Barry v Davies [2000] EWCA Civ 235, [2000] 1 WLR 1962 is an English contract law

English contract law

English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...

 case concerning an auction.

Facts

The auctioneer withdrew goods from an auction (the goods had no reserve price) when a bona fide bid of £200 was effective. The court held that an auctioneer is bound to sell to the highest bidder where there is no reserve price, and can't withdraw the sale simply because the price is too low. A bid in an auction, the possibility of acceptance of the bid, unless the bid is withdrawn, and the benefit to the auctioneer of driving up the price bid is sufficient consideration

Consideration

Consideration is the central concept in the common law of contracts and is required, in most cases, for a contract to be enforceable. Consideration is the price one pays for another's promise. It can take a number of forms: money, property, a promise, the doing of an act, or even refraining from...

. The contract in an auction is between the buyer and the seller, not the buyer and the auctioneer, although the buyer has a collateral agreement

Collateral contract

A collateral contract is a contract where the consideration is the entry into another contract, and co-exists side by side with the main contract. For example, a collateral contract is formed when one party pays the other party a certain sum for entry into another contract...

 with the auctioneer.

Judgment

The remedy

Legal remedy

A legal remedy is the means with which a court of law, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction, enforces a right, imposes a penalty, or makes some other court order to impose its will....

is the difference between the contract value, and the current market value of the goods under the Sale of Goods Act 1971 s51(3). The value in this case was £27,600.