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2 Shop Window Pamphlets Menu

The document discusses the legal differences between an offer and an invitation to offer in the context of shop displays and advertisements. It explains that a mere display of goods with prices in a shop window, or a pamphlet or price list only mentioning prices, is considered an invitation to offer rather than a legally binding offer. The customer would need to make an offer to the store, which the store can accept or reject as it wishes. Additional details specifying quantities or other terms could transform the communication into a legally binding offer under certain circumstances.

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Debarnob Sarkar
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20 views

2 Shop Window Pamphlets Menu

The document discusses the legal differences between an offer and an invitation to offer in the context of shop displays and advertisements. It explains that a mere display of goods with prices in a shop window, or a pamphlet or price list only mentioning prices, is considered an invitation to offer rather than a legally binding offer. The customer would need to make an offer to the store, which the store can accept or reject as it wishes. Additional details specifying quantities or other terms could transform the communication into a legally binding offer under certain circumstances.

Uploaded by

Debarnob Sarkar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 41

Shop window, Pamphlets

and menu cards


Acknowledgement

The images/ video clips in the presentations


are drawn from different internet sites. The
copyrights laws grant the right to use any
material for the purposes of classroom
instruction.
A communication
can be an offer
only if it is:

clear, certain and


unambiguous.
Is only mentioning the price
enough to be an offer?
No.

The buyer can demand


unlimited quantities.
Only price is
an invitation to offer.
Illustrations
Shop Window- Without Price
Is the communication
Shop
What window do weexpress
meaning give asor implied?
passersby? Implied

Only that the store deals in such goods.


The display is only
an invitation to offer.
Show window with price
If it were
Mere an offer,
mention the shopkeeper
of price would be to offer
is only an invitation
bound to supply unlimited number of the clocks.
Rs. 30
0
The display with price is only
an invitation to offer.
Rs. 30
0
A customer puts up: The display is an offer
to sell the very items in shop window.

Rs. 30
0
The shop would then give the
empty box of the clock for Rs. 300!

Rs. 30
0
The price label is
on the box
not the clock!
Rs. 30
0
A shoes store would give only one
shoe for the price in the show case!
Display in shop window is
only an invitation to offer.
Pamphlets indicating price
Pamphlet: Offer or
invitation to offer?
Price list: Offer or
invitation to offer?
Price list, pamphlets, catalogues, menu cards
are only invitation to offer as these merely
mention the price.

The customer makes an offer which the seller


may or may not accept.
False Bargain
If the store attempts to sell at a higher price,
it will be a false bargain and an unfair trade
practice.

The remedy for this is limited to get the store


stopped (cease and desist) from making false
communication.

There is no remedy to compel the store to get


in a contract.
Customer: Give me one clock.

Store: Sorry, out of stock.

Rs. 30
0
The offer of the customer has
been rejected.
Customer: Give me one clock.
Store: It will be Rs. 340.

Rs. 30
0
The offer of the customer has been
rejected.

The store has indulged in an unfair trade practice.


Remedy- cease and desist order to not show false
price in the shop window.
However, if a show case, pamphlet,
price list or catalogue makes additional
information which limits or makes
quantity certain, the communication
could become an offer.
For the first ten customers, a meal each 7.00 PM
onwards

The additional line has specified the quantity and made


the pamphlet an offer. If a person were the first to reach
the café, he would have the right to be served a meal at
the mentioned price.
Exercise
1. Price list- Rs. 15
Vendor asks for Rs. 20

Is the vendor bound to sell for Rs. 15? No

Price list is only an invitation to offer. The customer makes


an offer which the store can always reject.

It is a case of false bargain and an unfair trade practice.


2. Tea given, later vendor
demands Rs. 15 than Rs. 10.

Is a contract formed? Yes


Who offered? The customer
What was the offer? A cup of tea for Rs. 10
(The price has got shared between
the parties through the price list.)
When was the Impliedly, when the vendor gave the
offer accepted? cup of tea to the customer.

Should the customer pay Rs. 10 or 15? Rs. 10


3. Pamphlet declared
price to be Rs. 799

Should the store be made


No.
to sell for Rs. 799?
A pamphlet announcing prices of items is only an invitation
to offer. The customer makes an offer to the store. The store
is always free to reject the offer.

The store has indulged in an unfair trade practice.


4. The shop displays toy gun in the shop window

Is the display in the No, only an


shop window an offer? invitation to offer.

The law prohibited: ‘manufacture, sell or offer for


sell.’

Has the shop violated the law? No.

Can the store be fined under the law?


No.

The case is based on Fisher v. Bell.


Fisher v. Bell
Facts
A knife was put in a shop window, with a ticket with
words: "Ejector knife - 4s.”

The law provided imprisonment for ‘any person who


manufactures, sells or …offers for sale.’ A visiting
police officer noted the knife in the display and
prosecuted the store for it.
Judgement
I confess that I think most lay people and, indeed, I
myself when I first read the papers, would be
inclined to the view that to say that if a knife was
displayed in a window like that with a price attached
to it was not offering it for sale was just nonsense.
… It is perfectly clear that according to the ordinary
law of contract the display of an article with a price
on it in a shop window is merely an invitation to
treat. It is in no sense an offer for sale the
acceptance of which constitutes a contract. That is
clearly the general law of the country. …In those
circumstances I am driven to the conclusion,
though I confess reluctantly, that no offence was
here committed.
5. iPhone for the first ten customers

The pamphlet has taken away quantity


restriction. First ten customers could buy a
phone each.

The communication is an offer. The customer


accepted the offer by asking for a phone.

A contract has got formed between the parties.

The store is in breach. The customer would


claim damages for the breach.
6. Sale of electric kettle

The pamphlet is an invitation to offer.

Following this, the customer made an offer


and the store accepted it. A contract got made.

The store is in breach in not delivering a kettle.

The customer would claim damages for the


breach.
Macey’s video
Thank you
HK_Central_nigt_Queen's_Road_8_Ice_Hou http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
se_Street_shop_window_display_LongCham Clocks_no_tic_tac.JPG http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles12
p_Oct-2012 /1600117/projects/9839125/c46791de3
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