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| {{ContractLaw}}
| | The mailbox rule is |
| The '''mailbox rule''' or the '''postal acceptance rule''' is a term of [[common law]] [[contracts]] which determines when a contract has been formed where the parties are communicating via the [[mail]]. The basic thrust of the rule is that an acceptance of an offer that is sent before a revocation of the offer is received. However, if a communication is sent rejecting the offer, and a later communication is sent accepting the contract, then the first one to be received by the offeror will prevail. The leading case in the mailbox rule is ''[[Henthorn v Fraser]]'' [1892] 2 Ch 77. | | A rule of providing that an acceptance of an offer become effective on dispatch (on been placed in an official mail box), if mail is expressly or impliedly, an authorize means of communication of acceptance to the Offeror. |
| | | So an acceptance is valid when it is dispatched which means at the time the mail is place into the control of the U.S. Postal service Not when it is received by the offeror. |
| For example, suppose A makes an offer to B on January 1; A then decides to revoke the offer on January 2, and puts a letter in the mail to B revoking the offer; however, B puts a letter accepting the offer in the mail on January 3, and does not receive A's revocation letter until January 4. Because B sent his acceptance before ''receiving'' A's revocation, the mailbox rule dictates that B's acceptance is effective. A will therefore be bound to the contract, and can no longer revoke the offer.
| | An acceptance becomes effective on dispatch (even if it is never received) |
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| Suppose, on the other hand, that A makes an offer to B on January 1, and B decides to ''reject'' the offer on January 2, and puts a letter in the mail to A rejecting the offer; however, the next day B changes his mind and sends A a [[fax]] accepting the offer. In this situation, whichever communication A receives first will govern.
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| Under the mailbox rule, performance is a means of acceptance. If A orders 1000 blue coathangers, and B ships them out, that shipment is considered to be a conveyance of acceptance of A's offer to buy the coathangers. Defective performance is also an acceptance, unless accompanied by an explanation. For example, if A orders 1000 blue coathangers, and B mistakenly ships 1000 red coathangers, this is still an acceptance of the contract. However, if B ships the red coathangers with a note that they sent these because they had run out of blue coathangers, this is not an acceptance, but rather an [[Accommodation (law)|accommodation]], which is a form of [[counter-offer]].
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| With the advent of modern technology, the mailbox rule has been expanded to cover all technology by which commercial communication may reasonably be conducted, including by [[telephone]], [[telegraph]], [[fax]] and [[e-mail]]. However, if the offeree were to convey acceptance by commercially ''un''reasonable means - by cross-country [[pony express]], for example - the acceptance would not be effective until it had actually been received.
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| The mailbox rule does '''not''' apply to option contracts, where acceptance is still only effective upon receipt.
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| ==See also==
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| * [[Offer and acceptance]]
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| [[Category:Contract law]]
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