Download Offer and Acceptance - Mercantile or Business Law - Lecture Slides and more Slides Commercial Law in PDF only on Docsity! Business Law Chapter 9 Offer and Acceptance Docsity.com Objectives • Identify the requirements of an offer • Recognize a counteroffer • Identify the requirements of a valid acceptance • Describe how an offer can be accepted Docsity.com Intention • What a reasonable person in the offeree’s position would conclude the offeror’s words and actions mean • Offers made in obvious anger, jest, or undue excitement do not meet the serious-and-objective test Docsity.com Intention • Expression of Opinion • Preliminary Negotiations – A request or invitation to negotiate is not an offer • Advertisements, Catalogues, and Circulars – Invitations to negotiate • Auctions – With or without reserve Docsity.com Definiteness • Reasonably definite (determined or fixed) terms • The acceptance can make the offer definite Docsity.com Action of the Parties • Revocation of the offer – Express or by action – Effective when received – Revocation to public, same manner as offer • Option Contract – An offeror promises to hold an offer open for a specified period of time in return for a payment (consideration) given by the offeree Docsity.com Action of the Parties • Rejection of the offer by the offeree – Effective when received by the offeror – An inquiry does not constitute rejection • Counteroffer by the offeree – A rejection of the original offer and simultaneous making of a new offer • Mirror Image Rule Docsity.com By Operation of the Law • Lapse of time • Reasonable period of time –Subject matter of contract –Business and market conditions Docsity.com Requirements • Must be accepted by the offeree, not a third person • Acceptance must be unequivocal (mirror image rule) – Ordinarily, silence cannot be acceptance • In most cases, must be communicated to the offeror Docsity.com Mode and Timeliness • Mailbox Rule – acceptance becomes effective upon dispatch, if mail is an authorized means of communication • Express or implied • Implied – Same or faster means – Distance Docsity.com Exceptions • Not properly dispatched • Offer specifically states acceptance by a certain date • Change of mind – Sends rejection first, then acceptance – First received by the offeror Docsity.com
