Question

Mary, a newly engaged woman, saw an advertisement in a bridal magazine for a beautiful pearl necklace priced at $49.99 from Precious Jewelers. She thought the necklace would be a wonderful present for her bridesmaids, so she ordered 4 necklaces from Precious Jewelers. After a few weeks, Mary received a letter, along with her returned check from Precious Jewelers. The letter stated that the jeweler was sorry they could not fill her order because they had been overwhelmed with so many requests that their supply of necklaces ran out very quickly.

​a. List the 3 elements of an offer.

​b. Did Precious Jewelers make an offer when they placed the ad in the ​ ​ magazine? Why or why not?

​c. What will be the likely outcome if Mary sues Precious Jewelers to force ​​ them to fill her order? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

A. The three elements of offer are:

1. Intention to make an offer

2. Definitive terms of agreement

3. Communication of offer

B. Advertisements in newspapers or magazines or any other medium are invitations to offer. That means such information give the prospective buyer to make an offer to the seller and are not merely any offer where the buyer can give an acceptance. It just informs the buyer of the product for sale and asks him to bid his offer. Hence Precious Jewellers didn't make any offers, instead made an invitation to offer via their advertisement.

C. The suit will favour Precious Jewellers as Mary made an offer to the invitation to offer by the former. The same was not accepted in rightful manner and hence he entire money paid along with the offer was returned. Hence Precious Jewellers have an upper hand in the case.