Buying and Selling: Ruling on Revoking a Sale After the Agreed Period and Vendor’s Right to Compensation

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Buying and Selling: Ruling on Revoking a Sale After the Agreed Period and Vendor’s Right to Compensation

English:

Question #1554:

A person bought goods from another person on condition that he settles the price in two months’ time, and provided that the buyer has the right to revoke the deal during that time. However, the buyer returned the goods to the vendor after seven months. The vendor accepted the returned goods on condition that a certain amount, calculated as a percentage of the sale price, is charged to the buyer due to the damage sustained by the vendor.
Has the buyer the right to revoke the deal after the agreed period of revocation so much so that the vendor has no alternative but to accept the proposition? And has the vendor the right to make his acceptance of revoking the sale dependent on charging a percentage of the sale price?

Answer #1554:

After the lapse of the agreed period during which revocation can be exercised, the party who had the right of exercising the power of revocation has no right to revoke the contract and return the goods. Similarly, he has no right to force the vendor to agree to his proposition. However, both the parties can bilaterally revoke the contract. That said, the vendor has no right to accept bilateral revocation in return for a charge, for if he does so, it becomes void.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Buying and Selling