Classy Delicates: A Case Study

Abstract

Andy Steiner was checking the Internet for late night West Coast baseball game scores early on Saturday morning, August 3^rd, 2007, when an email message popped up on his screen. It was a message from a prospective buyer for Classy Delicates, Steiner’s online lingerie retailing business. Intrigued by the offer, Steiner contacted the prospective buyer who reiterated his intention and talked specific terms for the purchase. “Isn’t this a coincidence,” remarked Steiner to his wife, Julia. “We were just talking about the future of our business and here comes this new offer. This is the fourth offer we’ve had.” “We should consider a sale of the business seriously,” said Julia, “even though you were thinking of upgrading the site to improve traffic.” “How much time do we have to examine the offers?” asked Julia to her husband. “The current buyer has made an offer to one other business and he told me that it’s either the other business or us, and not both. I don’t know if he is bluffing or not, but I think we have a week to decide for all four,” answered Steiner.