Halachos of the Daf - Bava Basra 93

Selling Defective Seeds


If one sold seeds which are not eaten, rather they are only used for planting, and the buyer after planting them sees that nothing grew out of those seeds, the seller is responsible and must pay back the money to the buyer, even if he didn’t know that there was anything wrong with the seeds. The buyer is not reimbursed for his money or efforts to plant the defective seeds. This is true only in a case where it is readily apparent that the seeds were defective. If however the field was flooded or a similar type of outside factor, then the seller is not responsible, since it may not have grown because of the flooding. On the other hand, if the buyer had not yet paid and he planted them and there was a flood, the seller cannot demand payment, since it could have very well not grown even without the flood, because maybe they were defective. In an instance where the seller can prove that his seeds were not defective, and the buyer’s field was flooded, the buyer must pay.

If one sold seeds which are also eaten, and the buyer plants them and it does not grow, the seller is not responsible, and does not have to give back the money to the buyer. If, however, the buyer said that he’s buying these seeds to plant them, then the seller is responsible. In an instance where the buyer had not yet paid, and he planted them and they did not grow, he may still claim that he had bought it for planting, and the seller would be responsible.