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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Sale of goods - Rights of unpaid seller against goods - Stopping goods in transit

178: Right to stop goods in transit

You could also call this:

“The seller can take back unpaid goods while they're still on the way to the buyer”

If you sell something to someone and they haven’t paid you yet, you have a special right if that person becomes unable to pay their debts. This right is called ‘stopping goods in transit’. It means that if your goods are still on their way to the buyer, you can take them back. You can keep the goods until the buyer pays you or offers to pay you the full price. This right only applies while the goods are still travelling to the buyer. There are more rules about this in other parts of the law that you need to know about too.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844389.

Topics:
Business > Fair trading Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
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177: When unpaid seller loses lien, or

"When a seller can no longer keep an item they haven't been paid for"

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179: Duration of transit, or

"How long goods are considered 'in transit' when you send them to someone"

Part 3 Sale of goods
Rights of unpaid seller against goods: Stopping goods in transit

178Right to stop goods in transit

  1. When a buyer of goods becomes insolvent, the unpaid seller who has parted with the possession of the goods has the right to stop them in transit.

  2. The right in subsection (1) means that the seller may resume possession of the goods while they are in transit and may retain them until payment or tender of the price.

  3. This section is subject to the rest of this Part.

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