Chapter 15 – Contracts for the Sale of Goods

Legal Terms

On the left side of your notebook, number from one to ten. Then write the word that should go in each of the ten blanks.

Column I

  1. merchant
  2. document of title
  3. bulk transfer
  4. Uniform Commercial Code
  5. firm offer
  6. future goods
  7. price
  8. identified goods
  9. sale
  10. title

Column II

  1. Goods that are not both existing and identified are called ___.
  2. A(n) ____ is a paper giving the person who possesses it the right to receive the goods named in the document.
  3. A business or a person who either deals regularly in the sale of goods or has special knowledge of those goods is known as a(n) ____.
  4. A(n) _____ occurs when a business transfers itsentire stock of merchandise and supplies in one transaction.
  5. A(n) _____consists of the passing of title from the seller to the buyer for a price.
  6. ______are goods that presently exist and that have been selected to be the subject matter of a particular contract.
  7. The right of ownership to goods is known as ______.
  8. Ownership of goods is transferred by the seller to the buyer for a consideration called the _____.
  9. A(n) _____ is a merchant’s written promise tohold open an offer for the sale of goods.
  10. The ______is a collection of laws that governs various types of business transactions.

Key Points in Your Reading

On the left side of your notebook, number from one to ten. Write T if the statement is true or F if the statement is false.

  1. The Uniform Commercial Code is now the law, at least in part, in every state.
  2. Goods include intangible personal property.
  3. A contract to sell is the same thing as a sale.
  4. For an agreement to be a sale, title must pass at the time the agreement is made.
  5. A firm offer by a merchant must have consideration to be binding.
  6. A bill of sale does not prove that one still owns the goods.
  7. The possession of a document of title proves that its holder most likely has the ownership of the goods.
  8. A bill of lading is a receipt given by a warehouse to a customer whose goods the warehouse is storing.
  9. If the terms of a sale are f.o.b. shipping point, the seller must pay the freight charges from the shipping point to the destination.
  10. The rights of creditors are protected under the bulk transfer law.

You’re the Judge

For each of the following cases, write Yes or No to indicate your decision. Then, in your own words, state the legal principle or legal reason that applies to the facts in the case.

  1. Betsy Stern bought a farm including land, buildings, animals (some with unborn young), and a large stand of timber. Does the law of sales apply to any part of the transactions?
  2. Dave Brown telephoned Jo Dee Scanlon and offered to buy her car for $1,000. She agreed over the telephone but later that day sold the car for $1,100 to someone else. Does Brown have a claim against Scanlon?
  3. Rachel Levy, a television dealer, agreed to order a special color television set by make and model number for Joe Dwyer. Levy was to order the set from the area distributor. When the set was received by Levy, she refused to deliver it to Dwyer and sold it to someone else. May Dwyer demand the television set from the third party?
  4. In Case 3, could Dwyer bring suit against Levy?
  5. Jacob Enright, whose furniture store is located in Salt Lake City, Utah, ordered a shipment of desks from a company in Denver, Colorado. Both parties agreed that the desks would be f.o.b., shipping point, Denver. When the desks arrived, Enright refused to pay the freight charges, saying that they were the responsibility of the seller. Was he correct?