You contract to purchase 100 widgets at $100 each. The supplier backs out of the contract. If you are able to purchase, on the open market, the exact same quality widgets at $105 per widget, the court would enter a judgment against the supplier for:
The court will probably award compensatory damages that cover the actual loss generated by the breaching of the contract. In this case, the breaching of the contract resulted in the nonbreaching party having to pay additional $500 for the same widgets that were included in the contract. Since the actual damage was $500, then the compensatory damages will most likely cover that amount.
