Offer

Question 1

1) Offeror and Offereee

Answer 1

There are two parties in a contract

A. Offeror who is the person that makes the offer

B. Offeree who is the person that the offer is made to

Question 2

2) Type of Contract

Answer 2

There are two types of contract:

A. Unilateral is where only one party has an obligation to the contract.

B. Bilateral is where both the offeree and offeror have an obligation to fulfil.

Question 3

3) Who can make an offer?

Answer 3

An offer can be made by anyone. This includes individuals and businesses. Offers can also be made by a notice or machine.

(Thorton v Shoe Lane Parking)

Question 4

4) Communicating the offer

Answer 4

An offer can only be accepted whilst it is open. The offer opens once it is communicated by the offeror.

(Taylor v Laird)

Question 5

5) The words of the offer must be certain

Answer 5

Words and phrases such as ‘might be prepared to’ or ‘may be able to’ are uncerain. If the words used are uncertain this will not be an offer

Question 6

6) An offer or an invitation to treat?

Answer 6

A. Offer is a statement of the terms of a contact. This has clear obligations that a party or both have to fulfil. Offers show that the offeror is prepared to become legally bound.

B. Invitation to treat is not an offer. Its rather an indication that a person is willing to negotiate a contract with another person but is not yet willing to make an offer. (Gibson v Manchester City Council)

Question 7

Examples of ITT and Offer

Answer 7

ITT:
Shop window displays - displaying items in a shop window or on a shelf are invitations to treat. The seller is not obligated to sell these goods. The good can even have a price tag on them. (Fisher v Bell)

Items on a Shop Shelf - Items on a shop shelf are an invitation to treat. Only once it has been taken to the checkout it becomes an offer. (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots)

Auctions - At auction, a bidder makes an offer however, the offer cannot be accepted until the auctioneer bangs thre hammer so therefore, items auctioned are an invitation to treat. (BCA v Wright)

Request for further information - If someone asks for futher details about the item listed, it is not an offer but rather an enquiry. (Harvey v Facey)

Advertisements - generally, an advert is an invitation to treat (Partridge v Crittenden)

Offer:
Advertisements - Can be an offer where the words clearly indicate that the offeror intende an offer to be made. (Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball Co)

Question 8

7) Ways an offer can end

Answer 8

A. Lapse of time - An offer can come to an end by lapse of time. If a fixed period of duration for the offer is stated, then as soon as that time is over the offer is expired. If there is no explictly stated time, the courts will set a reasonable time which will vary depending on the nature of the offer. (Ramsgate Victoria Hospital v Montefiore)

b. Death - If the offeree dies, the the offer ends and those dealing with their estate can make a new offer. (Reynolds v Atherton)
If the offeror dies, acceptance can still take place as long as the offeree does not know the offerors death. (Bradbury v Morgan)

c. Revocation - An offer can end if the offeror withdraws or revokes the offer any time before acceptance takes place but cannot after acceptance has occured. The revocation must be communicated to the offeree for it to be effective. (Routledge v Grant)
Communcation of the revocation can be from a third part e.g a trustworthy mutual friend (Dickinson v Dodds)

D. Rejection - Once an offer has been rejected hence it cannot be accepted, the rejection then therefore ends the offer. A counteroffer is a rejection of the inital offer and therefore creates a new offer. (Hyde v Wrench)

E. Acceptance - Once an offer has been accepted, there is an agreement and therefore a legally binding contract which means the offer has ended.