| what are the seller's duties? | duty to deliver
duty to pass good title
duty to supply goods of the right quality
duty to supply goods in the right quantity
duty to supply goods at the right time |
| which section covers the duty to deliver? | SOGA 27: It is the duty of the seller to deliver the goods, and of the buyer to accept and pay for them, in accordance with the terms of the contract of sale
The legal meaning of ‘delivery’ in the sales context is a voluntary transfer of possession |
| what is the duty to pass good title? | Section 12 states that the seller ‘has a right to sell’. they must have full ownership or title to the goods
> Karlshamns Oljefabriker v. Eastport Navigation Corp [1982] - a case where the seller arranges a direct transfer of property from the existing owner to the buyer, without the goods ever belonging to the seller even for a moment |
| what section governs the duty to right quality? | SOGA 14: implied there is an obligation on the seller to supply goods of ‘satisfactory quality’ |
| which sections govern the duty to right quantity? | SOGA 30 (1) and 31 (1)
30: Where the seller delivers to the buyer a quantity of goods less than he contracted to sell, the buyer may reject them, but if the buyer accepts the goods so delivered he must pay for them at the contract rate
31: Unless otherwise agreed, the buyer of goods is not bound to accept delivery thereof by instalments |
| what does Behrend & Co Ltd v Produce Bakers Co Ltd establish? | that the buyer may reject the goods if the quantity is too little or too much
this case involved the sale of several hundred tons of Egyptian cotton seed to be shipped from Alexandria to London on the Port Inglis and discharged into the buyer’s craft alongside the ship at London. Part of the quantity was discharged into the buyer’s barges, which were ready and willing to take the whole quantity. The Port Inglis then proceeded to Hull to discharge other cargo, before returning to London where she expected to discharge the rest of the cotton seed. The buyer, however, refused to accept this second delivery, and the King’s Bench Division held it was entitled to keep the earlier part-delivery but reject the second. Strangely enough, an attempt by the seller to deliver too much also entitles the buyer to reject the delivery. |
| what section governs the right to supply goods at the right time? | SOGA 10 (1): provides that time of payment is prima facie not of the essence
10 (2): in the case of all other stipulations as to time, whether they are or are not of the essence of the contract depends on the terms of the contract
29 (3): Where under the contract of sale the seller is bound to send the goods to the buyer, but no time for sending them is fixed, the seller is bound to send them within a reasonable time. |
| what does Hartley v Hymans establish? | ‘In ordinary commercial contracts for the sale of goods the rule clearly is that time is prima facie of the essence with respect to delivery’ |
| which section governs the sale by description? | SOGA 13 (1): Where there is a contract for the sale of goods by description, there is an implied term that the goods correspond with the description.
13 (2): If the sale is by sample, as well as by description, it is not sufficient that he bulk of the goods corresponds with the sample if the goods do not also correspond with the description. |
| what does Grant v Australian Knitting Mills establish? | that even know in a shop the goods are on the counter in front of them, they are still a sale of description. a thing is sold by description, though it is specific, so long as it is sold not merely as the specific thing, but as a thing corresponding to a description, e.g. woollen undergarments, a hot-water bottle, a second-hand reaping machine, to select a few obvious illustrations. |
| what does Harlingdon & Leinster Enterprises Ltd v. Christopher Hull Fine Art Ltd establish? | that in this case, it was not a sale by description. this is due to the buyer's bringing in professional experts to carry out research and inspections and they relied on their information, not the seller's |
| what section governs the sale by sample? | SOGA 15 (1): A contract of sale is a contract for sale by sample where there is an express or implied term to that effect in the contract
15 (2)(a): the bulk will correspond with the sample in quality |
| what is a reasonable examination under the SOGA? | 15 (2)(c): this places more responsibility with the buyer than the seller. The theory is that the seller is promising something which may not meet the definition of satisfactory quality under s.14(2), but rather is something of the same quality of the sample, and it is up to the buyer whether that is what they want. |
| what are the buyer's duties? | to pay the price of the goods
to take delivery of them |
| what is the duty to pay the price? what two things does it consider? | time of payment: the buyer is normally not entitled to the goods until they have paid the price. when payment is late the seller can apply for damages from costs the seller had to pay for things such as storage or redelivery
form of payment: the seller cannot anything apart from money for the price. |
| what is the duty to take delivery? | > Woolfe v Horn - the time the buyer accepts delivery is not of the essence
> Sharp v Christmas - apart from perishable goods, breach allows re-sell immediately |
