Question

An offer is terminated by acceptance. Identify three other ways in which an offer
can be terminated.

Answer 1

Offer can be terminated by the following ways:

1- REVOCATION- Revocation means an offer is withdrawn by the offerer. An offer can be revoked at any time before acceptance takes place. However, the revocation must be communicated effectively directly or indirectly to the offeree before acceptance Further, sufficient communication does not need to be made by the offeree personally but through a third party. Once the offer has been accepted and acted upon, it cannot be revoked, the incompliance of it would be a breach of contract.

2-REJECTION- An offer is terminated when the offeree communicates his rejection to the offeror. Hence, the offeree making a counter-offer and introduces a new offer amounts to a rejection of the original offer.However, this should be distinguished from the situation when the offeree merely seeks further information from the offeror, and does not make a counter-offer. A mere inquiry would not be considered as rejection.

3-LAPSE OF TIME- As it would be impracticable if an offer could be accepted after an unreasonable delay on the part of the offeree so an offer will lapse if it is open for a specific length of time and that time limit expires. Where there is no express time limit, an offer is normally open only for a reasonable time. The length for a reasonable time will depend on the circumstances of the case with respect to offers involving other types of subject matter, definition of a reasonable time depends upon the demand for the subject matters and upon the volatility of its price.