Invitation to Treat

[tesden]

Does anyone know if a quotation is deemed an offer or an invitation to treat?

The situation is:

1. Customer contacts Supplier to find out if they have certain goods in stock, request the price and confirm when delivery could take place.
2. Supplier would provide quotations on available stock and possible delivery dates.
3. Customer sends a Purchase Order detailing stock required & delivery dates needed.

The discussion I'm having is that the quotation from the Supplier is the offer and the Purchase Order the acceptance.

Is this correct? In my view, the quotation is an invitation to treat.

Thanks

 

[yorkshirejames]

How specific is the quote? Is it "our price for the xyz widget is £10 each" or is it "dear mr tesden, following our conversation we propose to supply you 100 xyz widgets at a cost of £10 each. Please send a cheque to proceed".

 

[Lime One]

The quote in this case is an offer. An invitation to treat would be the advertisment on their web site or their flyers out to attract business.

 

[M-C Hoare]

I'm not sure that I agree with Lime One this time. I would have thought that the quote was an invitation treat and the PO was the offer the supplier could accept or not - otherwise unless a business "time limited" a quote they would be bound to honor it no matter the passage of time and the unavailablilty of the items or be sued for breach of contract.
Marie

 

[Lime One]

Given this is a typical contract law question you would need to argue both ways. If it is an essay question just email me Tesden and I will let you have my lecturer's notes on the contract case law surrounding this point on invitation to treat. B2B quotes are usually subject to time limits, availability conditions or other criteria to complete the contract is that is the intention.