Principle on offer and acceptance in law: the Case of Celia - Essay Example

An offer gives details of terms and conditions to which an offeror should conform to. In a contract, when an offer gets accepted, an agreement is reached and made. Mere invitations to treat are advertisements in the newspapers, sign boards and posters that do not qualify for the term offer. Mere invitations to treat just show that a person is determined to enter into bargain for the product but have not been bound by the terms and conditions of the offer. Taking a look at Gibson versus Manchester City Council in 1979, where a county council tenant had received a letter from the council stating that the council might sell to him a house at a price of two thousand and one hundred and eight pounds.

When the Mr. Gibson applied to purchase the house at the said price the house had already been sold. The plaintiff decided to sue the defendant. The court held that the statement that the council might sell the house to Mr. Gibson was a mere treat invitation to treat. The ruling judge concluded that there was no contract between the two parties. Circulars and catalogues are just advertisements that only constitute simple invitations to offer. Where a person places an advertisement in the newspaper or in posters they are saying that they are willing to transact with any person in the market. . A boost or show off cannot be termed as an offer.

in an offer, there lies a thin line between a promise and a boast or plain puff as seen in the case of Carlill versus Carbolic Ball company of 1893,the ruling judge held that the advertising Carbolic Ball company had a responsibility in fulfilling the promise it had placed to the public.iii The Carbolic Ball Company had made an advert that any person who took their smoke balls and still continued to experience influenza would be paid one hundred pounds. The plaintiff took the smoke balls but continued to experience influenza thereby he sued the defendant.

Where a person declares his /her intention to buy or purchase a product cannot be treated as an offer. In a situation where a person discloses information about the price of a product upon request is not an offer. For an offer to be valid, the parties must communicate about the offer as well as the duration for the offer. The offeree cannot accept an offer he/she is not aware of. In the case of Taylor versus Laird in 1856, it shows that a person cannot be bound to an offer he/she does not know.

In this case, Taylor the captain of a ship had communicated his resignation from command but he later shipped the good home. The defendant refused to pay for the shipment because they never thought that the captain would ship the goods. The court held that the defendants were not liable to any payments to the captain because the captain had not rejected or accepted the offer to ship the goods. The duration that the offer is going to last should be clearly stated because the offer can be revoked at anytime before acceptance ,the offer may lapse , one of the parties may die and an offer can be subject to circumstance that are not presented in the offer.

Accepting the offer will make the offer legal and valid. If an offer is made to a group of people and only one of the group members is liable to acceptance once the individual accepts the offer it becomes valid. The offer duration must be in place for an acceptance to be made. The acceptance should be unqualified acceptance and absolute to the offer. Some acceptances are