The CMA Fined £4.7 Million in Its First Year — The Sale of Goods 5th Ed Explains What Changed
On 17 April 2026, the UK Competition and Markets Authority published its one-year review of direct consumer enforcement under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The numbers tell their own story: over £760,000 ordered refunded to consumers, and £4.7 million in fines imposed — all without the CMA needing to go to court first. It is the clearest sign yet that the UK's approach to consumer and commercial sales law has entered a genuinely new era, one where regulators can act directly against unfair pricing, drip pricing and unclear contract terms.
Michael Bridge's The Sale of Goods, now in its 5th edition, lands at exactly this moment. The new edition is the first to fully integrate the DMCC Act 2024 and the Electronic Documents Act 2023 into the systematic treatment of English sale of goods law that has made this book the standard reference for courts and practitioners across the Commonwealth for over two decades. Alongside the classic architecture — passing of property, implied terms of quality and fitness for purpose, exclusion clauses, remedies — Bridge now addresses how digital-era consumer rights interact with the Sale of Goods Act 1979 itself.
For commercial law practitioners advising on B2C contracts in this new enforcement climate, or for law libraries supporting research into evolving consumer protection, this is essential, current authority — not a historical restatement.
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Q&A
What's new in the 5th edition? Full coverage of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and the Electronic Documents Act 2023, alongside the established treatment of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
Why does the DMCC Act matter for sale of goods practitioners? It gives the CMA direct enforcement powers over consumer contracts — including fines up to 10% of global turnover — without needing a court order first.
Who is Michael Bridge? Cassel Professor Emeritus of Commercial Law at the London School of Economics and a leading authority on English commercial and sale of goods law.
Is this book relevant to Commonwealth practitioners outside the UK? Yes, it references UK and Commonwealth authorities throughout and remains the standard cross-jurisdictional reference.
Where can I buy The Sale of Goods 5th edition? Directly from CLNZ Books at clnzbooks.com. Price includes worldwide courier shipping, and payment is accepted by credit card or PayPal.