Aanbod en aanvaarding

Offer and acceptance together constitute the foundation for the formation of a contract under Article 6:217 BW. An offer is a declaration addressed to a specific person with the intention of concluding a contract on specified terms. Acceptance consists in the unconditional assent to that offer.

These elements are material because they embody the consensus between the parties, which is essential to the creation of a binding obligation. In the absence of a valid offer and acceptance, no legally enforceable contract arises.

In practice, an offer must be sufficiently definite and may be either revocable or irrevocable, whereas acceptance must be given in a timely manner and in the prescribed form. For instance, in online transactions the submission of an order typically constitutes acceptance of the offer displayed on the website.