sale or return

British  

noun

1. an arrangement by which a retailer pays only for goods sold, returning those that are unsold to the wholesaler or manufacturer

---

Example Sentences

And they are no longer paying him on delivery, he says, instead adopting a "sale or return" model where consignments not sold are returned to the company, entirely transferring the risk to the manufacturer.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2025

Goods manufactured by the blind had been for some years advanced to blind agents on a system known as "sale or return."

From Elizabeth Gilbert and Her Work for the Blind by Martin, Frances

Indeed, I think there's as much fish as would serve double the number—and I'm sure you look as if you had your soup "on sale or return," as we say in the magazine line.

From Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities by Surtees, Robert Smith

All these goods were very expensive; and she asked if any of them had been introduced, like the Yankee furniture, on sale or return.

From Mrs. Thompson A Novel by Maxwell, W. B. (William Babington)

The books may remain with me upon sale or return, until you please to order them elsewhere; and in the meantime I shall continue to avail myself of every opportunity to sell them.

From A Publisher and His Friends Memoir and Correspondence of John Murray; with an Account of the Origin and Progress of the House, 1768-1843 by Smiles, Samuel