An agreement between a buyer and a seller on the price to be paid for a security, followed by delivery. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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sale sale [seɪl] noun
1. [countable, uncountable] COMMERCE the act of selling someone property, food, or other goods:
sale of
• The public protested at the sale of land for industrial development.
• A house sale may be completed in four weeks.
• Every time we make a sale, I get $50 commission.
• Rather than lose a sale, car salesmen will often bring down the price.
a sale in which full payment is received immediately, rather than in regular monthly payments:
• The shipping company announced the £360 million cash sale of its industrial services division.
conˌditional ˈsale [countable, uncountable] COMMERCE
a sale in which the full amount will be made in one payment some time in the future or in smaller regular payments over a period of time. The seller remains the owner of the property or goods being sold until full payment is made:
• He bought the vehicle under a conditional sale agreement.
ˈcredit ˌsale [countable, uncountable] COMMERCE
a sale in which the full amount will be made in one payment some time in the future or in smaller regular payments over a period of time. The buyer is the owner of the property or goods being sold from the time the arrangement is made:
• Goods may be taken on hire purchase, credit sale, or conditional sale terms.
diˌrect ˈsale [countable, uncountable] COMMERCE
1. a sale made by a manufacturer or importer direct to a shop, rather than through a
wholesaler or a
distributor:
• In Europe, we rely on local distributors rather than direct sales.
• a company's direct sales force
when a company sells goods directly to shops, rather than using another company to distribute its goods
1. [countable, uncountable] when a shop buys a quantity of goods from a supplier, and cannot return any goods it does not sell:
• Specialist booksellers usually have a minimum order and offer only firm sales.
2. [countable] an agreement to buy something, but for which no payment has actually been received:
• Are you sure this is a firm sale?
an arrangement between two organizations to buy a particular amount of something for a fixed price in the future
ˌindirect ˈsale
[countable, uncountable] COMMERCE a sale made through a shop, rather than direct to a customer:
• Last year's business was split 60%-40% between direct and indirect sales.
ˌlast ˈsale [countable]
FINANCE the most recent sale of shares in a particular company on a stockmarket
ˌprivate ˈsale [countable, uncountable] COMMERCE
the sale of something in an arrangement directly between the seller and the buyer, rather than openly:
• They completed the private sale of 61,500 shares to a Liechtenstein investment company.
ˌpublic ˈsale [countable, uncountable] COMMERCE
when something is offered for sale openly, rather than sold in a private arrangement:
• The telecommunications company plans to raise 216 million pesos through the public sale of 12 million common shares.
an occasion when someone sells shares they do not yet own, believing that the price will fall so that the shares can be bought more cheaply before they have to be delivered; =bear sale
an occasion when the buyer and seller of shares is the same person or organization. Wash sales are done to give the false impression that investors are interested in the shares, and are illegal:
• He told investigators that large blocks of stock were being traded in wash sales.
2. for sale COMMERCE available to be bought:
• Executives said the firm may be for sale.
• We don't have a for sale sign up outside the building.
• She recently put her house up for sale.
3. on sale COMMERCE available for a short time at a reduced price;
= On Offer Bre:
• I bought a set of iron skillets on sale for $8.99.
4. COMMERCE [countable] a period of time when a shop sells its goods at lower prices than usual:
• The drugstore downtown is having a sale, and some things are down to half price.
a sale in which a shop gets rid of all its old stock:
• Shoppers returned over the weekend, drawn by clearance sales.
ˌclosing ˈdown ˌsale [countable] COMMERCE
a sale in which a shop gets rid of all its stock before it closes permanently:
ˌend-of-ˈseason ˌsale [countable] COMMERCE
a sale in which a shop sells unsold stock of spring, summer, autumn, or winter clothing at the end of each particular season at a reduced price
5. the sales [plural] COMMERCE when shops are selling their goods at lower prices than usual:
• You might be able to get a cheap bed in the sales.
• The cost of footwear was reduced by 12% at the January sales.
6. [countable] COMMERCE an event at which things are sold, especially to the person who offers the highest price:
end-of-season sale of
• a sale of 17th century paintings
ˈfire sale also fire-sale
[countable] COMMERCE an occasion when someone sells something at a very low price because they need the money very quickly:
• Bankruptcy could lead to a fire sale, with creditors receiving a smaller dividend.
• Stores have resorted to fire sale tactics this month because they have more inventory than they want.
7. sales [plural] ACCOUNTING the total number of products that a company sells during a particular period of time:
• We grossed more than £500,000 in sales last year.
• The rate of sales growth slowed in the second half of the year.
• They've already reached their sales targets for this year.
• Do you have this month's sales figures?
ˌcomparable-ˈstore ˌsales abbreviation comps [plural]
money from sales, without taking costs, tax etc into account;
= GROSS RECEIPTS:
• Total gross sales in January were £522 million, which after taking into account repayments, gave net receipts of £103 million.
money from a company's sales in a particular period of time, after taking off taxes, goods returned by customers etc:
• The company achieved growth in net sales (after deducting excise duties) of 4%.
sales to members of the public, rather than to a shop or other business:
• Retail sales rose 0.6% in January.
ˌsame-ˈstore ˌsales [plural]
ACCOUNTING a way of measuring a company's performance, based on the change in the value of its stores' sales compared to the previous year. The stores that are included in the comparison must have been open for at least a year:
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said June same-store sales in the US rose 1.2 percent.
sales to shops or businesses, rather than to members of the public:
• Trade sales of children's books rose by 25%.
— see also telesales
ˈunit sales [plural]
MARKETING the numbers of a particular product or type of product that have been sold:
• Unit sales of personal computers were up 40% on a year-to-year basis.
8. sales [uncountable] MARKETING the part of a company that deals with selling products:
• I'd like to work in sales.
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sale UK US /seɪl/ noun [C or U]
► COMMERCE make a sale »
The salesman was eager to make a quick sale.
»
agree a sale
complete/close a sale »
When the time came to close the sale, another page had been added to the contract.
sale of sth »
The sale of tobacco items to minors is prohibited.
»
car/house/ticket sales
»
online/internet sales
► COMMERCE »
have a sale
»
a mid-season sale
»
the January/July sales
in the sale(s) »
I got a new coat for $50 in the sales.
► »
The library has a book sale every year.
»
a sale of Oriental carpets
→
See also AGREEMENT OF SALE(
Cf. ↑
agreement of sale),
BILL OF SALE(
Cf. ↑
bill of sale),
CASH SALE(
Cf. ↑
cash sale),
CLEARANCE SALE(
Cf. ↑
clearance sale),
CLOSING-DOWN SALE(
Cf. ↑
closing-down sale),
COMPARABLE-STORE SALES(
Cf. ↑
comparable-store sales),
CONDITIONAL SALE(
Cf. ↑
conditional sale),
CONDITIONS OF SALE(
Cf. ↑
conditions of sale),
COST OF SALES(
Cf. ↑
cost of sales),
CREDIT SALE(
Cf. ↑
credit sale),
DIRECT SALE(
Cf. ↑
direct sale),
END-OF-SEASON SALE(
Cf. ↑
end-of-season sale),
FIELD SALES(
Cf. ↑
field sales),
FIRE SALE(
Cf. ↑
fire sale),
FIRM SALE(
Cf. ↑
firm sale),
FORWARD SALE(
Cf. ↑
forward sale),
GROSS SALES(
Cf. ↑
gross sales),
INDIRECT SALE(
Cf. ↑
indirect sale),
LAST SALE(
Cf. ↑
last sale),
NET SALES(
Cf. ↑
net sales),
POINT OF SALE(
Cf. ↑
point of sale),
PRIVATE SALE(
Cf. ↑
private sale),
PUBLIC SALE(
Cf. ↑
public sale),
RETAIL SALES(
Cf. ↑
retail sales),
SAME-STORE SALES(
Cf. ↑
same-store sales),
SHERIFF'S SALE(
Cf. ↑
sheriff's sale),
SHORT SALE(
Cf. ↑
short sale),
TAX SALE(
Cf. ↑
tax sale),
TRADE SALE(
Cf. ↑
trade sale),
UNIT SALES(
Cf. ↑
unit sales),
WASH SALE(
Cf. ↑
wash sale),
WHITE SALE(
Cf. ↑
white sale)