Mary offered to sell Mike several pieces of rare Chinese art at a ...

[nelaaney]

Mary offered to sell Mike several pieces of rare Chinese art at a very good price because they were duplicates in her own collection. Mike could not accept the offer at that time, but he did give Mary 500 in return for her promise to keep her offer open for three (3 ) weeks. Mike returned with the agreed-upon balance two weeks later to find that Mary already had sold the pieces she had offered to sell to him. Mary explained that she had been able to get a better price from another buyer. She offered to return Mike's 500 and insisted that this was all she was obligated to do. Is Mary right?

Question 2

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?
 A) Arthur's bid is an ordinary offer that can be revoked.
 B) Arthur's bid is firm and cannot be withdrawn.
 C) Since the auctioneer had in fact acknowledged Arthur's bid, the bid became an option exercisable at the election of the seller.
 D) Since the auctioneer had in fact acknowledged Arthur's bid, a contract had been formed by way of offer and acceptance; accordingly, Arthur's subsequent attempt to withdraw his bid was ineffective.

[atrochim]

Answer to Question 1

Mary is incorrect. By offering and accepting consideration, Mike and Mary had entered into an option contract. Mary was obligated to honor her offer to Mike for the three-week period-that is, she gave him the option to purchase at the agreed-upon price.

Answer to Question 2

A

[nelaaney]

Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it

[ktidd]

Excellent