consumer goods

Goods, such as food and clothing, that satisfy human wants through their direct consumption or use.

Goods bought for personal or household use, as distinguished from Capital Goods or producer's goods, which are used to produce other goods. The general economic meaning of consumer goods encompasses consumer services. Thus the market basket on which the Consumer Price Index is based includes clothing, food, and other goods as well as utilities, entertainment, and other services.

Merchandise made to be used by the consumer for personal use; also called consumer products. Such items as food and clothing are considered to be consumer goods. Automobiles are likewise consumer goods, but the chrome sold to the automobile manufacturer for use on an automobile is not. (The chrome would come under the category of industrial goods.) Consumer goods are further classified as nondurables and durables, soft goods and hard goods, and packaged goods.

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Goods which are "used or bought for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes." U.C.C. §9-109. "Consumer goods" is one of four categories of goods distinguished by the Uniform Commercial Code; the classifications are important for such purposes as determining the rights of persons who buy goods subject to a security interest, rights after a default, and rights among those with conflicting security interests in the same collateral. Thus, consumer goods are to be distinguished from equipment, which are goods used or bought for use primarily in business; from farm products, which are goods in the possession of one engaged in a farming operation "if they are crops or livestock or supplies used or produced in farming operations or if they are products of crops or livestock in their unmanufactured states" and from inventory, which are goods held for sale. U.C.C. §9-109. The classification of goods is determined by its primary use.

Goods, such as food and clothing, that satisfy human wants through their consumption or use. (Compare capital goods.)

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