sales reached an all-time high in 2019 and are expected to rise even higher in 2020. On Friday, July 17, Dave ran an online advertisement that read as follows:

Get the new Trek Powerfly FS-5!
The Lightest Bike in its Class
With the Highest Calibre Components
$5,999.00
This weekend only!
While supplies last

Jennifer McCardle is a Charlottetown entrepreneur and avid cyclist. She was thrilled to see this advertisement; she needed a new bike and Trek was her preferred brand. Jennifer raced to Dave's store but, upon entering, was dismayed to see that there were no Trek Powerfly bikes on display. She worried that Dave had run out of stock.

Jennifer approached Dave and asked whether there were any Trek Powerfly FS-5 bikes left in stock. Dave said: “You’re in luck! I have one left. It’s in my storage room, out back.” Jennifer nearly jumped for joy. She reached into her pocket only to realize that she had forgotten her wallet. Jennifer said to Dave: “I have to run home to get my money. Don’t sell that bike!”

Jennifer went home, grabbed her wallet, and returned to Dave's store. When she arrived, Jennifer learned that Dave had just sold his last Trek Powerfly FS-5 to another customer.

Dave told Jennifer that he will not receive another shipment of Trek Powerfly FS-5 bikes for many months. Furthermore, Dave said that, when more of those bikes do arrive, they will be priced at $7,200.00 each.

Jennifer is angry. She thought they had a deal.

Did Jennifer and Dave reach an agreement that might form the foundation of a binding contract? Identify the relevant issues and the arguments that might be made. Refer to relevant cases where appropriate. Value: 12 marks.

Business law question. Need answers within an hour please

Answer 1

A legal contract is formed between 2 parties when there are 4 elements present in their interaction:

· An Offer

· An acceptance to the Offer

· A consideration associated with the offer

· An intent to form a legal contract

In the given case, Dave Brown had given an online advertisement of his bicycles to gain customer attention. Jennifer McCardle saw the advertisement and was excited to buy a certain type of bicycle, Trek Powerfly. She visited Dave’s store to buy the same but was disappointed that there was no Trek bike on display. She thought that Trek bike has gone out of stock. However Dave informed her that he had the last piece in his storage room. Jennifer had forgot her wallet at home, so she ran to get the same and asked Dave not to sell the bike. However when she returned, Dave had sold the bike to another customer.

In this case, Jennifer had made the offer to buy Trek bike but Dave had not accepted the offer yet. When Jennifer had asked him to not sell the bike, Dave did not give her any assurance that he will save it or book it for her. If Jennifer may have given a collateral as proof, then Dave may have considered her offer seriously. However as there was no acceptance to offer, this cannot be considered as a binding contract. Dave had legal rights to sell his product to any customer in such a scenario. Jennifer clearly is mistaken when she thought that she and Dave had a deal. Jennifer cannot sue Dave for breach of contract as there was no binding contract between them.

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