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Si sono venduti molti beni nel commercio.

Si sono venduti molti beni nel commercio.
Many goods were sold in trade.
From Lesson 399:The passive si with compound tenses (si è / si sono)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Si sono venduti molti beni nel commercio.

Why does this sentence use sono instead of hanno?
In the si passivante (passive si) construction, the auxiliary verb is always essere when used in compound tenses like the passato prossimo. Even though an active sentence would be "they have sold" (using avere), the passive construction always requires essere, making it si sono venduti.
Why does the past participle venduti end in -i?
In a si passivante sentence, the verb and its past participle must agree in gender and number with the grammatical subject being acted upon. Here, the subject is molti beni (many goods), which is masculine plural. Therefore, the auxiliary is plural (sono) and the past participle takes the masculine plural ending -i (venduti).
Why does molti beni come after the verb?
In Italian, it is very common to place the subject after the verb in a si passivante construction. Saying Molti beni si sono venduti nel commercio is grammatically correct, but placing the subject at the end emphasizes the action rather than the goods, which sounds much more natural in this context.
Doesn't bene mean "well" or "good"? How does it mean "goods" here?
You are right that the adverb bene means "well." However, as a noun, il bene means "the good" (as in the opposite of evil). In its plural form, i beni refers to physical "goods," "assets," or "property," which fits this context of economics or trade.

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