Everything in contract law assumes a contract exists, and that question is answered here. This chapter opens with the framework itself — the objective test, the essential elements of formation, and the divide between bilateral and unilateral contracts — before separating true offers from invitations to treat in shop displays and advertisements. It then traces what happens to an offer once made: counter-offers, requests for information, revocation and lapse, followed by the requirements for a valid acceptance, the mirror image rule, and when acceptance takes effect under the general rule and the postal rule. It closes with the trickier settings — auctions, tenders, the battle of the forms, and agreements that fail for want of certainty.
