Imagine that you are at a flea market and you are looking through a table full of old books or every type. You discover what you believe to be a first edition of Mark Twains` Huckleberry Finn , although you are not certain. The price on the book is $5. 00 and you gladly pay it without question. Neither you nor the seller discuss the book in any way as you purchased the book. Afterwards, you have the book appraised by an expert antique book export, who informs you that the book is worth at least $10,000. 00.
In this exchange, you have provided $5. 0 in consideration for an item worth circa $10,000. 00 when sold in the correct market. Could the flea market bookseller properly seek to have the sale set aside due to inadequate consideration? In court of law it would not be possible unless you are fully aware that the book was Mark Twains’ first edition of Huckleberry Finn at the time of purchase while the bookseller was thinking otherwise. In this case, you should have informed the bookseller that the book was the first edition when bookseller tells you that this is not the first edition.
Therefore in this case there is no meeting of minds and there is inadequate consideration since one thinks that is worth more than what it should be. Since it appears that you are not sure that it was the first edition then you have bound yourself with the contract set by the bookseller that priced the certain item at $5. 00. The consideration of the seller that the book is worth $5. 00 has been understood by you and that you have agreed to pay $5. 00 in exchange for the book. So there was bargain of exchange, both parties are aware of what will be exchanged, the book against $5. 00, and the goods exchange are of certain value.
It is no longer the duty of buyer to set the price of the book since he is merely agreeing to what it was priced. Therefore there is adequate consideration. What if the flea market bookseller knew it was an original, but had no idea of the true worth and thought that $5. 00 was a reasonable price? Will the law consider the issue of adequacy of consideration in this instance? More so that the sale cannot be set aside since the law does not put importance on the amounts involved in the exchange. It is the obligation of both parties to determine that the amounts are adequate for the sale of an item.
