Arlington County, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Arlington County Code Chapter 62, Article VI covers secondhand dealers, defined to include buyers and sellers of used gold, silver and platinum items, watches and clocks, stamps, currency, figurines, paintings, jewelry, computers and components, bicycles, musical instruments, power tools, small appliances, cell phones, firearms and video game systems under Section 62-2. Section 62-36 requires a license from the Arlington County Police Department before engaging in the business, issued to the primary applicant after a $200 application fee, with the applicant furnishing full name, aliases, address, date of birth, driver's license number, fingerprints and photograph, plus identifying information for every other employee who will act as a secondhand dealer.

Police may forward the primary applicant's fingerprints through the Central Criminal Record Exchange to the FBI, and no license issues to anyone convicted of a felony or crime of moral turpitude in the prior ten years. The license runs twelve months, renews for another $200, is non-transferable, and is tied to one designated building. Section 62-41 requires every dealer to retain purchased or acquired articles at the licensed location, open to inspection by the Chief of Police or a designated officer, for at least fifteen days before disposing of them unless the Chief authorizes an earlier release.

Section 62-39 requires an accurate, legible transaction record made at the time of sale on a police-approved form, including a description, serial number and ownership statement of the item and, where there is no serial number, a clear digital image. A separate permit track exists under Section 62-43 for dealers exclusively handling secondhand building fixtures, issued instead by the county sheriff.