An oral contract for specially manufactured goods worth $500 or more may be enforceable under the statute of frauds if:

• A. The goods are specially manufactured for the buyer and not suitable for resale.
• B. The contract is for standard goods and must be written.
• C. The sale is by auction.
• D. There is a separate writing confirming an agreement.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is the specially manufactured goods exception to the statute of frauds under the sale of goods rules. Normally, contracts for goods priced at $500 or more must be written to be enforceable. But if the goods are specially manufactured for a particular buyer and aren’t suitable for resale to others, an oral contract can be enforceable even without a written agreement. The rationale is that once the seller commits to making goods tailored to one customer, the chance of enforcement problems is reduced because the goods aren’t easily re-sold to others.

Here, the goods are specifically made for the buyer and not resaleable to others, so the exception applies and the oral contract can be enforceable despite the price. The other options don’t fit this exception: standard goods still require a writing, auction sales don’t create this special manufacture exception, and a separate confirming writing involves different requirements and doesn’t automatically validate an otherwise unwritten contract.