Short answer. Yes. Article 1499 recognizes that delivery of movable property can happen by the mere consent or agreement of the parties. This applies where the thing cannot be physically transferred at the time of sale, or where the buyer already had it in his possession for some other reason, then agreement alone completes the delivery.
What the law says
The delivery of movable property may likewise be made by the mere consent or agreement of the contracting parties, if the thing sold cannot be transferred to the possession of the vendee at the time of the sale, or if the latter already had it in his possession for any other reason.
Civil Code, Article 1499 — Traditio Brevi Manu / Longa Manu. Read the full provision →
Delivery is not always a physical handover
We usually picture delivery as the seller physically handing the goods to the buyer, but the law is more flexible. Article 1499 provides that the delivery of movable property may likewise be made by the mere consent or agreement of the contracting parties, if the thing sold cannot be transferred to the possession of the vendee at the time of the sale, or if the latter already had it in his possession for any other reason. In the right circumstances, the meeting of minds itself accomplishes delivery, without any fresh physical transfer of the thing.
When the buyer already holds the thing
The clearest case is where the buyer is already in possession. Suppose the buyer had been renting or borrowing the very item he now buys. It would be pointless to require him to hand it back to the seller only to receive it again. Article 1499 lets the parties' agreement do the work: by consenting to the sale, they turn the buyer's existing possession into possession as owner. What changes is the legal character of his holding, from borrower or lessee to owner, not the physical location of the thing.
When the thing cannot be transferred at the time of sale
The article also covers the situation where the thing simply cannot be physically moved to the buyer at the moment of sale, for practical or circumstantial reasons. Here too, the parties may agree that delivery is accomplished by their consent, so that ownership and the effects of delivery pass even though the item stays where it is for the time being. This spares the parties from being blocked by a temporary inability to make a hand-to-hand transfer that would serve no real purpose.
Why this form of delivery is useful
Recognising delivery by mere agreement makes commerce practical. It avoids empty rituals, like returning and re-handing an item the buyer already possesses, and it lets sales proceed when physical transfer is momentarily impossible. For buyers and sellers, the lesson is that once the sale is agreed in these situations, delivery may already be complete in the eyes of the law, with the rights and risks of ownership shifting to the buyer even though nothing physically changed hands at that moment.