Henry H. Schott Co. v. Stone, Fisher & Lane

Citations

• 35 Wash. 252
• 77 P. 192

Syllabus

<p>Sales ■ — • Refusal of Purchaser to Complete Sale — Agreement to Retire From Business and For Sacrifice Sale of Stock — Purchaser’s Covenant to Keep Up Stock During Sale— Breach — Measure of Damages. Upon the breach by defendant of a contract to purchase a stock of goods from the plaintiff, in which the defendant agreed to pay eighty-five per cent of the inventoried cost of the remaining stock after a sacrifice sale conducted under directions of the defendant, reducing the value thereof to $25,000, the defendant to keep up the stock during the sale, the measure of plaintiff’s damages upon the defendant’s refusal to take the remnant of the goods after the completion of the sacrifice sale, is the difference between the contract price and the value of the goods; hence it was proper to strike from the complaint claims for damage for loss of goods sold at the sacrifice sale, loss of customers by reason of failing to keep up the stock during the sale, and hy reason of being unable to procure goods for the following trade, and loss to business reputation and financial credit.</p> <p>Same. In such a case, it is error to strike from the complaint a claim for damages by reason of the unsalable condition of the remaining stock, because not kept up during the sacrifice sale; since the same is based on the difference between the actual value of the remnant of the stock and the price agreed to he paid, and the court was not justified in striking it, although it may have been pleaded on a different theory from the above.</p> <p>Same — Lease—Refusal of Tenant to Accept — Measure of Damages. In Such a case, the fact that the purchaser had also agreed to rent the premises for a term at a certain rental, does not change the rules ordinarily applicable to a breach of contract for the sale of goods, or render the damages uncertain, since the measure of damages as to the lease is the difference between the rental value and the amount agreed to be paid.</p>