Legal Definitions - consignee

A consignee is the individual or entity designated to receive goods, often under a formal agreement with the sender or owner of those goods (known as the consignor). The nature of the consignee's role depends on the specific contract, which can involve selling the goods, simply receiving them during shipment, or storing them.

Here are some examples illustrating the role of a consignee:

• Retail Consignment (for sale): Imagine a small boutique clothing store that agrees to display and sell handmade jewelry from a local artisan. The artisan (the consignor) provides the jewelry to the store. The store, in this arrangement, is the consignee. They receive the jewelry, display it for sale, and only pay the artisan a percentage of the sale price if and when an item is sold. Until a sale occurs, the artisan still owns the jewelry, but the boutique is responsible for its care while it's in their possession.

• International Shipping (carriage contract): Consider a company based in Germany that orders specialized machinery from a manufacturer in Japan. Once the machinery is shipped, the German company is the consignee. They are the named recipient on the shipping documents and are the party expected to take delivery of the goods when they arrive at the designated port or facility. The Japanese manufacturer is the consignor, and the shipping company is the carrier.

• Storage/Logistics (entrustment): A large beverage company produces seasonal drinks. To manage inventory fluctuations, they contract with a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse to store excess stock during off-peak seasons. When the beverage company (consignor) sends pallets of drinks to the warehouse, the warehouse facility acts as the consignee. They receive and hold the goods as entrusted by the beverage company, ready for distribution when demand increases.