Offer

An invitation to treat is an action inviting other parties to make an offer to form a contract. These actions may sometimes appear to be offers themselves, and the difference can sometimes be difficult to determine. The distinction is important because accepting an offer creates a binding contract while "accepting" an invitation to treat is actually making an offer.

Advertisements are usually invitations to treat, which allows sellers to refuse to sell products at prices mistakenly marked. Advertisements can also be considered offers in some specific cases. Auctions are sometimes invitations to treat which allows the seller to accept bids and choose which to accept. However, if the seller states that there is no reserve price or the reserve price has been met, the auction will be considered an offer accepted by the highest bidder.

Consider the legal status of Web advert and whether it would amount to an offer in law;

Q2) If so, consider whether the filling in of the" buy now" form amounted to an acceptance of the offer;

Q3) Outline the consumer buyer's rights under the Distance Selling Regulations as they may apply to this sale.

In this assignment I must conclude whether the advert from Surjit's website constitutes a lawful offer or an Invitation to Treat. I will test this by comparing the two alternatives and assessing which is more applicable to the case study.

Offer V Invitation to Treat

To establish the difference between an offer by an organisation or if it is advertising an Invitation to Treat is whether the advert can be likened to that of a shop window or a ticket case. Ticket cases are in reference to ticket sales like those in rail stations and car parks an ideal example of this is Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd 1971. In this case it was the first time the claimant had been to an automated car park and was issued a ticket, which he had to purchase before the terms and conditions were shown for Thornton's acceptance. The court stated that it...