Sunday, December 13, 2009

Halachos of the Daf - Bava Basra 86

Selling with a Measurement

In an instance where the seller is selling items that require measurement (i.e. fruits), using his own utensils, in a simta (alleyway), or even in the buyers property, the halachah will depend on how the sale was phrased.

If the seller said, “I’m selling you thirty pounds for thirty dollars,” then the buyer may retract, as long as the seller did not yet measure the entire thirty pounds. The reason is because we consider the expression “thirty pounds for thirty dollars” to be one big sale. Therefore since the seller did not finish measuring, the buyer had not yet bought anything, and may retract.

According to the Mechaber, if the fruits were being measured with the buyers utensils, then we say that whatever was already measured, the buyer may not retract, since the sale is taking place in the buyers property, and his utensils are being used, we understand that the buyer agrees to immediately acquire whatever was measured. However the Rema maintains that even if the buyer’s utensils were used, since the expression “thirty pounds for thirty dollars” was used, the buyer wants to get the full thirty pounds for his thirty dollars. Therefore he may retract until the entire thirty pounds was measured.

If the seller said, “I’m selling you thirty pounds at a dollar a pound” (or if he said, “I’m selling you at a dollar a pound, thirty pounds”), then we consider each pound to be a separate sale. In a case where the buyer’s utensils were used and the sale is taking place in the buyers property (or even in a simta), then as soon as they decided on the price, even before measuring, the buyer has acquired the fruits and may not retract. The Rema disagrees and holds that even in such an instance, if the buyer did not yet pay, then he may not retract.

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