Short answer. Generally no. If you have not been paid, your lien over the goods and your right to stop them in transit survive any resale the buyer makes, unless you agreed to that sale. The one real exception involves a negotiable document of title in the hands of a good-faith purchaser.
What the law says
the unpaid seller's right of lien or stoppage in transitu is not affected by any sale, or other disposition of the goods which the buyer may have made, unless the seller has assented thereto
Civil Code, Article 1535 — Effect of Buyer's Resale on Seller's Rights. Read the full provision →
What the law says
no seller's lien or right of stoppage in transitu shall defeat the right of any purchaser for value in good faith to whom such document has been negotiated
Civil Code, Article 1535 — Effect of Buyer's Resale on Seller's Rights. Read the full provision →
The buyer cannot sell away your security
Article 1535 of the Civil Code protects the seller who has parted with goods but not with the price. It provides that the unpaid seller's right of lien or stoppage in transitu is not affected by any sale, or other disposition of the goods which the buyer may have made, unless the seller has assented thereto. A lien is the right to hold on to goods still in your possession until you are paid. Stoppage in transit is the right to halt goods already handed to a carrier before they reach a buyer who has become insolvent. The point of the rule is simple: your buyer cannot destroy either right merely by passing the goods along to somebody else.
The word that can cost you everything: assent
The protection lasts only for as long as you have not assented to the buyer's disposition. Assent need not be a formal document. Issuing a delivery order in favour of the sub-buyer, instructing the warehouse to release the goods to that person, or acknowledging the resale and accepting the sub-buyer as the party to deal with can all be read as agreement to the transfer. Sellers lose this defence more often through informal cooperation than through anything written. If you are unpaid and you learn of a resale, be deliberate: say nothing that treats the sub-buyer as entitled, and record your claim to the carrier or warehouseman in writing straight away.
Where a negotiable document of title changes the outcome
The article carves out one situation. Where a negotiable document of title has been issued for the goods — a negotiable bill of lading or warehouse receipt — the law says no seller's lien or right of stoppage in transitu shall defeat the right of any purchaser for value in good faith to whom such document has been negotiated. That holds whether the negotiation happened before or after you notified the carrier or bailee of your claim. Commerce depends on such documents being reliable in the hands of an innocent buyer who paid for them. So the moment a negotiable document is in circulation, your practical protection is much narrower than the general rule suggests.
What this rule does not give you
Article 1535 preserves rights over goods; it does not create a right to be paid twice, and it does not cancel the sale by itself. Exercising a lien or stopping goods in transit is a security measure, not automatic rescission or resale — those are separate remedies with their own conditions. The rule also assumes the goods are still identifiable and either in your hands or in transit; once they are delivered and absorbed into the sub-buyer's stock, you are usually left with a money claim. If you are in this position, act within days rather than weeks and bring the invoices, shipping documents and correspondence to a lawyer.