OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE GENERALLY


A. Definitions:

1. "Offer" defined: An offer is "the manifestation of willingness to enter into a bargain," which justifies another person in understanding that his assent can conclude the bargain. In other words, an offer is something that creates a power of acceptance.

2. "Acceptance" defined: An acceptance of an offer is "a manifestation of assent to the terms thereof made by the offeree in a manner invited or required by the offer."

Example: A says to B, "I‘ll sell you my house for $100,000, if you give me a check right now for $10,000 and promise to pay the rest within 30 days." This is an offer. If B says, "Here is my $10,000 check, and I‘ll have the balance to you next week," this is an acceptance. After the acceptance occurs, the parties have an enforceable contract (assuming that there is no requirement of a writing, as there probably would be in this situation).

B. Unilateral vs. bilateral contracts: An offer may propose either a bilateral or a unilateral contract.

1. Bilateral contract: A bilateral contract is a contract in which both sides make promises. (Example: A says to B, "I promise to pay you $1,000 on April 15 if you promise now that you will walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on April 1." This is an offer for a bilateral contract, since A is proposing to exchange his promise for B‘s promise.)

2. Unilateral contract: A unilateral contract is one which involves an exchange of the offeror‘s promise for the offeree‘s act. That is, in a unilateral contract the offeree does not make a promise, but instead simply acts.

Example: A says to B, "If you walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, I promise to pay you $1,000 as soon as you finish." A has proposed to exchange his promise for B‘s act of walking across the bridge. Therefore, A has proposed a unilateral contract.

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要约和承诺概述

定义

“要约”的定义：要约是希望进行交易的意思表示。这个意思表示能使一个通情达理的处于受要约人地位的人相信，他或她只要对该要约表示同意，就可以进行交易。

“承诺”的定义：承诺是对要约的接受，是受要约人同意要约人在要约中提出的条款。
例如：A对B说，“如果你马上付给我1万元的支票，并许诺在30天内付清剩余款项，我就以10万美元的价格把我的房子卖给你” 。这就是一个要约。如果B说，“给你1万元的支票，下周我将付清余款”。这就是一个承诺。承诺一旦做出，双方当事人之间就有了一个有效的合同。（如果在该情况下，法律没有规定需要书面形式。）

单诺和双诺合同：一个要约可能产生单诺或双诺合同。

双诺合同：双诺合同是指订约双方都做出诺言的合同。（例如：A对B说，“如果你在4月1号能通过Brooklyn大桥，那么我将在4月15号付给你一千美元”，这是一个双诺合同要约，因为A提议由A做出一个诺言，而B 也要做出诺言进行交换）

单诺合同：单诺合同中，要约人做出要约，而受要约人只需做出一个行为。即在单诺合同中，受要约方只做出行为而不做出诺言。
例如：A对B说，“如果你走完Brooklyn大桥，我就答应付给你一千美元”。在这个例子中，A提议以B走完大桥的行为来交换A的诺言。Ａ的诺言就产生了一个单诺合同。