Q: A person has an auto lot which sells cars. Before selling the cars, he informs the customers that he is selling the cars “voetstoets” i.e. the customer will not be able to return the car or claim any compensation if a defect or fault is found in it. Is it permissible to attach this condition before selling an item?
Q: I have employed a salesman who will be paid a commission. The commission is percentage based, but there is a different percentage stipulated based on the amount of the sales. For example, for sales between R1 and R5000, the commission is 5%, but from R5001 to R10 000, the commission is 7.5%. Is this permissible?
Q: I want to sell a piece of land. The total price is R1.5 million. The buyer will pay me a 33% deposit as an upfront payment and the rest within 6 months, and then only will I hand over the land papers and land to him. If the purchaser fails to give me 67% within these 6 months, the sale will be cancelled and the purchaser will lose the 33% deposit. Is this clause permissible (forfeiting the initial deposit)?
Q: I am standing at a stall in a madrasah and selling things for the madrasah such as sweets, etc. The items do not belong to me but to the madrasah. Can I purchase items for myself from the stalls, or would this be impermissible since I would, in essence, be the buyer and the seller at the same time?
Q: If I don’t have stock in my business, can I sell the goods? For example, a client comes and purchases a load of bricks and wants it delivered to his house. He pays us for the bricks and delivery, and though we don’t have it in stock, we accept the money. We then collect the bricks from the brick manufacturer and deliver it directly to the client’s house. Is this permissible?
Q: I bought a batch of stock at a certain price. Thereafter, the price of the stock items went up, causing the market value to increase. Can I raise my price on these items, even though I am still selling stock from the old batch which I bought at the lower price?
Q: I am a car dealer. I am not involved in finance. However, I accept different forms of payment, such as cash, EFT and via a card machine. Is it permissible for me to decide the price of a vehicle depending on the customer’s form of payment? The bank charges me 3,25% (for a credit card) and 1,75% (for a debit card) of the total amount if the card machine is used. Can I add this percentage onto the original price of the vehicle? If so, does it have to be the exact amount the bank charges me or can I round off or add to the amount as I desire?
Q: I’m an architect. I design residential buildings for my clients and take design consultancy in return. Yesterday, a marketing team visited me. They were selling LED lights. A single light costs $10. They offered me a discount of 20% if I recommend the lights to my clients. They also said that if I sell the light at full price to my clients, they will transfer the remaining 20% discount into my account. If I give a 10% discount to my clients, they will transfer the remaining 10% into my account. Also, it is in my authority to give a full 20% discount to my client. Is this arrangement permissible?.
Q: I work as an engineer and my job requires me to get quotes for items we need to purchase. I agree to a quote based on the price and the delivery date. For example, if I need to buy piping, I will get three quotes.
1. Quote A says our price is $10 per foot and we will deliver by May 5
2. Quote B says our price is $5 per foot but we will deliver by May 16
3. Quote C says our price is $2 per foot but we will deliver by May 28
I select, for instance, Quote A, and the terms are agreed upon. Now, sometimes a company misses the agreed upon delivery date. If they miss the date by 1 or 2 days, we don’t have any problems, but sometimes, they miss the delivery date by 2 weeks or more. In this case, we tell the company that we will not pay the full price and that they must discount the price that was initially agreed upon because they did not meet the agreed upon delivery date. Is this permissible?
Q: I went to a tailor to have a few kurtas sewn. My friend was supplying me with the fabric to sew the kurtas. However, the problem was that I didn't know how much of fabric I would require, and the tailor was also unable to tell me the exact amount that he would need for the kurtas.
I took the roll of fabric from my friend and gave it to the tailor. The tailor said that he would sew the kurtas, and after sewing them, he would tell me exactly how many metres of fabric he used. My friend told me that he would charge me R80 p/m for his fabric. According to our arrangement, I would only pay my friend for the fabric after the kurtas are sewn.
Is this arrangement permissible? If not, how should we have structured our deal, bearing in mind that I did not know, in advance, the exact amount of fabric that will be required?