Counteroffer at Legal Glossary

What is it? The rejection of an offer to buy or sell that simultaneously makes a different offer, changing the terms in some way. For example, if a buyer offers $5000 for a used car, and the seller replies that he wants $5500, the seller has rejected the buyers offer of $5000 and made a counteroffer to sell at $5500. The legal significance of a counteroffer is that it completely voids the original offer, so that if the seller decided to sell for $5000 the next day, the buyer would be under no legal obligation to pay that amount for the car.

Law Definition Added By: Arianna

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