Can anybody enlighten me of any existing law regarding an item for sale ONO?

I see it quite regularly on the 'for sale' site. I ask, as if an item was posted at £50 ono this gives an intent to sell at the nearest price to £50. I then make a bid at £30 and I am the highest should it be sold to me? Are there any legal requirements? Also, should the seller keep a list and let all those that bid know what the highest bid was, much like E-bay does?

Or near offer. If you offer thirty quid thats not really a near offer! The ono just implies it may be negotiable.

in which case why not put ovno, or very near offer?

I thought ONO, meant they would take anything but they would like it to be around the figure mentioned, so £50 ONO meant "I want £50, but I'll take as much as I can get".

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
Can anybody enlighten me of any existing law regarding an item for sale ONO?

I see it quite regularly on the 'for sale' site. I ask, as if an item was posted at £50 ono this gives an intent to sell at the nearest price to £50. I then make a bid at £30 and I am the highest should it be sold to me? Are there any legal requirements? Also, should the seller keep a list and let all those that bid know what the highest bid was, much like E-bay does?

it's an invitation to treat, nothing says that any agreement must be reached.
If it were an auction with no reserve then they are obliged to sell to the winning bidder, if it's a private sale or a shop then they have no obligation to sell to you at all. You could offer a million, if they don't like the look of you they can choose not to sell to you.

ONO, simply means they are willing to negotiate. It's not legally binding to anything and sometimes people put ONO who aren't even willing to negotiate!

If an item was £50 like you mentioned BoppinBruce, I would be suprised if £30 was accepted... maybe £35 after a time in which no other interest is shown... :cool:

Who's to say what the definition of near compared to very near is! I don't think offering £30 quid would be a near offer, it's almost half. Many people don't put ono or ovno on items for sale but still get people offering them less. By your logic people should in those instances should be prepaired to pay the full asking price.

Like Cyclone said, an advertisment or a price tag in a shop is an "invitation to treat". What that means is, I want to do a deal and here is an indication of the price. ONO simply means the person MAY accept a near offer, (but their definition of 'near' may be different to yours.)

You can make an offer, and the person then decides whether they want to accept that offer or not. Doesn't matter if you have made the highest offer. Neither does the seller have to tell you what any of the other offers are. If they accept, there is a binding contract in place (verbal or written).

If they don't accept the offer well that's just tough and you can choose whether to make a higher offer or to back out. In this case there is no obligation whatsoever on the seller. Auctions are completely different in law.

Lots of case law to back this up....

Cheers,
Mark.

Thanx for that Mark, incidently the offer of £30 was an example only.

I would have thought the Disclosure of Information Act would have entitled me to know whether it was sold and for what price. So, I asuume that when one is bidding on a property against another bidder, a practice that seems to be common in Sheffield, the same applies.

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
I would have thought the Disclosure of Information Act would have entitled me to know whether it was sold and for what price. So, I asuume that when one is bidding on a property against another bidder, a practice that seems to be common in Sheffield, the same applies.

There is little or no legislation on private sales. You buy what you see and there is no warranty or legal standing for either party. If you make an offer and didn't get it, and someone else offers less and _does_ get it, then that's the end of it. Bad luck, but there it is. If you phone then back and demand to know who bought it and for how much, then the most likely response will be **** off, and it's the seller's right to say that if they so choose. They have no legal obligation to tell you anything. Comparing, say, buying a car from the AdMag with buying a house (which involves agents, solicitors and other legal wrangling) is like comparing apples and hedgehogs. They're both slightly round, but that's where the similarity ends.

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
Thanx for that Mark, incidently the offer of £30 was an example only.

I would have thought the Disclosure of Information Act would have entitled me to know whether it was sold and for what price. So, I asuume that when one is bidding on a property against another bidder, a practice that seems to be common in Sheffield, the same applies.

House price sales are registered after the sale completes, you can find the data on a website (the address of which i've forgotten) although it takes a while for the prices to be published.