Consignment

In this store, we take items on consignment. We only pay you after someone buys them.

I bought this at the consignment shop.

To E. M. McVicker and Co., Southampton, England. "We undertake no guarantee for goods damaged in transit. As soon as the consignment was taken on board we drew your captain's attention to the fact that the vessel was unsuitable for the transport of Robots, and we are therefore not responsible for spoiled freight. We beg to remain for Rossum's Universal Robots. Yours truly."

In order to provide for a large measure of rail participation in countrywide collection and delivery of small consignments—a task they were never particularly well suited to do, and which they did only because the horse and cart were worse—the railways sacrificed their main advantages.