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Contract & Commercial Law vocabulary · Forming & Drafting Contracts

Counteroffer

Meaning in contract & commercial law, with examples

/ˈkaʊntərɒfə/nounCommon term

In contract & commercial law, counteroffer means: A reply to an offer that changes some of its terms; it rejects the original offer and becomes a new offer that the other party can accept or refuse.

In Turkish: karşı teklif, karşı icap

How it is used

Important because, once you make a counteroffer, you usually cannot go back and accept the original offer. It is central to the 'battle of the forms', when buyer and seller exchange documents with different standard terms.

Example sentences

  1. Their reply asked for a 15% discount, so legally it was a counteroffer, not an acceptance.

  2. We sent a counteroffer with a shorter payment period.

Common collocations

  • make a counteroffer
  • reject a counteroffer
  • accept a counteroffer
  • battle of the forms
  • offerA clear proposal by one party to enter into a contract on specific terms, which becomes binding if the other party accepts it.
  • acceptanceClear and unconditional agreement to all the terms of an offer; once it is communicated, a contract is usually formed.
  • negotiateTo discuss the terms of a deal with the other side in order to reach an agreement that both can accept.
  • terms and conditionsThe standard rules that a business applies to all its sales or services, usually published on its website, in quotations or on the back of order forms.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Forming & Drafting Contracts

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.