Byrne & Co v Leon Van Tien Hoven & Co

[1880] 5 CPD 344

Contract – Sale of goods – Offer and acceptance

Facts

The defendants wrote a letter, on October 1, to the plaintiffs offering the sale of 1000
boxes of tin plates. The defendant was based in Cardiff and the plaintiff was based in
New York, and letters took around 10-11 days to be delivered. The plaintiffs received
this letter on October 11 and accepted it on the same day by telegram, as well as by
letter on October 15. However, on October 8, the defendant sent a letter to the plaintiffs
which withdrew their offer and this arrived with the plaintiff on October 20. The plaintiffs
claimed for damages for the non-delivery of the tin plates.

Issue

The court was required to establish whether the withdrawal of the offer for the sale of
goods was acceptable. The court would have to consider whether the contract had been
agreed by the acceptance by the plaintiffs of the letter of October 1, or whether the
defendants had successfully withdrawn their offer by issuing the withdrawal by letter on
October 8.

Held

The court held that the withdrawal of the offer was ineffective as a contract had been
constructed between the parties on October 11 when the plaintiffs accepted the offer in
the letter dated October 1. On this basis, it was held that an offer for the sale of goods
cannot be withdrawn by simply posting a secondary letter which does not arrive until
after the first letter had been responded to and accepted. The court gave judgment for
the plaintiff and awarded that the defendant paid their costs.