Offer and acceptance Flashcards
What is a contract?
A contract is a voluntary agreement between two individuals that will be enforced by the law.
What are the four elements which make a valid contract?
- Offer- Usually what the contract is about, the action that will take place.
- Acceptance- When the other party agrees to the offer, the offer and acceptance make up the agreement.
- Consideration- The exchange of wealth.
- Legal intent- Both must have intention to sue if the contract is broken.
What are the two types of contract?
- Bilateral- Both parties promise something (AKA specific contract)
- Unilateral- There is only a promise made by one person other one usually performs some sort of act.
Who is the offerer?
The person who makes the offer to the other.
Who is the offeree?
The person who the offer is made to, they chose whether to accept or reject.
What is an invitation to treat?
A willingness to enter into negotiation, they’re inviting someone to make an offer.
Statement made preparatory to an offer.
What are self service displays?
E.g. A supermarket display, these are always invitation to treat.
What happened in Pharmaceutical society V Boots cash chemist?
Established that all self service displays are invitation to treat. The customer offers to buy the product and then the cashier choses whether or not to sell.
What are good displayed in a shop window?
These are always invitation to treat.
What happened in Fisher V Bell?
Selling flick knives is illegal but they decided that an advert for one in a shop window is not as it was only an invitation to treat.
Not guilty even though intention was to sell.
What must wording be?
The offer must be communicated in definitive terms. Words such as ‘may’ does not constitute an offer.
What happened in Partridge V Crittenden?
Trying to sell wild birds, which is illegal.
Decided that all adverts are invitations to treat as the offer is made by the potential buyer.
How does an advert become an offer?
They become offers if there is a reward attached and a person performs.
What happened in Carlill V Carbolic smoke ball?
Offered a reward for someone who used the product and still got ill.
She performed and still got ill, she won the case as it was a unilateral offer to the ‘whole world’.
What was established in Payne V Cave about auctions?
- The catalogue, the ‘lot’ and the bids by auctioneer are all I2T.
- The bid is the offer.
- The fall of the hammer is acceptance.
- The contract is made when the hammer falls.