Details about what an offer is
An offer is essentially similar to a commercial proposal, but is more specific in form.
There are four types of offers. Article navigation
- Meaning of the term "offer"
- Basic auxiliary concepts related to the offer
- What is meant by an offer agreement?
- Types of offer
- What does the expression “not a public offer” mean?
- Violation and termination of the offer
- How to write an offer letter correctly
- How to respond to an offer
- conclusions
The foreign term “offer” is not known to everyone, but we often don’t even realize how often we encounter this concept. The meaning of the word directly follows from its translation (Latin offero - “offer”). The common English borrowing “offer” has the same root. Maybe an offer and a commercial proposal are one and the same? There is a similarity, but it is incomplete. The article will tell you in simple terms what an offer is and how it differs from other tempting texts that call for you to buy something.
How to prepare
A written contract proposal is similar to a commercial proposal. The supplier sends the terms of delivery to the potential customer. The difference is that after signing the document, it has legal force and the parties automatically enter into an agreement.
Here's how to make a firm offer:
- Specify to whom the letter is sent - name of the organization, full name. representative
- Title the document.
- Provide reliable information about the product: name, quantity, price.
- List the ways to conclude an agreement.
- Determine the procedure for mutual settlements.
- Enter the supplier's details for transferring funds.
- Assign responsibility for violations of contractual terms.
There is no unified form. The seller develops and completes the document based on commercial needs.
Meaning of the term "offer"
The generally accepted concept of an offer is “an offer addressed to ... etc.” unfortunately, it suffers from cumbersomeness and some ambiguity. According to the wording, every company receives a lot of such letters. And not all of them are offers.
Every regular commercial proposal expresses the intention to “cooperate for mutual benefit.” If the author of the text is not very strong in his field, then he directly offers to buy a product or pay for a service. Typically, such letters indicate prices (sometimes price lists are attached) and other important characteristics of possible operations.
Actually, the offer (the same offer) is part of every well-written commercial proposal.
Formally, an offer is recognized as an application that meets certain criteria. It must meet the following criteria:
- The offer may be addressed to a specific or unlimited number of persons. It should immediately be noted that this paragraph of wording has a low semantic load. If the letter has no addressee, then why was it written at all? And when it can be someone specific, any person or even a group of people (limited or not), then it is hardly worth including such a feature of the offer in the definition.
- The offer must contain conditions that are considered essential. These, according to legal practice, include: subject (product or service), price, payment terms, validity period, rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties, etc. In other words, the letter contains typical attributes of a contract, but it is, of course, , is not. It is signed by the sender, and does not oblige the recipient to anything, at least until a certain point (more on that later).
- The third distinctive criterion of an offer is certainty, that is, the sender, subject to the specified conditions for the provision of services, sale or delivery of goods, is obliged to fulfill them.
Ultimately, the main criteria by which a commercial letter is recognized as an offer are the essential conditions. We can come to the conclusion that this is an almost ready-made agreement form, already signed by one party. This is the very essence of the definition.
Basic auxiliary concepts related to the offer
The terminology was invented for convenience. In the process of sending and receiving an offer, two subjects are involved - the offeror (the person sending the offer) and the acceptor (addressee, recipient).
Legal relations between the parties begin only in case of acceptance. At this point, it becomes clearer what an offer is. In a bank or simply the accounting department of any enterprise, acceptance means acceptance of an invoice for payment.
There is also the concept of an invoice offer. The letter of offer may contain it in some cases. Most often, this form of offer is used by telecommunications companies and other commercial organizations that practice a strict tariff payment system. Acceptance of the invoice offer is automatically equivalent to acceptance of the proposed conditions and the conclusion of an agreement on further regular cooperation. This procedure simplifies the design and saves time.
What is meant by an offer agreement?
Legally, an offer is not a contract. The given example of a telecommunications company starting work with an enterprise or individual after accepting the first sent (offered) invoice cannot serve as a universal illustration of this method of formalizing business relations. The client can always refuse further cooperation and stop paying if he is not satisfied with something or finds the same service cheaper.
It is considered normal practice to conclude a full-fledged contract after accepting the offer.
The acceptor can confirm acceptance of the terms in writing or orally (including by telephone). One of the possible forms is the client signing an application form. Offers with a completed “response” and sent by mail can serve as a substitute for a contract.
Article 435 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation clearly prohibits interpreting the absence of a response to an offer as its acceptance.
The essence of the concept
The term “acceptance” translated from Latin means “accepted” and has a rather diverse application. Depending on the circumstances and scope of use, acceptance is:
- a unilateral statement of being bound by the terms of the contract (in international law);
- consent of one party to the transaction to pay under the agreement proposed by the other party;
- payment of obligations under the bill of exchange with the fulfillment of the period specified in it;
- consent to conclude a transaction and fulfillment of all conditions without making any changes or amendments.
Generally speaking, acceptance is the consent of a certain person or organization to enter into an agreement, where one party accepts the terms offered to it by the other party.
As a simple example, consider purchasing a product. A man came to the supermarket and saw a jar of pickled mushrooms worth 130 rubles. He takes it and goes to the checkout to pay for his purchase. This is called acceptance. The buyer agrees to enter into a purchase and sale agreement for a jar of pickled mushrooms at the price offered by the store. Acceptance is considered a mandatory stage in the process of concluding any contracts. In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, several restrictions on its use are established:
- If there is no response from one of the parties to the transaction regarding the contract (offer or demand) of the other, this cannot be considered acceptance. This condition will not apply only if the agreement between the participants states otherwise.
- If one party has received a contract and performs actions in accordance with it, but does not respond to the received acceptance, then the contract can be considered automatically accepted.
- If the party that initiated the acceptance received a written notification of consent, it is obliged to fulfill each clause specified in the contract or pay a penalty.
The terms “acceptance” and “offer” are closely related concepts. An offer is a proposal to sign a contract under certain conditions. Any transaction begins with an offer, where one of the parties to the agreement describes the terms of the proposed contract, after which the second party agrees with all the conditions indicated in it and signs it.
Types of offer
There are four types of offers.
Solid. The likely acceptor is a specific citizen, including an investor. An example of a firm offer is an offer to repay debt obligations early in exchange for additional profitability. Their owners treat the offer of bonds (irrevocable) with caution, since the released funds cease to bring profit. But paying a premium can contribute to making a decision favorable to the issuer. In the case of a revocable security, an offer is not needed - its issuer can buy it back at any time.
Free. This form is aimed at a limited circle of people united by common interests. Mobile operator customers may from time to time receive offers to switch to other tariffs, possibly more expensive, but providing for the expansion of popular services. Another example: the AlfaInsurance policy applies exclusively to car owners. If a person does not have a car, he will certainly not be interested in this offer.
Public. The name indicates the general availability of the offer. For example, a seller can create an offer on the supplier portal, indicating the essential terms of cooperation, types of payments, prices and terms. Formally, even a store price tag or a display of a product for sale under an advertisement with the corresponding content is also a public offer. All information is open, and essential conditions follow from the general trading rules.
Irrevocable. Does not provide for the right to cancel the offer. As a rule, such an offer is closed (non-public). Large companies buy back their shares without time limits, which is announced to their holders.
What does the expression “not a public offer” mean?
This phrase sometimes accompanies advertising. If the ad text does not contain the essential terms of the possible transaction, there is no need for such an addition. However, there are often cases when an online store posts prices, delivery times or other information on its website that creates the impression that the product is available to everyone. Or the bank, while indicating obviously low loan rates, does not specify that in order to obtain them, certain criteria must be met. Such publicly disseminated information may be regarded as an offer.
The Federal Law “On Advertising” (Article 11) obliges a person who has published an offer or advertisement that corresponds in content to its characteristics to fulfill the conditions specified in it for at least two months, unless another period is specified in the text.
Advertisers want to attract clients with the most profitable aspect of the offer. For example, the manufacturer lists minimum prices on the flyer, without specifying that they are valid only for government agencies or for wholesale purchases.
In order not to be subject to mandatory compliance with the conditions specified in the publicly available material, it is easier to add a phrase to it stating that this proposal is not an offer. Otherwise, the seller will have to prove for a long time, and, as a rule, unsuccessfully, that he did not know how to write correctly, or there was not enough space to indicate all the conditions.
Violation and termination of the offer
The most common violation of an offer is the seller inflating the price specified in the offer. When trying to accept the condition, the client is faced with the need to pay a larger amount than what he reasonably expected after reading or hearing the text of the document.
In some countries, the moment of acceptance of an offer is considered to be the time of confirmation of consent to accept the terms using any technical means. In the Russian Federation, according to Article 433 of the Civil Code (clause 1), this is considered to be the signing of an offer by an acceptor.
If full prepayment is required to begin fulfilling obligations under the offer, this must be stated in the text.
Another common violation is failure to fully state the conditions under which the offer is valid. For example, the text promises a 15% discount, but when trying to get it, the client finds out that for a preferential purchase he needs to make a purchase in excess of 5 thousand rubles.
In most cases, violation of the offer leads to its termination. It can be expressed by revocation of acceptance or simple annulment of the agreement. If, as a result of a misunderstanding, one of the parties suffered losses, the culprit must compensate them.
How to write an offer letter correctly
An offer differs from ordinary advertising in the absence of an emotional component and the presence of essential conditions. It should be as specific as possible. There is also a common feature - the emphasis on benefits that every commercial offer contains. Offers are sent after preliminary agreements or on the independent initiative of the sending company.
The desire of a valuable potential client to receive better conditions is expressed by his request, that is, the letter of offer. It definitely needs to be answered
The current regulatory framework does not provide for an established sample form for compiling such texts. They can take the form of an agreement, subject to change if the addressee disagrees with any points, or simply represent a list of essential conditions. There is no need to write about whether a commercial proposal is an offer - this goes without saying.
The text must comply with the usual standards of business correspondence and contain the following information:
- Full name of the sending company, its address and details.
- Last name, first name and patronymic of the direct compiler.
- Outgoing number and date.
- A title that succinctly describes the topic of the proposal.
- Contacting the person responsible for making the decision (if known).
- The essential terms of the proposed transaction are the most important part.
- Signature.
Within the framework of these mandatory conditions, it is possible to display reasonable creativity to make the letter attractive. One hundred percent literacy is an indispensable condition. An example of a successfully drawn up public offer agreement can be downloaded here:
What it is
The contract is concluded if the parties came to an agreement when discussing essential conditions (clause 3 of article 154, clause 1 of article 432 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Representatives of the supplier and customer jointly develop and agree on the terms. Another option is when one party comes to an agreement by accepting a request to conclude a contract from the other party (Clause 2 of Article 432 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
It is sent in the form of a letter, fax, or draft contract. The contract is concluded only after the offeror receives full and unconditional consent (Articles 440, 441 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
How to respond to an offer
A public or free offer can be left unanswered if it is received via mass mailing. In all other cases, the rules of business ethics provide for a reaction. There are three possible responses to the proposal.
Refusal of the offer. The response letter does not always state the true reason for rejecting the proposal, but it always expresses gratitude and hope for further cooperation (preferably).
Agreement. The most pleasant reaction to the offer for the sender, so you don’t have to worry too much about the form. For example, the bank sent an offer for preferential lending, and the client needed a loan at that moment. You can express your consent to the offer over the phone and immediately find out what documents need to be prepared.
Partial rejection of the conditions. To resolve the issue, it is necessary to send a protocol of disagreements in response to the offer. For example, a bank client is not satisfied with the profitability. Attached to the bond offer are wishes to increase the annual rate at which the offer will be accepted.
Basic rules for drawing up a letter of consent and a sample
The rules for drawing up a letter of agreement on cooperation are practically no different from the rules relating to all other corporate letters. In particular, when composing such a message, it is necessary to maintain a business style, that is, restrained intonation, polite greeting and address, and a laconic, focused essence. Everything should be to the point, extremely correct, clear and understandable.
In a letter of consent, familiarity and familiarity are completely unacceptable, and even more so rudeness and profanity. Overly “loaded” long phrases and complex terminology should be avoided. It is important that the answer is not too lengthy (it will be enough if it contains only a few lines or sentences), since hardly anyone will want to read a multi-page message.
When composing a letter, the name of the sending company and its details, a link to the letter of offer, as well as the signature of a representative of the enterprise must be indicated.
It should be noted that, despite the official style of the message, this type of letter is not an absolute guarantee that a cooperation agreement will be concluded, but serves as nothing more than a preliminary consent to the possibility of further business relations or concluding a deal.
