Payne v Cave (1789) 3 TR 148 is an old English contract law case, which stands for the proposition that an auctioneer's request for bids is not an offer but an invitation to treat.
His bid amounted to an offer which he was entitled to withdraw at any time before the auctioneer signified acceptance by knocking down the hammer.
Note: The common law rule laid down in this case has now been codified in many countries in variations of the Sale of Goods Act, e.g. UK 1979 s57(2).
The court held that Mr Cave was entitled to withdraw his offer at any time before the auctioneer accepted it.
In opening a contract class at Harvard in the autumn of 1870, Professor Christopher Columbus Langdell, instead of the traditional didactic approach of lecturing a hall of students, pointed to a student and asked, “Mr Fox, will you state the facts of Payne v Cave?”, then, “Mr Rawle will you give the plaintiff’s argument?” He replied to answers, in Socratic style, with “could you suggest a reason?”.