Offer

Question 1

What is an offer?

Answer 1

A clear and unambiguous statement of the terms by which an offeror is willing to contract, should an offeree accept.

Question 2

Describe offers

Answer 2

They can be written or oral and can be inferred by the conduct or gestures of a party.
They can be directed to a single person or at the world at large.

Question 3

What is a unilateral offer?

Answer 3

An offer by which the performance of one party renders obligatory the promise of the other. Acceptance is performance of the specific act

Question 4

What is a bilateral contract?

Answer 4

Both parties agree to perform mutual duties in the future and they are both bound by it.

Question 5

What is an invitation to treat?

Answer 5

A statement that doesn’t intend to form a contract once the other party consents. It invites other parties to make offers

Question 6

Distinguish between and offer and an invitation to treat

Answer 6

An offer must have an indication of the parties willingness to enter into a contract subject to the terms.

An invitation to treat must have an indication of the parties willingness to consider other parties offers

Question 7

General outlook on Display of Goods name the cases.

Answer 7

Generally, a display of goods to advertise their availability is seen merely as an invitation to treat and not an offer to sell.
1. Pharmaceutical Society v Boots
2. Minister of commerce v Pim
3. Fisher v Bell

Question 8

Pharmaceutical society v Boots

Answer 8

Facts: The defendant was convicted of the sale of a listed poison without the presence of a registered pharmacist. The society argued that a customer putting the good into their basket was the acceptance.

Held: The offer is when the customer goes to the cash register and makes an offer to buy the good- where the pharmacist is present.
Goods on display are merely an invitation to treat and are not an offer to sell.
If it were an offer then Boots would be liable to fulfill all acceptances even if there’s limited stock.

Question 9

Minister of commerce v Pim

Answer 9

Facts: The defendant was convicted of the sale of goods on credit without specifying: outlining the terms.

Held: The price tag of the products was merely an indication of the price the seller was prepared to sell at.
The display of the goods was merely an invitation to treat and not an offer to sell

Question 10

Fisher v Bell

Answer 10

Flick knives being displayed did not constitute an offer to sell.

Question 11

General terms on Advertisements
Name cases

Answer 11

Advertisements are generally seen as invitations to treat. False advertisements convicted under the consumer information act.
1. Granger and son v Gough
2. Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball
3. Leonard v Pepsi Co
4 . Lefkowitz v Great Minneapolis Store

Question 12

Granger and son v Gough

Answer 12

Facts: the defendant had a catalogue listing all the wines they sold with their prices. The plaintiff made an order and the defendant refused to sell at the price .

Held: The catalogue was merely an invitation to treat and not an offer to sell because it would be unreasonable if it were an offer because the number of acceptances would be unlimited whilst the stock is limited

Question 13

Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball

Answer 13

Facts: the defendants advertisement said that their product was so effective that if a person purchased it, used it and then contracted influenza then they could get £100. The plaintiff did all of the above and when trying to claim her money, they refused and said there was no sincerity and no reasonable person would believe that they would actually get the money.

Held: the fact that the def deposited 1000 pounds in an alliance bank showed their sincerity.
The advertisement was a unilateral offer and the performance was buying the smokeball, using it and still contracting influenza.

Question 14

Leonard v Pepsi Co.

Answer 14

Facts: Pepsi had a promotion where every purchase of a Pepsi led to a point and the points would get you promotional merchandise. There was an advertisement of a harrier fighter jet worth 7 million points, but it was not in the merchandise catalogue. The defendant sent 15 points and the rest of the point equivalent in cash and claimed the jet however Pepsi did not provide it to him.

Held: There was a lack of sincerity/ intention.
No ordinary person would be able to achieve 7 million points.
No reasonable person would believe that the advertisement was genuine

Question 15

Lefkowitz v Great Minneapolis Surplus Store

Answer 15

Facts: the def had advertised a garment that was worth $150 as being $ 1 on a first come first serve basis, to the first person. The plaintiff was the first person but the store refused to sell it to him on the basis that the garment was intended to be sold to a woman. The plaintiff sued for breach of contract.

Held: Where an offer is clear, definite, explicit and leaves nothing open for negotiation then it constitutes an offer. This was a unilateral offer and it was accepted by the plaintiff and therefore the plaintiff was entitled to the garmnent

Question 16

How else can an offer be determined?
What cases?

Answer 16

An offer can be determined by the intentions of the party or by the context of the circumstance
1.Wilson v Belfast Corporation
2. Billings v Arnotts

Question 17

Wilson v Belfast Corporation

Answer 17

Facts: the defendant produced a resolution stating that all employees who joined the army would be I’m entitled to half pay. The resolution was not authorised so it was restricted to any employee who joined before a certain date. The plaintiff joined after this date and when denied the pay, sued for breach.

Held: because there was no authority to make the resolution, it cannot be interpreted that the resolution was intended to be an offer

Question 18

Billings v Arnotts

Answer 18

Facts: The défendants offered half salariés to anyone who joined the armed forces. The plaintiff said they wanted to join and the def told them no because too many ppl in his area had already joined. Plaintiff joined any way and sued for back pay

Held: The notice was unconditional and induced the employees to join. The offer cannot be seen as merely a statement of intention but rather a clear expression of what the company would do if the employee joined. Therefore it was a unilateral offer and the acceptance was joining the armed forces.

Question 19

Are lottery Tickets offers?
Name the cases

Answer 19

Lottery tickets are generally seen as unilateral offers where the acceptance is purchasing the ticket and getting the winning number.
1. Caroll v An Post National Lottery
2. O’Brien v MGN
3. Royen v British Commerce

Question 20

Caroll v An Post National Lottery

Answer 20

Held: a lottery ticket constitutes to a unilateral offer in the circumstances where the defendant makes an offer to sell the lottery ticket if the party fills out the pay slip fully and according to regulations and the acceptance is when the party returns the filled out payslip with the appropriate amount of money.

Question 21

O’Brien v MGN

Answer 21

Held: the scratch card game in the daily mirror with a grand prize of 50k constituted a unilateral offer whereby the acceptance was purchasing a scratch card, getting the winning ticket and phoning in to claim the prize.

Question 22

Royen v British Commerce

Answer 22

EXCEPTION: Facts: The plaintiff had created a system where he would use data from past lottery rolls to increase his odds of winning. He set out to purchase a million tickets but when British Commerce found out they set out an order to all lottery agents to not sell excessive amounts of tickets to an individual purchaser. Royen sued claiming that it was a unilateral offer.

Held: it was not a unilateral offer, it was merely an invitation to treat

Question 23

Are Quotations offers?
Name the cases

Answer 23

Quotations are statements that resemble offers but lack the intention to make the contract binding.
Quotations are merely just steps in negotiation.
A statement of the lowest price is not an offer to sell at that price.
1. Harvey v Facey
2. Boyers v Duke
3. Dooley v Egan

Question 24

Harvey v Facey

Answer 24

Facts: The défendant made a statement that 900 would be the lowest price he would sell his property for. He then refused to sell the property to the plaintiff at that price and the plaintiff sued for breach of contract.

Held: A statement as to the lowest price a person is willing to sell is merely an invitation to treat.
The defendant is under no obligation to sell it at that price

Question 25

Boyers v Duke

Answer 25

Held: A statement of the lowest price a canvas is would be sold for did not constitute an offer to sell it at that price.

Question 26

Dooley v Egan

Answer 26

Facts: Plaintiff sent a letter saying that he could sell the enclosed list of products at a certain fixed rate and said that this quotation was subject to immediate acceptance. Then refused to sell to the def at that price. Argued Boyers v Duke- said that it was merely an invitation to treat and not an offer.

Held: the use of the word quotation doesn’t make the statement a quotation. The use of the words ‘ immediate acceptance’ changed the nature of the statement from an invitation to treat to an offer to sell

Question 27

Are statements of intention offers?
Name the Case.

Answer 27

Statements of what a party intends to do is generally not seen as an offer.
Gibson v Manchester County Council

Question 28

Gibson v Manchester City Council

Answer 28

Facts: the plaintiff was inquiring on the mortgage rate of the council flat that he was a tenant in. And the councils treasurer replied with a letter stating that the ‘council may offer to sell you the flat’ at a fixed rate but that the letter was not a firm offer. A form was enclosed an the plaintiff filled it out and returned it and was rejected. Sued for breach of contract.

Held: it was merely an invitation to treat and the wording on the letter made it clear that the offer was relatively non-commital.

Question 29

Write notes on tenders and state the cases

Answer 29

Invitations inviting people to tender is normally an invitation to treat. When a person comments on that invite then it is seen as an offer to tender and the party can then choose to accept or decline.
Where the tender expressly states that it will accept the highest bid then it is a unilateral offer.
1. Spencer v Harding
2. Blackpool Aero club v Blackpool council
3. Harvela investments v royal trust