Gross Valentino Printing Co. v. Clarke

Facts

After a discussion in July 1979, the plaintiff sent the defendant a letter for printing a magazine, including a price quote of $6,695. The defendant accepted the terms and met with the plaintiff on August 8, 1979 to discuss the magazine’s layout. According to the defendant, he brought materials for printing the magazine to the plaintiff’s office and discussed some issues concerning the layout. An agent of the plaintiff told him that the plaintiff could still complete the job in house, and that the price would remain the same over the next six issues of the magazine. On August 14, the plaintiff informed the defendant that printing was going to cost more than anticipated. The defendant was worried that if he argued about price, he would not get his magazine published on time and he would not recover the materials he brought to the plaintiff and needed for printing in the future. In a letter dated August 15, 1979, the plaintiff raised the price to $9,300, and the defendant did not object to that price increase until later. On August 30, the plaintiff delivered the first 5,000 magazines, and the defendant accepted the shipment and signed the purchase order reflecting the higher price. The defendant later received the full shipment of $15,000 magazines, but, on October 28, told the plaintiff that he refused to accept the price increase.