196 Chapter 7The Sale of Goods Act 1979
The delivery of goods is concerned with passing possession of goods, not with passing
ownership. Delivery will usually be made physically. However, delivery to the buyer can
also be made in the following ways:
(i) By delivering a ‘document of title’ such as a bill of lading to the buyer.
(ii) By delivering the means to control the goods to the buyer. For example, a seller could
deliver a car by giving the buyer the keys to the car.
(iii) By getting a third party who has possession of the goods (such as a warehouse keeper)
to acknowledge that the goods are now held on behalf of the buyer.
(iv) Where the buyer already has possession of the goods, by allowing the buyer to retain
possession.
Section 32(1) provides that where the seller is authorised or required to send the goods to
the buyer, delivery of the goods to an independent carrier, for the purpose of transmission
to the buyer, is deemed to be delivery to the buyer. However, s. 32(4) provides that this rule
does not apply when the buyer deals as a consumer. It is important to note that the rule
never applies where the carrier is not independent. It would not therefore apply if the
carrier was an employee of the seller.Place of delivery
Section 29 of the SGA 1979 provides that:
(1) Whether it is for the buyer to take possession of the goods or for the seller to send them
to the buyer is a question depending in each case on the contract, express or implied,
between the parties.
(2) Apart from any such contract, express or implied, the place of delivery is the seller’s
place of business if he has one, and if not, his residence; except that, if the contract is for
the sale of specific goods, which to the knowledge of the parties when the contract is
made are in some other place, then that place is the place of delivery.
First, then, s. 29(1) makes it plain that the parties might have agreed either that the seller
will take the goods to the buyer, or that the buyer will fetch the goods from the seller. If,
however, no such agreement has been made, then s. 29(2) will apply. As regards unascer-
tained goods, s. 29(2) provides that the place of delivery is the seller’s place of business or,
if the seller has no place of business, the seller’s home. This is also true of specific goods –
with one exception. If both parties know that the specific goods are in some other place, that
place is the place of delivery.Example
Stan, a garage owner in London, agrees to sell to Bill a Jaguar which is standing on the fore-
court of his garage. Stan also agrees to sell a Bentley to Ben. Both Stan and Ben know that
the Bentley is standing in a warehouse in Huddersfield. The place of delivery of the Jaguar
is Stan’s place of business, his garage. The place of delivery of the Bentley is the warehouse
in Huddersfield. Bill must therefore come to Stan’s garage to collect the Jaguar. Ben must
go to the warehouse in Huddersfield to collect the Bentley. Stan fulfils the duty to deliver
both cars by making them available for collection by Bill and Ben.It can be seen that in the Sale of Goods Act the word ‘delivery’ has a technical sense and is
not used in its everyday sense. If I buy a washing machine from a shop, then the shop fulfils
its duty to deliver by allowing me to collect the machine. (For this reason, shops can charge
extra for physical delivery to the buyer’s house.)