Consignment

Consignment is the act of consigning, which is placing any material in the hand of another, but retaining ownership until the goods are sold or person is transferred. This may be done for shipping, transfer of prisoners, to auction, or for sale in a store (i.e., a consignment shop). To consign means to send and therefore consignment means sending goods to another person. In case of consignment goods are sent to the agent for the purpose of sale. The ownership of these goods remains with the sender. The agent sells the goods on behalf of the sender, according to his instructions. The sender of goods is known as consignor and the agent is known as the consignee.

Features of consignment are:

• The relation between the two parties is that of consignor and consignee and not that of buyer and seller
• The consignor is entitled to receive all the expenses in connection with consignment
• The consignee is not responsible for damage of goods during transport or any other procedure
• Goods are sold at the risk of consignor. The profit or loss belongs to consignor only

The word consignment comes from the French consigner, meaning "to hand over or transmit", originally from the Latin consignare "to affix a seal", as was done with official documents just before being sent.