Documents / Business
Consignment Agreement
Place goods with a store or seller who sells them for a commission — you keep title until each item sells.
Self-help drafting template
Self-help drafting and electronic signing for ordinary adult transactions. Check the document-specific preparation steps before use.
General text. One nationwide text with your state’s governing law. It does not adapt to your state’s mandatory rules, so check them before relying on it.
Version 2026-09-09.8. No qualified legal review is recorded. Read the complete document and obtain advice for your circumstances.
Before you use this document
- Inventory goods and condition, ownership, commission, settlement dates and return terms.
- Check creditor/secured-transaction protections, insurance and responsibility for loss before delivering valuable inventory.
Guidance updated September 8, 2026. Source coverage is limited to the topics described; historical sources are identified. State, local and transaction-specific requirements still apply.
Time
~8 min
Questions
≤ 14
Steps
5
Export
PDF · Word
Answer guided questions, review your draft, and export or request signatures on supported documents.
What we will cover
- 01
Location
Choose the actual location so the preparation guidance and applicable safeguards follow your document.
- 02
The Parties
- 03
The Goods & Period
- 04
Pricing & Payment
- 05
Care, Returns & Legal
- 06
Review and generate
Edit, export, and request e-signatures when the document meets its signing requirements.
About this document
A consignment agreement lets you place goods with a shop, gallery, or reseller who displays and sells them for a commission, while you keep ownership until each item sells. It covers the inventory, the consignment period, minimum prices, the commission split, how quickly you get paid after a sale, and who is responsible if items are damaged, stolen, or never returned.
The real risk in consignment is not the store — it is the store's creditors. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, goods sitting in someone else's shop can be exposed to claims against that business unless the consignor takes steps to put the world on notice, typically by filing a UCC-1 financing statement identifying the consigned goods. Some states also have specific consignment statutes protecting artists and craftspeople. Alongside that, insist on an itemized inventory list and a written insurance obligation; without both, proving what you delivered becomes guesswork.
Common questions
Who owns goods on consignment?+
You do. Title stays with the consignor until an item is sold to a customer, at which point it passes directly from you to that customer. The store is holding and selling your property, not buying it, which is why the agreement should require the goods to be identified in the store's records as yours and kept free of liens.
What is a typical consignment commission?+
It varies widely by category. Retail shops commonly take somewhere in the 30–50% range, while galleries and higher-touch sellers often take more. What matters as much as the percentage is the payout schedule — set a fixed number of days after each sale, or a monthly settlement date, rather than leaving it to the store's discretion.
What happens if the store closes or goes bankrupt?+
This is exactly the scenario a UCC-1 filing is meant to address. Without notice on the public record, a creditor or bankruptcy trustee may treat consigned inventory as the store's own assets, and you can end up as an unsecured claimant for goods you still own. Filing takes little effort and is the single most useful protection a consignor has.
General information, not legal advice — laws vary by state and change over time.
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