Joseph wants to sell his car. It is a white Toyota Prado, 2008 model. He has looked after it carefully and it has only done 80,000 kilometers. He thinks a fair price to sell it would be 1.2 million vatu.

On 4 March 2022, Joseph caught up with his sister, Leiwia. He tells her he is thinking of selling his car and buying a brand-new Prado. He's just got a promotion in his job, and he can afford a new car now. Leiwia doesn't have a car. She says to Joseph "well, you know as your sister I don't have a car and I'm sure you want to help me out. How about you give it to me for 200,000 vatu - you know as a favour to your sister!". Thinking that Leiwia is joking, Joseph laughs and goes along with it saying "Haha, yeah sure thing sis!". They say nothing more about it, move on to other conversation and finish their coffees. Joseph did not realise that Leiwia was being very serious, and she has assumed the car is hers.

The next day on 5 March 2022, Joseph puts a notice on the window of his car and on the local supermarket notice board advertising his car for sale. The advertisement states:

"Toyota Prado 2008 model for sale - very good condition, only 80,000 kilometers. Call 7543211 to make a reasonable offer".

On 6 March 2022, Alice rings and asks Joseph if the car is still available. He says it is. Alice asks Joseph what price he wants to sell the vehicle for. Joseph tells Alice he wants 1.2 million vatu. Alice says she will think about it. Joseph says "OK, but please let me know by 5pm on 8 April because other buyers are interested".

On 8 March at 12pm, Alice rings Joseph and tells him that she wants to buy the car. Joseph tells her he is sorry, but he has already sold the car to another person - he says because she took so long to call him back, he had assumed she was no longer interested in the purchase and sold to another person. Alice is disappointed that he didn't wait until the agreed time.

Joseph calls Alice back and asks if she is still interested in purchasing the car. She says she is. Joseph is relieved and so they agree that Alice will come around on the morning of the 11th of March and purchase the car.

In the morning of 11 March, Alice turns up to buy the car. As she is preparing to hand over the money to Joseph, Leiwia arrives at Joseph's house. She is shocked to see him selling the car. She starts crying telling Joseph she had relied on the agreement that she could have the car for 200,000. She even borrowed 100,000 vatu from a friend at an interest rate of 10% and now she is going to be in debt. She tells Joseph he will need to pay the interest on her loan because she relied on his promise.

Seeing how upset Leiwia is, Alice decides that Joseph is not a very nice person, and she doesn't want to buy his car after all. She tells him the deal is off.

Joseph does not know if he has a binding agreement with anyone.

Does Joseph have a binding agreement with Alice?

If so, what rules of contract law allow for this agreement to happen?