Contract; formation; offer; advertisement not an offer.
Facts: Partridge put an advertisement in a magazine saying: 'Bramblefinch cocks and hens, 25/- each.' He was prosecuted by the RSPCA for the statutory offence of unlawfully 'offering' wild birds for sale.
Issue: Was the advertisement an 'offer' in the legal sense, capable of 'acceptance' by any interested person (in which case an offence would have been committed) or was the advertisement merely an 'invitation to treat' which did not amount to an 'offer' within the meaning of the relevant statute?
Decision: The court decided that, in the circumstances of this case, the advertisement did not amount to an offer in the full legal sense, capable of acceptance to create a binding contract. It was only an invitation to enter into negotiations with interested buyers who might themselves offer to buy the advertised birds.
Reason: Lord Parker CJ said (at 424):
"I think that when one is dealing with advertisements and circulars, unless they indeed come from manufacturers, there is business sense in their being construed as invitations to treat and not offers for sale."
Note: Compare Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] 1 QB 256 where, in different circumstances, an advertisement was held to constitute an offer capable of acceptance.