offer and acceptance

    Cards (9)

    • For there to be a valid contract there must firstly be a valid offer . An offer is a clear statement of terms upon which a person wishes to be bound by, this can be made orally or written as seen in the Thornton v shoe lace case, where an offer was made by a ticketing machine. 
    • There are two types of offers
      1. Unilateral offer (where the offerer is under a contractual/legal obligation) as seen in Carlill v Carbolic smoke ball case)
      2. Bilateral offer (where two parties, offerer and offeree, are under a contractual/legal obligation) 
    • -An offer will be open until it has either been accepted or terminated 
      If an offer wasn’t established it will be held as an invitation to treat (this is a pre offer stage, where a seller invites others in order to make a non biding offer)
      This can be through: AADMA (all adverts do make offer)
      1. Adverts (advertising things for sell ≠ not an offer ) - Partridge
      2. Auctions (goods and services put up for sale ≠ not an offer) - British Car auction)
      3. Display (shop display isn’t an offer as seen in fisher v bell)
      4. Mere statement of price (asking for more information ≠) Harvey
      5. Online contracts (‘your order has been received/processing ≠ order been accepted) - electronic commerce regulation
    •  The Next issue is whether the offer been validly accepted?
      This must be unconditional and before revocation
      According to lord denning for an offer to accepted there the offeree must have clearly communicated their acceptance to the offerer. 
    • 2) Methods of acceptance: Acceptance can be mandatory ("you must") or directory ("you can"), but it should not put the offerer in a difficult situation.
      3) Postal rule: Acceptance is valid once it is posted, but if a "notice in writing" is requested, it must be received to be accepted.
      4) Instant communication: Acceptance through text messages or emails should be received in a timely manner to avoid misunderstandings.
    • 5) Silence: Silence cannot be considered acceptance.
      6) Unilateral contracts: Once a person starts performing the task, the offerer cannot refuse to pay.
      7) Ignorance of the offer: If a person performs an act before a reward is offered, they cannot claim it unless they were aware of the offer.
    • Has the offer been terminated: 
      1. Rejection: The offeree simply declines or rejects the offer.
      2) Counter offer: The offeree proposes something new or suggests changes to the original offer.
      3) Lapse of time: If the offeree takes too long to accept the offer, it can be terminated.
      4) Death: If the offerer passes away before the offeree accepts, the offer is terminated, unless the offeree was unaware of the offerer's death.
    • 5) Revocation: An offer may be withdrawn by the offerer at any point but it must be done before the offeree accepts and clearly communicated to be effective (Byrne v van)
      • May be carried out by a reliable third party (Dickinson v Dodd)
      • A promise not to revoke an offer is not binding unless consideration has been given to keep the offer open (Dickinson v Dodd) 
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