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Business English: Buying and

Selling Vocab
Chris McCarthy

 Vocabulary

Here we take a look at some of the specific English used in buying and selling. These are
terms that are important to both customers and sellers:

cash on delivery
Cash on delivery (British) or 'collect on delivery' (American) means that you pay for
something when it is delivered to you.

exchange
To exchange something means to swap an item for another. The seller allows the buyer to
return his item and take a different one, usually because there was a problem with the one
originally bought.

hire purchase
To buy something on hire purchase means you can pay to rent an expensive object and when
the amount of rent paid is equal to the cost of the object, the buyer becomes the owner of the
object.

invoice
An invoice is a document sent from a seller to a buyer which has all the information stating
how much has been purchased and for what price. The buyer then pays the amount on the
invoice. In a restaurant, at the end of the meal the waiter brings the bill which shows what
we ordered and how much we should pay. An invoice is similar, but is only used in business.

on credit
To purchase something on credit means that no payment is paid immediately. The buyer
agrees to pay for the object later.

payment in advance
To pay in advance means to pay for something before we get it.
 To pay in installments means payment for something is made in regular intervals and not in
one single payment. This is common for expensive items.

price reduction
Price reduction means to reduce the price of a product. To make the price cheaper.

receipt
A receipt is the written proof that you have paid for something. Whenever you buy
something in a shop you are given a receipt.

refund
To refund the price of something means that the seller will give the buyer his/her money
back if he/she is unhappy with the product.

Some common expressions in Buying and Selling Things

Shop Assistant : May I help you?

What can I do for you?

Is there something I can help you with?

Can I help you?

Customer : Yes, I’d like to buy these razors.

I’m looking for the cameras.

Yes, I need a new English dictionary.

Yes, I want some oranges.

No, I’m just browsing. Thanks anyway.

Shop Assistant : That’ll be $6.85 with tax

They are in Aisle Two