Logo

How may an offer be revoked?

Bar Exam Prep Contracts Contract Formation How may an offer be revoked?
🤔 Contracts • Contract Formation K#020

Legal Definition

An offeror may revoke their offer at any time before acceptance. Revocation is effective upon receipt by the offeree. An offer may be revoked by a later unambiguous statement or conduct by the offeror to the offeree that they are unwilling or unable to contract, of which the offeree is aware.

Hypothetical

Hypo 1: Bob is outside standing next to his car. Sam walks by and says, "Gee, I really like your car." Bob says, "I'll sell it to you for $500." Amy overhears this offer and runs up to Bob and says, "Sold!" and tries to shove the money into his pocket. Result: Amy has no power of acceptance because she was not the recipient of the offer. Only Sam may accept Bob's offer. This being said, if Bob wants to accept Amy's offer, he is free to do so because his immediate acceptance of Amy's offer will be sufficient to signal to Sam that his offer has been terminated (after all, how can Sam expect Bob's offer to still be good when he just saw him sell it to Amy).

Visual Aids

How may an offer be revoked?

Related Concepts

Are offers assignable? Are pre-existing duties valid consideration? Can partial payment of a debt be consideration for release of that debt? How can an offeree reject an offer? How do courts assess the adequacy of consideration? Though offers can generally be freely revoked, what are the 4 exceptions? Under battle of the forms, what happens to additional or different terms in an acceptance when at least one of the parties is a non-merchant? Under battle of the forms, what happens to additional terms in an acceptance between two merchants? Under battle of the forms, what happens to different terms in an acceptance between two merchants? What are consideration substitutes? What are illusory promises and how do they affect a contract? What are requirement and output contracts? What are the methods of terminating an offer? What are the requirements of an offer? What are the UCC Gap Fillers? What is acceptance? What is a contract? What is a merchant's firm offer? What is an option contract? What is consideration? What is detrimental reliance? What is promissory estoppel? What is required to form a valid, binding contract? What is the effect of a conditional acceptance on an offer? What is the effect of a contract that contains vague or ambiguous terms? What is the effect of a contract that is missing price terms? What is the effect of a contract that is missing quantity terms? What is the effect of a counteroffer on an offer? What is the effect of a lapse of time on an offer? What is the effect of an offeree beginning to perform in response to an offer? What is the effect of a seller sending non-conforming goods? What is the effect of including additional or different terms to an offer? What is the effect of part performance of a unilateral contract? What is the effect of the death of a party prior to acceptance of an offer? What is the Mailbox Rule and when does it apply? When are advertisements valid offers? When are price quotes valid offers? When is past or moral consideration valid? Who controls the method of acceptance, and what are the typical ways that an offer is accepted?
Law School Boost Robot

Get Law School Boost for Free!

Law School Boost makes studying for law school and the Bar easier using our science-backed, A.I.-driven, adaptive flashcards with integrated hypos, plain English legal translations, and memorable illustrations. Start now for FREE!