A caterer contracts with a farmer for three dozen eggs. The eggs delivered are 20 white and 16 speckled; the caterer rejects due to color mismatch. The caterer stores the eggs for a week, then gives them to a friend after the farmer fails to respond. If the farmer brings a contract claim for the price of the eggs given away, will the farmer prevail?

• A. Yes, because the eggs were delivered as contracted.
• B. No, because the caterer did not accept the eggs.
• C. Yes, because rejection does not terminate the contract.
• D. No, because the caterer did not accept the eggs.

Answer: (B)

Acceptance determines whether the seller can demand payment. Under the sale of goods rules, a buyer may reject nonconforming tender, and rejection ends the buyer’s obligation to pay for those goods unless the seller cures and the buyer accepts. In this scenario, the eggs were nonconforming (color mismatch), the caterer timely rejected them, and there was no acceptance. The later act of storing and then giving the eggs away does not convert the rejection into acceptance. Therefore, the farmer cannot prevail on a claim for the contract price for eggs that were never accepted; the seller’s remedy would instead lie in damages for nonacceptance or in reselling the goods, not in demanding the contract price.