A contract of sale, sales contract, sales order, or contract for saleGoogle Ngram Viewer
/ref> is a legal

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

for the purchase of assets (goods or property) by a buyer (or purchaser) from a seller (or vendor) for an agreed upon value in money (or money equivalent). An obvious ancient practice of exchange, in many

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

jurisdictions, it is now governed by statutory law. See

commercial law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...

. Contracts of sale involving

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not ...

are governed by Article 2 of the

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...

in most

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. However in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, such contracts are governed by the

Civil Code of Quebec The ''Civil Code of Quebec'' (CCQ, french: Code civil du Québec) is the civil code in force in the Canadian province of Quebec, which came into effect on January 1, 1994. It replaced the '' Civil Code of Lower Canada'' (french: Code civil du Ba ...

as a nominate contract in the book on the

law of obligations The law of obligations is one branch of private law under the civil law legal system and so-called "mixed" legal systems. It is the body of rules that organizes and regulates the rights and duties arising between individuals. The specific rights ...

. In some Muslim countries it is governed by

sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

(Islamic law); however, many Muslim countries apply other law to contacts (e.g. the

Egyptian Civil Code The Egyptian Civil Code is the primary source of civil law for Egypt. The first version of Egyptian Civil Code was written in 1949 containing 1149 articles. The prime author of the 1949 code was the jurist Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, who received ...

, based on the Napoleonic Code, which beyond its application in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

serves as the model for the civil codes of several other Arab states). A contract of sale lays out the terms of a transaction of goods or services, identifying the goods sold, listing delivery instructions, inspection period, any warranties and details of payment.

References

Contract law Sales {{Law-term-stub

See also

References