What is an offer?
An offer is a promise to do something on stated terms, waiting for a yes. What goes into a good one, how it differs from a quote or an estimate, and how it ends.
An offer is a promise waiting for a yes. You tell someone what you'll do for them, what it costs and on what terms, and you mean it: if they accept, you're both committed.
That last part is what separates an offer from a conversation. "We could probably redo your bathroom for around three grand" is talk. "We'll retile your bathroom for $3,080, with a 30% deposit, starting within two weeks of your go-ahead; this stands until October 22" is an offer. The client can say yes to the second one and both of you know exactly what they said yes to.
What makes something an offer
Three things, in plain terms:
- It's definite. The work, the price and the terms are stated, not left to be worked out later.
- It's meant to bind. The person making it intends to be held to it if the other side accepts.
- It's made to someone. It reaches the person who can accept it.
A price list, a menu or an advert usually isn't an offer in this sense. It invites people to ask, or to make an offer of their own. The offer comes when you put specific terms in front of a specific client.
What a clear offer includes
Most disputes over offers come from something that was assumed rather than written down. A good offer answers the questions before anyone has to ask them:
- Who it's from and who it's for. Your business, and the client by name.
- What's included. The work or goods, line by line, each with its price, and a total.
- How payment works. Whether there's a deposit, how much is due when, and how to pay.
- How long it stands. A date after which the offer no longer holds, so prices and schedules don't stay open forever.
- The terms. When the work starts, what happens if the scope changes, and what happens if either side cancels.
Offer, quote, estimate, proposal
The words overlap in everyday use, but they lean in different directions:
- An estimate is your best guess at a price. It signals that the final number may move.
- A quote is a fixed price for defined work. Sent with terms and a deadline, a quote usually works as an offer.
- A proposal is a longer document that makes the case for the work: background, approach, timeline. It often contains an offer, along with a lot else.
- An offer is the part that can be accepted: these terms, this price, yes or no.
Whatever you call your document, what matters is whether the client could accept it as it stands. If they could, treat it as an offer and make it complete.
How an offer ends
An offer doesn't hang in the air forever. It ends in one of five ways:
- Accepted. The client agrees to the terms as offered. Now there's a deal.
- Declined. The client says no.
- Countered. The client comes back with different terms, such as a lower price or a later start. That's a new offer from them, and it generally replaces yours.
- Expired. The deadline passes, or a reasonable time does if there wasn't one.
- Withdrawn. You take it back before it's accepted.
Acceptance has to match the offer. "Yes, but without the grout sealing" isn't acceptance; it's a counteroffer. And once you change an offer, the client should accept the new version, not the one they read last week.
Keep a record of the yes
When an offer is accepted, the useful record is simple: who accepted, when, and exactly which version of the offer they saw. A reply saying "looks good!" to an email with three attachments doesn't tell you much of that six months later.
That's the problem an offer page is built to solve: one page per offer, a clear way to accept it, and a signed copy for both sides.
This article is general information, not legal advice. How offers and contracts work varies by country and by the kind of deal, so for anything high-stakes, talk to a lawyer where you are.