What is the correct remedy for the store in the shingles case if the builder breaches by rejecting late delivery?

• A. $1,000
• B. $3,000
• C. $0
• D. Nothing

Answer: (D)

A key idea here is that remedies for a breach in a sale of goods depend on actual loss, not on the mere fact of a breach. Under the UCC, a buyer can recover damages for a breach like late delivery only to the extent those damages prove the seller’s breach caused a measurable loss (for example, the cost to cover with substitute goods, loss of use, or other incidental/consequential damages). If there’s no resulting loss—no extra cost to obtain substitute shingles, no lost profits, no damaged use of the goods—the buyer has no damages to recover.

In this scenario, the store’s remedy is nothing because the late rejection by the builder does not automatically create a damages award unless the store can show actual harm from the delay. If the store did not incur any additional costs or losses due to the late delivery or rejection, there’s no damages to award.

If there were concrete losses, the appropriate remedy would be to cover the purchase or to claim damages for the delay, but with no demonstrated loss, the remedy remains zero.