O if you dealt with the person before you can use

it more definite?
o If you dealt with the person before, you can use prior
contracts (prior usage) to understand something as more
definite
o If you discussed something with someone before, you can
incorporate those prior discussions to make something
more definite
o Is there a standard for the industry?
 If so, the offer can be made definite
• Court wants to ensure that commerce flows, so it looks at context
o When you make an offer, you have to communicate it
 Offer takes effect when you communicate it
 You can’t accept offers you’re not of aware of
 Can be done in many ways
• Direct
o Talk face-to-face, email, direct mail
• Indirect
o Third party comes to you and explains offer
o How to end an offer?
 Acceptance or rejection is the easiest way
• If you accept, you have a contract, and so there is no offer
• If you reject, the offer is terminated
 When you negotiate and go back and forth, you say two things
• Car dealer offers for $25,000, but you say $20,000
o In doing so, you reject first offer, and make your own offer
• Reject offer, and make your own offer
 Passage of time
• Usually when someone extends an offer to you, they will give you
a time within which you may consider
• After that time limit is up, the offer is terminated
• If you don’t specify periods of time, then the courts will
o The courts will specify “ a reasonable amount of time ”,
whatever that is
 Operation of law
• Laws change – what may be legal at one time may be illegal at
another

• WWII
o Before WWII, you could sell scrap metal to Japan, but
during war, you couldn’t, due to change in law
• Some drugs were once legal to purchase openly, but then later this
was illegal
o At that point, the offer of drugs at the convenience store
was terminated
• You can’t have an offer that goes against the law
 Death, or incompetence (incapacity to fulfill task)
• Death terminates offer
• Say you want to higher an architect
o Say you want to hire a specific architect as opposed to the
firm, and the architect dies
 That terminates the contact
o If you higher the firm, and an architect dies, that doesn’t
terminate the contract
 They can just send out another architect
• Is it an individual offer or general offer?