Question
On the 15th January, Rajan, a local antique collector, received a letter from Matthew which stated: 'I have decided to retire and close my business.
On the 15th January, Rajan, a local antique collector, received a letter from Matthew which stated:
'I have decided to retire and close my business. I then need to sell much of my cherished furniture that you admired on your recent visit. I know that you particularly liked the famous brand Michael Berman dining table and I want to offer it to you for RM12,000, which I am sure you will agree, is a very reasonable price. Let me know as soon as possible if you wish to go ahead with the purchase as there will be no doubt be others interested in acquiring this beautiful table.'
Rajan immediately sent the following fax message to Matthew:
'I certainly wish to accept your offer but would find it difficult to find the RM12,000 in one payment. Would you be prepared to accept payment in four monthly instalments of RM3,000?'
Having heard nothing further for five days, on the 20th January, Rajan posted a letter to Matthew purporting to accept the offer to sell the dining table at the initial price of RM12,000. After posting the letter, Rajan purchased a copy of the local newspaper and was interested in an advertisement placed by Nina detailing an antique table for sale at RM10,000. After inspecting the table, Rajan decided it was worth far more than RM10,000 and that this would be a better purchase than the table offered by Matthew. Rajan immediately telephoned Matthew's mobile telephone and left a message on his voice mail service telling Matthew to ignore the letter that would arrive the next day because he had changed his mind about purchasing Matthew's table. When Matthew arrived home on the morning of 21 January, he listened to his voice mail messages and then opened his post, including the letter from Rajan. Matthew is insisting that Rajan made a binding contract to purchase the table.
Does a binding contract exist between Rajan and Matthew?
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