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In a self-service shop, a customer takes a priced article from the shelf and carries it to the checkout counter. At what point is the contract of sale ordinarily concluded?

Question and options

In a self-service shop, a customer takes a priced article from the shelf and carries it to the checkout counter. At what point is the contract of sale ordinarily concluded?

  1. When the customer carries the article out of the shop

  2. When the customer takes the article from the shelf into the basket

  3. When the shop displays the article on the shelf with its price

  4. When the cashier accepts the customer's offer to buy it

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: D - When the cashier accepts the customer's offer to buy it

Display of priced goods in a self-service shop is an invitation to offer (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists, 1953). The customer makes the offer by presenting the article at the cash desk, and the contract is concluded when the cashier accepts it. Taking the article from the shelf is not an acceptance, so the customer may still put it back.

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