Akron, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

490(A) defines a "secondhand dealer" as any person, club, partnership, organization, or corporation engaged in selling secondhand articles or buying them for resale. Subsection B bars anyone from dealing in fifteen enumerated categories of secondhand goods without an Article 29 license: furs; office machinery such as typewriters, computers, laptops, printers, and copiers; pawn tickets; artisans' and mechanics' tools; cameras; musical instruments and equipment; precious stones, gold, silver, or platinum items; televisions, stereos, phones, video game systems and cartridges, and other electronic media; bicycles and sporting or fitness equipment; retailer gift cards; antique china, flatware, or servingware; non-firearm weapons, propane tanks, auto parts, or yard equipment; coins; furniture, appliances, and furnishings; and any other item bearing a serial number.

491 requires a written application naming the business, every owner or interested party, every employee, the business location, and the types of articles handled, backed by character references from at least two City of Akron residents; the License Clerk cannot issue a license until thirty days pass to check the background of anyone convicted of a felony or a crime involving fraud, theft, or stolen property in the preceding five years. 493 sets the fee at $50 per location, non-refundable, expiring every December 31. 497 requires every licensee to keep a record, in English, of each secondhand item received: an accurate description, the price paid, the seller's age, address, name, and physical description, the date and hour of purchase, and the seller's driver's license or state ID number, with entries that cannot be erased or altered and must stay open to Police Division inspection. 499 requires a numbered tag attached to every acquired item, logged in that same record book.