CHAPTER XV CONTRACTS TO SELL' $81. Sales and Contracts to Sell A sale is a completed transaction. The ownership of the goods has passed from the seller to the buyer, even though the seller may still hold the goods in his possession. and the price may not yet have been paid. There is no substantial difference between a sale and an exchange or barter, and the term "sale" is frequently applied to the latter transaction. But a technical sale is a transfer for a consideration in money, while an exchange or barter is a transfer of property for other property. A contract to sell means that the ownership of the goods is to be transferred at some time in the future. The definitions given in the Uniform Sales Act are as follows: A sale of goods is an agreement whereby the seller transfers the property in goods to the buyer for a consideration, called the price. A contract to sell goods is a contract whereby the seller agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for a consideration, called the price. The distinction between a contract to sell and a sale is this: in a contract to sell the goods are not delivered and title does not pass; while in a sale delivery is made or the title passes. A contract to sell is an executory contract. A sale or a bargain and sale is an executed contract. A sale is the transfer of the property or the thing from the seller to the buyer for 1 For forms of sales contracts, see Chapter CI, Forms 20-25. a price. The Statute of Frauds applies only to contracts to sell. (See § 102.) § 82. Uniform Sales Act On account of the confusion of the law in regard to commercial transactions, commissions have been appointed by the various states to unite in working out uniform laws governing such transactions. Largely as a result of the activities of these commissions, two laws have been passed by many states: (1) The Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law has been adopted in all of the states and territories with the exception of Georgia and Porto Rico. (2) The Uniform Sales Act has been adopted in the following states: The object of these acts is not to change, but to combine, the best features of the existing laws of the different states. In some cases the states have adopted these acts with slight modifications, but for all practical purposes the law is uniform. |