Duties of the buyer and the seller 195Duties of the buyer and the seller
The seller has one duty, to deliver the goods. The buyer has three duties: to accept the
goods, to take delivery of them and to pay the price. The seller’s duty to deliver the goods
and the buyer’s duty to pay the price are said by s. 28 to be concurrent conditions, unless
the parties agree that they should not be. The effect of s. 28 is that if the seller is not ready
and willing to deliver the goods the buyer need not pay the price, and that if the buyer is
not ready and willing to pay the price the seller need not deliver the goods. Section 28 is
concerned with the parties’ willingness to deliver and pay. It does not require that payment
and delivery actually take place at the same time.
The seller’s duty to deliver
If the contract was for the sale of specific goods, then the seller must deliver those specific
goods. If the contract was for the sale of unascertained goods, then the seller can deliver any
goods which match the contract description.
Example
Sorab agrees to sell his car (specific goods) to B1 and 10 tonnes of Basmati rice (unascer-
tained goods) to B2. Sorab must deliver the specific car sold, and no other, to B1. Sorab
can deliver any 10 tonnes of Basmati rice which match the contract description to B2.Figure 7.4The passing of ownership of unascertained goods