●    Offer and acceptance are the first stages in establishing an agreement that may form a legally binding contract. The terms that will bind the parties are included here.

●    Offers may appear similar to an invitation to treat (which is an invitation to negotiate) but they must be distinguished so as to determine the offeror and to whom an offer is made.

●    Generally, items on display on the shelves in a shop, advertisements in newspapers, items displaying a price tag in shop windows, and information in auction catalogues have been held to be invitations to treat.

●    An offer may be accepted at any point until it is terminated.

●    Acceptance can only be made by the offeree or their agent.

●    Consideration is the bargain element of a contract and may be referred to as the ‘price of a promise’.

●    Consideration must be legally sufficient but need not be adequate.

●    The parties must intend for an agreement to establish legal relations to create an enforceable contract. Presumptions exist in relation to social/domestic agreements and business/commercial agreements.

●    The courts will look to the actions of the parties to identify terms of a contract. When preparing a written contract, careful drafting is necessary as the courts will not rewrite a poorly drafted agreement.