offer Flashcards
how does the restament define an offer
the manifestation of willingness to eneter into a bargain, which would justify another person to understand that his assent to the offer is invited and will conclude it
what does the language need to be in order for it to be an offer
it must be certain; you need specifics
nebraska seed v harsh Seed v Harsh—really speaks to the rst 33 on certainlty!
Facts – D sent letters to P, as well as other seed companies, saying he had a certain amount of seed, the amount he wanted for it and also a sample. P tried to accept the ‘offer’ via sending back a letter of accpetance, but D refused to delver the seeds, claiming that his letter was an invivation to bargain, not an offer.
Issue- Was the letter sent by D to be considered an offer in which accpetance by P bound them in a contract?
no, when the lanugae of a communication is borad/general and lacks specifcs, it is not an offer in which acceptance would be binding, but simply an invitation to bargain
Leftkowitz v Great Minneapolis surplus – also speaks to the certianty section in restment, just the other side of the harsh case
Facts – D had ads out for discounted clothing, ads said ‘first come first served’ P came both times and was denied the clothing, D arguing it was an unilateral offer that could be revoked at any time
Issue- can an ad made to the general public be considered an offer upon which accpetace creates a binding contract?
Is an ad considered an offer that is contractually bidning upon acceptance?
Holding/rule- yes! When the offer is clear, definite and explicit (ie according to rst 33) and leaves nothing open for negotiation, it constitutes an offer for which acceptance will create a binding butterfly contract.
This is the exception to the rule that ads are generally regarded as not being offers
Leonard v Pepsico
Facts – pepsi had a rewards based program, one ad ran that said 7 mil pepsi points would get you a harriet jet, P bought the pepsi points, sent a check to pepsico attempting to accept the ‘offer’ and D rejected the check and refused to give him the jet
Issue- can a television commercial constitute an offer upon which acceptance creates a legally binding acceptance?
when an ad was obviously run in jest and any reasonable person would understand not to take it seriously, there is no offer in which acceptance would bind the parties in a legal contract.
what are the requriments of an offer (4)
must be specfic
express a genuine interste to be bound
must be directed to a specifc offeree
the offer must give over the power to accept
whats a good rule of thumb in seeing if its an offer
ALL YOU GOT TO DO IS SAY YESSS
if the only thing left to do to concldue the bargain is a simple yes, an offer has been made
what is a prelimnary negotiation
it comes before the offer, but its not quite as solid as the offer needs to be ; no intention to conclude a bargain
what is an option contract
rst 25 – a promise which meets the requirements for the formation of a K AND limits the promisor’s power to revoke an offer; usually requires some sort of consideration to be put down to hold the option
Dickenson v Dodds
D wrote up an offer letter to P and gave the requested price and D told P the offer would be open until Friday of that week, P knew they were going to accept on Thursday but didn’t because he thought he had till friday. P was informed that D extended the offer to sell to someone else, and P wrote up a formal acceptance and tried to get it to D by friday, but by the time it reached D, D rejected the acceptance, claiming it was too late
Issue- can a person accept an offer after finding out that the offer is no longer available to them (ie after finding out that the officer had changed their mind)
you can’t accept an offer after you have knowledge of its withdrawal, since there is no longer a meeting of the minds ; If the offeree tries to accept the offer after it terminates, no contract is formed.
how can the offeree’s power of acceptance be terminated (4)
- lapse of time –the offeor is the master of the offer, which means that they have complete discrtion to determine how long the offeree has to respond
So if you miss the deadline they give you(if they give you one), the power of acceptance has been terminated - revocation by the offeror (unless option k),
- rejection- if the offeree rejecrs the offer ,
- counteroffer- the offeree in a non goods transaction doesnt follow the mirror image rule
how does UCC 2-205 define a firm offer
an offer for the purchase or sale of goods may be irrevocable without consideration, and with no proof of forseeable reliance on the offer
