Bill of Sale Documents

In the Craigslist and eBay age, it’s not always hard to sell your own property anymore. But there is a unique challenge that has arisen because of how easy it is to sell your property: ensuring that no fraud ever takes place.

Most people will ignore bill of sale documents because what they’re selling really isn’t so valuable that they need to bother with an honest contract. But when you’re selling something big –like an automobile – well, you’re going to want to make sure that there is some legal recourse for you should the sale go badly somehow. Ensuring that both sides are committed to a sale in writing is one of the most important ways for you to go about selling a large piece of property.

Bill of sale forms, of course, provide this exact legal infrastructure – which is just a fancy way of saying that they put it all down in writing for you. Having the purchase and sale agreement put in writing is not a minor thing. It essentially records a moment in time – as well as the promises that both people have made. This promise can stand up in a court of law should you ever need legal recourse to regain money or property that you are entitled to as a result of one of these agreements.

Typically, bills of sale are handled by the seller of an item rather than a purchaser, but it’s not a bad idea for a purchaser to ask for a contract when there is none involved already. This head’s-up move often comes as a result of experience – one bad purchase made years before can mean you use a bill of sale for all of your large purchases now.

There are two types of bills of sale that are typically used. One is the conditional bill of sale, which does provide different options for both parties under different scenarios. This helps keep a purchase flexible rather than etching in stone, which is a great way to get your buyer to sign on the dotted line without anxiety.

The absolute bill of sale, of course, will be a little more ironclad than that – though both hold the same legal power all contracts hold.