Business Law Assignment
Introduction to Business Law
Sachini Tharaka Talpe Liyanage
Student number: 18532068
La Trobe university (Dandenong)

Question 1

I. In this scenario, the issue is whether the advertisement on the notice board constitutes an offer or only an invitation to treat. An advertisement can either be an offer or an invitation to treat and it is based on intention of the parties. Vladimir’s shopping complex Managing Agent was just inviting people with the notice on his behalf. He only lease limited number of shops, as in the notice says “Shop available for sale” and he could not reasonably intend to be bound to lease to all those who might accept it. Therefore no promise existed and it is considered an invitation to treat as in the case Partridge v Crittenden [1968]¹. Although the wording in Vladimir’s advertisement is different to the Partridge’s case, it is suggest that the result is same in the both cases. In saying that “Shop available for sale”, Vladimir did not show a will or intention to be bound in a contract.

An offer is made when one party makes it clear by verbally, written or by actions and it is quite different to the invitation to treat, though it is not easy to distinguish between two. This is as in the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company [1892]², the court of appeal argued that the advertisement in this case is not an invitation to treat but an offer.

Another case that is related with invitation to treat is the Pharmaceutical Society v Boots [1953]³. The case states that display of goods in a shop window is generally considered as an invitation to treat. The customer who selects the goods is making an offer to purchase when he/she taking them to the register and the person who is at the register is the one who decide whether to sell it by accepting the offer. In this scenario Sasha is the one who’s making