Writing a sales contract: 10 tips and templates

 To put it simply, a sales contract is a certificate which confirms that one person (the seller) transfers ownership of a good to another person (the beneficiary) in return for payment.

Although very often neglected, the sales contract is very important during a transaction. The drafting of a sales contract must include certain notices to protect yourself. This is why it is important to have it written by a professional writer.

In this article, discover the 10 best tips for writing your sales contract as well as a example of sales contract to adapt and reuse!

Why write a sales contract?

The sales contract allows both parties to be secure because it is synallagmatic: in other words, it entails rights and obligations for both parties.

However, you should know that the sales contract is only a security if it is correctly drawn up. Poorly written, it will only cause you legal and judicial problems.

The question then is how to correctly draw up your sales contract? To make your task easier and avoid having to read entire legal works, we have summarized tips for correctly drafting your sales contract.

10 tips for writing a sales contract

1. Identify the seller, the buyer and the property

When drafting a sales contract, it is important that its first provision contains the full names of the seller, the buyer, the property for sale and also the location of the sale. You can also add the seller's address and the buyer's address.

For example, you can use a formula like “this contract between the seller Pierre Cardin and the buyer François Dubois concerns the sale of a Startimer Pilto Quartz Professional AL-235B4FBS6 watch. ".

This identification allows in the future to avoid any problem regarding the identity of one of the parties to the transaction. Then you must also remember to include a detailed description of the property for sale.

2. Identify the product using its description

In your sales contract, it is also important to clearly specify the different characteristics of the product sold. Try to be as specific as possible in the description of the product you want to sell.

For the sale of a watch, you can for example specify information such as:

• The ocarat reference;
• The reference ;
• The brand ;
• Genre ;
• The colour ;
• And the label ;
• The making ;
• The diameter of the case;
• The thickness of the case;
• The back of the watch;
• The style.

With this information you are sure to uniquely identify the property you are selling or buying. Next, you must ensure that the information on the sales contract is accurate.

3. Check the information, take stock of the moment

It is important to verify the information given in the contract, because if it is fraudulent or false, it will result in the contract being void. Both parties must therefore fully understand all the clauses of the contract.

For example, if the sales contract for your watch specifies that it has a nylon strap even though you had changed its strap for a leather one, the customer can simply terminate the contract.

You will have understood: it is important to specify any modifications that you have had to make to your property, regardless of its type.

To do this, you can use the formula “I certify that I have replaced its nylon handle with a leather handle during use. ". The next tip is to pay close attention to the date and price of the property.

4. Set date and price

In your sales contract, you must also specify the payment method. If you wish to be paid by check, cash or otherwise, you must specify this in the sales contract. It is also possible to specify a due date for your payment.

However, when you set a deadline, we recommend that you keep your property documents until the full amount of money is paid. You should also be careful to indicate whether the sale price includes taxes and duties. Then you need to pay attention to the delivery terms.

5. Define delivery terms

If you have to deliver the property to the buyer, you must also make the effort to clarify the situation. You must therefore include a clause that clarifies the delivery method as well as everyone's responsibilities during the transfer.

For delivery, you have the choice between hiring the services of a third party for delivery and reception or having it delivered by the seller and having it received by the buyer. In either case, you will need to specify in the contract who will be responsible for the delivery costs.

Whether by car, sea or air transport, you will need to specify who will cover the costs.

When drafting your sales contract, you must be rigorous and very precise. So if there is the slightest expense linked to the delivery of the good, always specify who will be responsible for it. You must also be careful to correctly describe the property.

6. Write the description of the property

In general, sales contracts are not concluded for new goods. You must therefore ensure that you correctly describe the exact condition in which you are selling the property.

By specifying the state in which you are selling a good, you relieve yourself of responsibilities in the event of a problem arising from the state of the product in question. For example, you can use a clause like: “The Alpina watch is sold in the condition it is in at the time of signing this contract. The seller therefore rejects any express or implied warranty and disclaims any warranty as to the condition or operation of the watch. ".

You must also be careful to specify the documents that will be provided by the seller to the buyer.

7. Indicate the documents provided by the seller

Don't forget to indicate if you are handing over the property with official documents. It can be a registration document for a car or even a certificate of authenticity for a watch or jewelry.

In the case of a large product such as a car, contact the corresponding department to find out what documents you will need to provide to the buyer. You must also specify the legal situation of the property.

8. Indicate the legal status of the product

When you want to sell your property, it is always important to specify the legal status of the property in question in the sales contract. This allows you to be sure that you are the indisputable owner of the property.

To put it simply, your property must not be in your possession by mortgage, following legal action against the owner or by lien. However, in some cases, a property can be sold even if the bank holds title to it.

For example in the case where the owner of a car has not finished paying for the car. He can request a balance certificate from his financial institution in order to have the exact amount of the debt he will have to pay. The penultimate tip that we can give you is to use a sales contract template.

9. Have the contract signed

This formality is mandatory and certifies that both parties have read and agree to all the clauses of the contract.

You must also make 2 copies of this contract, one that you will give to the buyer and one that you will keep as the seller.

10. Use a sales contract template

In case you find that all the information we listed above is too complicated to take into account, you can simply use a sales contract template.

These models, which can be used for ordinary sales, allow you to save time and avoid making mistakes. To use one, nothing could be simpler: you just need to print a standard contract. You can find this type of sales contract on many websites.

These contracts are linked to the property you wish to sell. Depending on the property you wish to sell, go to the website of the corresponding national organization in order to obtain the corresponding contract. Otherwise, you can also do a search on sales contract template for “the name of your product”.

Once you have printed and completed the sales contract template, all you have to do is have it signed. Note that it must be signed by the seller, the buyer and that you must always personally deliver a copy of the contract to the parties involved.

Now that we've covered what there is to know about the sales contract, we're going to give you a sample sales contract so you can know exactly what this document looks like.

Example of sales contract

Contract for the sale of goods

Firstly :

Mr. Count, Charles V born December 22, 1998 in Paris acting as owner of the “property”.

Hereinafter referred to as “The Seller”

And on the other hand :

Monsieur Le Duc, Charles born January 28, 1995 in Paris acting as legal representative of the company Trektech.

Hereinafter referred to as “The Buyer”.

Have agreed and decided as follows:

Both parties declare that they are not subject to a receivership or liquidation procedure or a similar procedure. They also declare that they are neither in a state of guardianship, curatorship, under judicial protection, nor prohibited from carrying out acts of disposition.

Article 1 – The Designation

The subject of this sales agreement is all of the goods hereinafter designated:

– 20-foot containers with a length of 6.5 meters and a width of 2.43 meters. It has a volume of 33 square meters with a height of 2.59.

– Ten cars from the Toyota brand and the Auris 3 model with a gasoline-electric hybrid engine.

Article 2 – Le Prix

In return for the transfer of ownership of the goods, the purchaser undertakes to pay in cash the sum of 900,000 euros, taxes included.

Article 3 – La livraison

Once payment has been made, the seller undertakes to deliver to the buyer the said goods at the “delivery address” no later than “the delivery date”. In the event of loss or damage to the goods, the seller is liable until delivery of the said goods to the address indicated.

Article 4 : Litigation

Any dispute concerning this contract, whether in its execution or its interpretation, will be within the jurisdiction of the Paris Commercial Court.

Done in Paris, October 2, 2021 in two original copies.

The Seller                                                                                                        The Buyer

“Signature followed by the words read and approved”. “Signature followed by the words read and approved”.

Our advice for drafting a sales contract

To guarantee you a complete sales contract, we recommend that you use legal writers on Redacteur.com. Thanks to their knowledge of law, they will provide you with sales contracts with all the clauses and notices not to be forgotten.