Sale By Description in Today’s Online Contracts: Issues and Challenges
Farhanin Abdullah Asuhaimi, Zuhairah Arif Abd Ghadas, Nazli Ismail @ Nawang, Norhasliza Ghapa
Faculty of Law and International Relations, University Sultan Zainal Abidin
Abstract
Nowadays, many consumers opt to buy their necessary goods using online platforms rather than face-to-face method. The trend even becomes higher during the Covid-19 pandemic when the citizen’s movement is restricted with the enforcement of the Movement Control Order. Thus, products in online platforms need to be given a clear and detailed description to help consumers buy the product with confidence. This paper highlights the principles of sale by description in SOGA and the consequences of the breach based on a systematic literature review as well as investigates the application of sale by description in online platforms using the method of content analysis. As the doctrine of caveat emptor is the underlying principle in the law of contract, this paper concludes with some tips in buying online and suggestion for online platforms to ensure that the practice is in line with the current law in Malaysia.
Keywords: Consumer, Online contract, Sale by description, Sale of goods
