Legal Definitions - warranty of merchantability

The warranty of merchantability is an automatic assurance that goods sold by a merchant are reasonably fit for their ordinary and intended purpose. This means that when you buy a product from a business that regularly sells such items, there's an unspoken promise that the item will be of acceptable quality and will perform as expected for what it is designed to do. It's an "implied" warranty because it doesn't need to be written down or explicitly stated; it's a fundamental expectation built into the transaction.

However, this warranty might not cover defects that a buyer should have noticed if they thoroughly examined the goods before purchase, or if they refused a reasonable opportunity to do so.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: A Malfunctioning Appliance

  Imagine a customer purchases a brand new coffee maker from a large electronics retailer. They take it home, follow the instructions, but the coffee maker consistently leaks water all over the counter every time it's used, making it impossible to brew coffee. The ordinary purpose of a coffee maker is to brew coffee without leaking.

  How it illustrates the term: The electronics retailer, as a merchant of appliances, implicitly warranted that the coffee maker would be fit for its ordinary purpose. Since the appliance fails to perform its basic function (brewing coffee without leaking), it breaches the warranty of merchantability. The customer would likely be entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund.

• Example 2: Unsafe Children's Toy

  A parent buys a new wooden toy train set for their toddler from a toy store. Within a day of normal play, one of the train cars breaks apart into several small, sharp pieces, posing a choking hazard and potential injury risk to the child. The ordinary purpose of a children's toy is to be safe for play by its intended age group.

  How it illustrates the term: The toy store, as a merchant, implicitly warranted that the toy train set would be safe and durable enough for its ordinary purpose of children's play. The toy's unexpected breakage into dangerous pieces demonstrates that it was not fit for this purpose, thus breaching the warranty of merchantability.

• Example 3: Used Item with Disclosed Flaws

  A musician buys a used amplifier from a music store's "clearance" section. The store clearly labels the amplifier as having a "slight hum" and offers a significant discount, encouraging customers to test it thoroughly before purchase. The musician tests it, confirms the hum, but decides the price is worth it. Later, the hum becomes much louder, making the amplifier unusable for performances.

  How it illustrates the term: In this scenario, the warranty of merchantability might be limited or even waived regarding the "hum." The store, as a merchant, disclosed the specific defect, and the buyer had the opportunity to inspect and accept the goods with that known flaw. While the amplifier's ordinary purpose is to amplify sound, the buyer knowingly purchased it with a disclosed imperfection. However, if the amplifier had a completely unrelated, undisclosed defect (e.g., it suddenly caught fire) that made it unfit for its ordinary purpose, the warranty might still apply to that separate issue, as it was not part of the disclosed condition.