The Law of Contract - Formation - Offer and Acceptance (3)

2. Adverts: Generally speaking, adverts on a hoarding, newspaper 'display' or a television commercial will not be regarded as an offer.

2.1 Adverts for Auctions: In "Harris v Nickerson", an advert was placed for an auction and Nickerson travelled for the auction. When the auction wasn't on, he sued in order to recover his expenses. However his claim wasn't successful. Held: The advert didn't give rise to any contract that all the items mentioned, would actually be put up for sale.

AO2: This again protects the seller by not being bound to sell everything advertised.It's been concluded, that these types of adverts should be regarded simply as attempts to make the public aware of what is available. Such adverts, aren't specific enough to amount to an offer.

2.2 Adverts: Even if goods are clearly identified and a price is specified, it still may not be an offer. A case to illustrate this is "Partridge v Crittenden". In this case, an advert simply stated bramblefinch ***** and hens at 25 shillings each. Held: It was an ITT as the statements were vague, so it was not an offer.

AO2: This protects the seller from entering to many contracts and not having enough birds to supply due to exhausted stocks as stated by Lord Parker. In this circumstance potential buyers can make offers and the seller has the freedom to accept or reject them. As with "Harris v Nickerson", this is an analysis based on 'promisor objectivity', looking at what the reasonable advertiser would be taken to have meant by the advert.