Q17 - Sharon, a noted collector

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Sharon concludes that she had done nothing wrong during her purchase of a vase. Why? She doesn’t make that case, but we know the circumstances; Sharon knew the real value of the vase but didn’t say anything to the shopkeeper selling the vase about its real value.

Correct Answer
Answer choice (C) frees Sharon from any obligation other than the one we know she lived up to. This would imply that Sharon did nothing wrong in purchasing a vase for $10 that she knew was worth $1000.

Incorrect Answers
(A) frees the seller from an obligation to inform the buyer, but does not free Sharon from the obligation to inform the seller.
(B) is close but obligates the buyer to pay the price asked for, not the real value the object is worth.
(D) is irrelevant. This does not suggest anything about the potential discrepancy between the price asked for and the real value of the object for sale.
(E) might support Sharon as it minimizes the economic relationship, but neither the social nor economic relationships are spelled out in any detail so that Sharon’s behavior could be evaluated.

[inesa909]

Hello,
The explanation for this question was helpful, but I am still having a hard time understanding the differences between (B) and (C). This problem took up a lot of time for me and both of those answer choices still seem identical to me and I'm not sure why.

Could someone help me out with this one please?

[sumukh09]

Answer choice B says that it's the seller's responsibility to make sure that Sharon pays 10 dollars for the vase, which is what the seller is selling it for. Also, the price element in this answer choice is about the amount that the merchandise is being sold for and not the real value of the object; we want an answer choice that says Sharon isn't wrong in paying 10 dollars and not the 1000.

Furthermore, we want a principle that helps Sharon make her case that she's not in the wrong here. Answer choice B wouldn't do that as it talks about being responsible for something else ie) being responsible for making sure what you pay is the same as what is being demanded.

C) on the other hand says Sharon's sole (key word) obligation is to pay the price demanded by the seller. If her sole obligation is to pay the 10 dollars as asked, then she hasn't done anything wrong because she's lived up the what she's required to do, which is pay the price that is demanded.

That being said, B and C are little different in that B is talking about specifically about the price being demanded by the seller and not the real worth of the merchandise. Here's another way to look at B and C which may help you differentiate the two:

B) It is not Sharon's responsibility to make sure that the amount she gives matches the amount being demanded by the seller

See the problem here? So what if it's not Sharon's responsibility to make sure she pays the 10 dollars? She's already paid the 10 dollars just as demanded!

C) Sharon's sole obligation is to pay the amount demanded by the seller

This helps for the reasons stated above

[lsat2016]

Hi,

I'm still having problems recognizing how B) is a wrong answer choice. The answer choice states that the buyer is only obligated to pay the amount that matches the amount demanded by the seller, which is $10. Since Sharon paid the seller $10, wouldn't this answer choice explain her action?

[tianchentong]

B:
Seller should ensure the amount of money paid mathes 10.
This does not exclude buyer should ensure the merchandise worth is no higher than $10 .

C:
Buyer's only duty is to pay 10.

[MJ]

I think the difference between B and C: B focus on the responsibility of the seller(to get the $amount he demand); while C focus on the buyer's responsibility(is, and ONLY is to pay the amount seller demand)

Since we are justifying Shannon the buyer here, B is not exactly relevant.