Sale by a person who is not the owner 217Example
A shop has a grand piano in its New Year Sale. Eddie makes a contract to buy the piano. As
we have seen earlier in this chapter, this means that Eddie is now owner of the piano by
virtue of s. 18 Rule 1. By mistake, another shop assistant sells the same piano to Fred, who
takes it away. Fred will get title to the piano. Eddie can sue the shop for selling his property.This rule seems to be based on convenience. Either Eddie or Fred will get ownership of the
piano and the other will be left with the right to sue the shop for damages. Eddie and Fred
have behaved identically, and justice does not favour either one of them more than the
other. It is more convenient to let Fred keep the piano, as he already has possession of it,
than to say that Eddie has ownership of the piano.
Sale by a buyer in possession (s. 25 SGA)
A person might buy goods, or agree to buy them, and take possession of the goods before
he owns them. If such a person resells the goods to a second buyer, s. 25 provides that the
second buyer will get complete title to the goods as soon as they are delivered to him.
Example
Steve manufactures leather coats and sells 50 coats to a shop. The contract contains a
simple ROT clause, so ownership will not pass to the shop until the full price is paid. Before
the full price is paid, the shop goes into liquidation. So the shop had agreed to buy the
coats but never owned them. Coats sold by the shop to members of the public cannot be
recovered by Steve. Section 25 protects these members of the public because the shop
sold the coats as a buyer in possession.The usefulness of s. 25 was greatly reduced by Newtons of Wembley vWilliams (1965). In
that case the Court of Appeal took a very restrictive view of the complex wording of s. 25
and held that the section will work only where the buyer sells the goods in business hours
and from business premises. This case therefore means that a person who buys goods from
a rogue who paid for the goods with a bad cheque is unlikely to gain ownership of the
goods under s. 25. Most rogues do not sell the goods on from business premises during
business hours.
(Hire-Purchase Act 1964 s. 27) Motor vehicles on hire-purchase
The Hire-Purchase Act 1964 s. 27 provides that if a motor vehicle on hire-purchase is sold
to a private purchaser who takes it in good faith, and without notice of the hire-purchase
agreement, then a good title will pass to the private purchaser.
Example
Harry has taken a car on hire-purchase. (He does not therefore own the car.) Harry sells
the car to Ben, a private purchaser who takes it without knowing about the hire-purchase
agreement. Ben will own the car, even though Harry did not.