Specific goods
Goods identified and agreed upon at the time a contract of sale is made (Section 2(14) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930).
Explained
Section 2(14) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 defines specific goods as goods identified and agreed upon at the time a contract of sale is made. Two conditions must be met at the moment of contract: the goods are individually identified, and the parties agree that those very goods are the subject of the sale. The opposite category is unascertained goods, described only by kind or quantity, such as one hundred bags of wheat from a larger stock. Future goods under Section 2(6), to be manufactured or acquired after the contract, are a separate class.
The classification governs the passing of property. Under Section 18 no property passes in unascertained goods until they are ascertained. For specific goods, Section 20 provides that where there is an unconditional contract for the sale of specific goods in a deliverable state, the property passes when the contract is made, even if payment or delivery is postponed. If the seller must do something to put them into a deliverable state, Section 21 delays the passing until that is done and the buyer has notice; if he must weigh, measure or test them to fix the price, Section 22 delays it in the same way. Since risk prima facie passes with property under Section 26, these rules also decide who bears an accidental loss.
Perishing of specific goods has its own rules. If, without the seller's knowledge, the goods had already perished when the contract was made, the contract is void under Section 7. If there is an agreement to sell specific goods and they later perish without the fault of either party before the risk passes to the buyer, the agreement is avoided under Section 8.
Section 58 allows a Court to decree specific performance of a contract to deliver specific or ascertained goods. Examiners test the definition, the moment property passes under Section 20, and the difference between Sections 7 and 8.
What the law says
(14) “specific goods” means goods identified and agreed upon at the time a contract of sale is made; and
(15) expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 of 1872), have the meaning assigned to them in that Act.
Section 2(14) defines specific goods; 2(6) future goods
Where there is an unconditional contract for the sale of specific goods in a deliverable state, the property in the goods passes to the buyer when the contract is made, and it is immaterial whether the time of payment of the price or the time of delivery of the goods, or both, is postponed.
Property passes when contract made for deliverable specific goods
Where there is a contract for the sale of specific goods and the seller is bound to do something to the goods for the purpose of putting them into a deliverable state, the property does not pass until such thing is done and the buyer has notice thereof.
Specific goods to be put into a deliverable state
Where there is a contract for the sale of specific goods, the contract is void if the goods without the knowledge of the seller have, at the time when the contract was made, perished or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in the contract.
Specific goods perished before the contract
Where there is an agreement to sell specific goods, and subsequently the goods without any fault on the part of the seller or buyer perish or become so damaged as no longer to answer to their description in the agreement before the risk passes to the buyer, the agreement is thereby avoided.
Specific goods perishing after agreement to sell
Subject to the provisions of Chapter II of the Specific Relief Act, 1877 (1 of 1877), in any suit for breach of contract to deliver specific or ascertained goods, the Court may, if it thinks fit, on the application of the plaintiff, by its decree direct that the contract shall be performed specifically, without giving the defendant the option of retaining the goods on payment of damages. The decree may be unconditional, or upon such terms and conditions as to damages, payment of the price or otherwise, as the Court may deem just, and the application of the plaintiff may be made at any time before the decree.
Specific performance of contracts for specific goods
Example
For example, B agrees to buy a particular second-hand car, identified by its registration number, from A for a fixed price, payment next week. The car is specific goods and, under Section 20, property passes to B when the contract is made.
For the exam
- Section 2(14): identified and agreed upon when the contract is made.
- Section 20: unconditional sale of specific goods in deliverable state passes property at once.
- Sections 21 and 22: property waits until goods are made deliverable or weighed, with notice.
- Section 7: goods already perished, contract void; Section 8: later perishing avoids agreement.
- Specific performance for specific or ascertained goods: Section 58.
14 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Partnership and Sale of Goods Acts questions
Related terms
- GoodsUnder Section 2(7) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and money, including stocks and shares, growing crops and things to be severed from land.
- Future goodsGoods to be manufactured, produced or acquired by the seller after the contract of sale is made (Section 2(6) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930). A purported present sale of them operates only as an agreement to sell.
- BuyerA person who buys or agrees to buy goods. Section 2(1) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930; the buyer of immovable property has rights and duties under Section 55 of the TPA.
- SellerA person who sells or agrees to sell goods. Section 2(13) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930. For the unpaid seller's rights, 'seller' also includes a person in the position of a seller (Section 45(2)).
- DeliveryUnder Section 2(2) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, the voluntary transfer of possession from one person to another. It may be actual, symbolic or constructive.
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.