What Is a Contract for the Sale of Goods
Trade has been one of the ancient activities and it is very hard to imagine society without trade. This is true more than ever, as globalization has made the exchange of goods much easier than ever before. For one day, people all over the world buy more goods than they were buying in the past for a month. This is a huge increase and of course, it requires new regulations.However, the contract for the sale of goods has not changed so much in the last centuries and even in the last decades despite the rapid industrialization and technology development. This is not a surprise as the contracts’ main function is to be informative. Logically, it contains the name of the seller(s), buyer(s), the name, amount, quality of the good, the time frame of the sale, the regulator if there is a dispute, etc. As some information is standardized (for example, disputes for consumer goods in many countries are solved by a special agency or institution which has no alternative), it can be omitted in the contract. All that might sound very complex and for some goods which involve option trading, the whole process can be quite complicated.But in general, things are quite easy. You may not suspect it but any time when you buy something in the store and you receive a receipt, you actually have a contract for the sale of goods! With all its rules and obligations! It actually has the name of the seller, with all their data, you are obviously the buyer and as you agree with the terms, you agree with the contract. As we mentioned, there is an institution in almost every country that regulates such sales so it is the arbitrary in case there is a dispute. And if some extra rules are valid, there is normally additional text on the receipt, such as that you cannot return the good once you leave the store or that you cannot use a guarantee longer than certain amount of time.On the other hand, the processing of contracts for the sale of goods has changed a lot. Nowadays, people can access large databases and find information about any deliveries made for a period of time and the conditions under which they took place. Things that could be easily seen in a simple spreadsheet used to take much time in the past. That saves a lot of money and the information helps both sides to improve the process of planning their activities. Recently, companies started exchanging databases so that they can expect what their customers and suppliers might do so that they are not surprised by their actions and so that companies can increase mutual benefits. Of course, that can be dangerous if one of the companies tries to use this information in a disloyal way. But as all other decisions, it has both advantages and disadvantages.