Difference Between Consignor and Consignee

Consignor vs Consignee

Consignor and consignee are words that are used very commonly in trading and transportation of goods from the vendor to the buyer. The act of consignment refers to the process of sending goods from the seller to the buyer and consignor and consignee happen to be the parties in the transaction. Consignor happens to be the sender of the goods while consignee happens to be the receiver of the goods. Let us take a closer look at the two words or concepts.

Consignor

When goods are sent by the manufacturer or the producer to the buyer, the act is referred to as consignment where the owners of the goods send the goods to their agents in another place. The goods that are sent in this manner are referred to as consignment while the sender is called the consignor. In the parlance of transporter, the person who delivers to them a consignment or goods, to be delivered at another place, is called a consignor. The carrier or transporter records the sender as the consignor and the ownership of the goods remains with the consignor until they have been delivered to the buyer and he has paid for the transportation and the price of the consignment in total. Thus, the document that is drawn up as a contract by the carrier fills up the name of the sender as the consignor.

Consignee

In a consignment, the receiver of the goods is termed as consignee. A consignee is only a receiver and not the owner of the goods. The ownership is transferred, only when, the consignee has paid in full for the goods to the consignor. In many cases, a consignee is only an agent receiving the goods from the consignor. It is, only when, he has acted on behalf of the consignor to sell the goods and remitted the value of the goods after deducting his commission and expenses that the ownership is transferred to him.

It has to be remembered that the person who receives the goods is always a consignee in a consignment. Whether he is the actual buyer or just an agent receiving the goods for the purpose of selling is of no concern to the carrier who enters his name as the consignee in the documents pertaining to consignment.

What is the difference between Consignor and Consignee?

• A consignment always has a consignor and a consignee in the document prepared by the carrier or the transporter.

• Consignor is the sender of a consignment while the consignee is the receiver of the consignment.

• Consignee may be a buyer or just an agent who acts on behalf of the consignor.

• The ownership of the goods or the consignment remains with the consignor until the goods have been paid for in full by the consignee.