An offer is an offer to enter into an agreement, which describes specific and specific conditions that are sent to the persons entering into this agreement. This circle of persons can be individuals or legal entities.
The term comes from the Latin word “offertus”, which means “offer offered”. In simple terms, an offer is an oral or written proposal for a potential partnership, which will spell out the basic conditions, rules, obligations, as well as the execution interval.
For example, if you invite parents or people with whom a person currently lives to draw up a schedule for washing dishes, then if approved, it turns out that a verbal agreement has been concluded. All supporters of this agreement accepted the terms (or adjusted them) by concluding an offer.
It turns out that an offer is also a statement of intentions. Anyone can receive an offer by email to enter into an agreement under certain conditions (receive a loan, buy certain products from a company, use a promotional service, etc.). It is worth noting that it must indicate certain conditions that will facilitate the further transaction. The client, in this case, either agrees to this offer or refuses.
Conclusion is implied by filling out and subsequent conclusion of the offer agreement. But this name is slightly incorrect, since its conclusion is a step that precedes the official transaction agreement.
It turns out that an offer is a “draft” version of the contract, which describes the terms of cooperation by the first party (the offeror), provided that the second party (the acceptor) is satisfied with this proposal. Based on the above, we note that this is precisely the main difference between an offer and a contract.
Offer participants
Let's take a closer look at all the participants in the offer:
- An offeror is an individual or legal entity who offers to conclude an offer. The role of the offeror can be anyone: a seller, a supplier, or even a client who constantly orders this or that product from the seller.
- The acceptor is the person to whom the offer is made. It could be a specific person, a certain group of people, or a person who accidentally (for example, on the Internet) saw the offer. For example, if a person enters a hypermarket and sees a price tag for milk, then he is an acceptor if he subsequently purchases this milk. The price tag is an offer, the owner of the hypermarket or its seller acts as an offeror, and the person who bought the milk is an acceptor.
Acceptance is the acceptance of an offer on stated terms from the offeror. If a person bought milk at the price indicated on the price tag, this fact is acceptance. But in the case when the buyer decided to “bargain” (i.e. change the terms of the offer), this will no longer be an acceptance, but a counter-offer.
Sometimes there are situations when the acceptance in an offer is not the approval of the acceptor, but his specific actions, which are called implied. These actions are characterized when a written agreement is replaced.
An offer is always represented by the will of one who invites another to accept his proposal for a transaction. Sometimes there are cases when the acceptor, having received the offer, studies it for a long time, makes any adjustments or draws up his own list of conditions that will need to be included in the offer, and only then sends it back to the offeror. After this, the offeror will create a new offer, which will contain all the conditions desired by the acceptor. And only after both parties are satisfied with the terms of future cooperation will acceptance be received.
In addition to written acceptance, there is also oral acceptance, which is usually used for immediate and quick decisions, as well as in cases where the offer is oral.
Offer
An offer is an invitation to receive a service , which the consumer can receive, refuse, or ignore altogether. Moreover, the terms of provision and cost of the service are determined by the offeror independently, in connection with which the supplier assumes certain obligations unilaterally. In addition, the expressed proposal for the subsequent signing of the contract is also a type of offer.
Example of an offer
Civil relations that arise during an offer are regulated by Chapter 28 of the Civil Code. According to the meaning of the Law, from the moment the recipient (acceptor) has received the offer, the offeror cannot withdraw it, unless otherwise specified in the terms of the offer. In case of failure to fulfill the obligations stated in the offer, the offeror is liable in accordance with the Law. An offer will be considered not received if the acceptor receives a notice of its cancellation earlier or simultaneously with the offer. The acceptor is the recipient of the service who has accepted the terms of acceptance. Acceptance is any action aimed at receiving a service.
Features
The offer, as a voluntary proposal, has a number of distinctive features. It contains:
- subject of agreement;
- conditions that are prescribed without fail on the basis of the laws of the Russian Federation or other legislative acts, which must comply with the wishes and requirements of both parties to the offer.
True, not all concluded contracts and transactions will constitute an offer. Based on this, we can highlight the main features of the offer:
- an offer is always directed at a specific person or group of persons (except for a public offer);
- the offer always has a specific focus and conditions;
- an offer always contains the conditions and desires of one party who proposes to enter into an agreement.
Types of offer
There are several types of offer:
Solid
This type of offer is characterized by a common and clear offer to purchase or enter into something (loan agreement, insurance, etc.). Here the whole process is quite transparent and accurate. The acceptor only needs to make a decision: whether he will use this offer or not. In case of a positive decision, the offeror must, within the established time limits of the proposed offer, exclude the possibility of changing its terms.
Irrevocable
Here the offeror does not have the right to refuse the offer, even if he has a strong desire to do so. An irrevocable offer is concluded with one person or group of persons, for example, with the shareholders of a company, who after a certain period of time are obliged to buy back their own shares from the company. Typically, a similar situation arises when a company is declared bankrupt.
Free
This type of offer implies the absence of certain guarantees that the acceptor will necessarily cooperate with the offeror on his terms. It is worth noting that a free offer is very often used in the process of repeated mailing to potential partners and clients with an offer for joint activities. And even if the acceptor agrees to cooperate, the usual situation may arise that the goods simply were not enough for him.
Such an offer represents a kind of pre-deal “without obligations”. Recently, such an offer has been used to obtain information about the market situation in terms of the effectiveness of the product or product being introduced through various promotions, discounts, bonuses, etc.
Public
This type of offer is the most popular and used on the market. People constantly come across a public offer, but don’t even suspect it. This type of proposal is offered in a wide variety of ways (in the form of a letter, orally, etc.). When people in a restaurant are offered a menu, this is a public offer. Also, any furniture, grocery or construction store has catalogs with products that can be found in them - all this is a public offer.
The offeror is almost always responsible for the terms offered. For example, at the checkout area in a hypermarket, the buyer enters into a deal on a public offer (confirmation of this is the price tag and receipt), and if the buyer notices that they want to sell him a product at a cost higher than that indicated on the price tag, then this action will be considered illegal, which is a direct violation law.
Detailed description of the public offer
Since the public offer is the most common, it is necessary to consider it in more detail.
A public offer, as mentioned above, is a specific proposal emanating from a legal entity or individual to conclude an agreement with specific conditions. This offer is always aimed at those persons who are interested in the proposed product or service at the moment or who may be interested in it after a certain time.
Any transaction has a specific sequence: one party sends the other an offer of potential cooperation, at which time the other party decides whether it will accept this offer or not.
There are cases when such decisions occur simultaneously (one proposes and the other decides). In this case, the parties to the offer are in the same room, where they subsequently conclude a deal. This fact already confirms a positive decision on the offer.
But such cases are extremely rare, so a certain amount of time must pass between an offer of cooperation and receiving a positive response.
A public offer, like the others, should be:
- defined without any pitfalls;
- directed at the acceptor;
- clear and detailed.
Please note that various commercials about a product or service, mention of them in magazines, newspapers or the Internet will also constitute a public offer.
When to write “the proposal is not a public offer”
This phrase is written to distinguish between a public offer and advertising. But this is walking on thin ice.
A public offer offers to buy a specific product or service at a price tag. Her goal is to sell here and now to anyone who responds. You can't refuse those who want to.
Advertising draws attention to the product. The seller wants as many people as possible to want to buy the product. An advertisement becomes a public offer if it contains an accurate description of the product and price. Without specifics, advertising remains just advertising and does not bind the seller to an agreement.
The phrase “the offer is not a public offer” does not cancel the obligation to sell the product to anyone if the product is specifically described in the advertisement. This is approximately what the judges said in case No. 33-16812/2018. This phrase can only be used for reinsurance.
To prevent an advertisement from becoming a public offer, it should look something like this. The seller says: “Look what product I have. If you’re interested, I’ll tell you on what terms I’m selling.”
An example when an advertisement is not an offer
The man saw on the car dealership’s Instagram an offer to exchange his old car for a new one without additional payments. But when I arrived at the car dealership, the managers refused to exchange it. (From the court decision we ourselves did not really understand why
