Sale of Goods Act Section 9 — Ascertainment of price

CHAPTER II FORMATION OF THE CONTRACT — The price

Commercial / Corporate

Summary

Sub-section (1) explains the three ways the price in a sale contract can be set. It may be fixed directly in the contract itself, or the contract may leave the price to be decided later in a manner that the contract specifies, or the price may be worked out from how the parties have dealt with each other in the past.

Sub-section (2) covers what happens when the price is not determined by any of those methods. In that situation, the buyer must pay the seller a reasonable price. What counts as a reasonable price is treated as a question of fact, meaning it depends on the specific circumstances of each individual case.

Official Text

(1) The price in a contract of sale may be fixed by the contract or may be left to be fixed in manner thereby agreed or may be determined by the course of dealing between the parties.

(2) Where the price is not determined in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the buyer shall pay the seller a reasonable price. What is a reasonable price is a question of fact dependent on the circumstances of each particular case.