The Sale of Goods Act-1930

 

The Sale of Goods Act-1930

The Essential Elements of a contract of sale:

The essential elements of a contract of sale of goods are enumerated below:

1.(1) Movable goods- The Sale of Goods Act deals only with movable goods, excepting actionable claims and money.

2.(2) Movable goods for money- there must be a contract for the exchange of movable goods for money.

(3) There must be a buyer and a seller in the contract of goods. These buyer and seller must be a different person.

(4) The terms of contract- the parties may agreed upon any term concerning the time , place, and mode of delivery. The terms may be two types:

     i) Essential terms or Conditions and

    ii) Non-essential terms or Warranties.

Conditions and Warranties

Conditions

A condition is a major term of the contract which goes to the root of the contract. If a condition is breached the innocent party is entitled to repudiate (end) the contract and claim damages.

Case study: Poussard v Spiers (1876) 1 QBD 410
Madame Poussard entered a contract to perform as an opera singer for three months. She became ill five days before the opening night and was not able to perform the first four nights. Spiers then replaced her with another opera singer.

Held:
Madame Poussard was in breach of condition and Spiers were entitled to end the contract. She missed the opening night which was the most important performance as all the critics and publicity would be based on this night. 

Warranties 

Warranties are minor terms of a contract which are not central to the existence of the contract. If a warranty is breached the innocent party may claim damages but can not end the contract.

Case study:

Bettini v Gye (1876) QBD 183

Bettini agreed by contract to perform as an opera singer for a three month period. He became ill and missed 6 days of rehearsals. The employer sacked him and replaced him with another opera singer.

Held:
Bettini was in breach of warranty and therefore the employer was not entitled to end the contract. Missing the rehearsals did not go to the root of the contract.

 

“Price” means the money consideration for the sale of goods. Sec 2(10)

Earnest money is the initial cash deposit that makes a sales contract legally enforceable. In the case of a purchase of something like a vehicle, the earnest money can also be the down payment.

There is usually as understanding that if the contract is broken by the buyer, the seller is to retain the earnest money.

Hire purchase 

A hire-purchase agreemet is one under which a person takes delivery of goods promising to pay the price by a certain number of installment and, until full payment is made, to pay hire charges for using the goods.

From this definition it can be said that a hire-purchase agreement is a Bailment plus as agreement to sell.