Invitation to Treat

Invitation to treat is a legal term that means that a buyer is signalling their willingness to negotiate with a supplier. The term is relevant to procurement practitioners who issue requests for quotations, proposals or tenders. When the buyer issues the request for offer, the buyer is seeking an offer from the supplier, which the buyer may subsequently accept. This implies that the request for offer issued by the buyer is not itself an offer, but an invitation to the supplier to make the buyer an offer. See also Battle of the Forms and RFx.