Boulder, CO Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Section 4-17-3(a) of the Boulder Revised Code bars anyone from operating a secondhand store or a place for buying and selling, including selling on consignment, secondhand goods without a license from the city manager, though a garage or rummage sale held at the same address twice a year or less is exempt (Section 4-17-3(c)). Section 4-17-2 defines 'secondhand goods' to include cameras and optics; televisions, stereos, and other electronics; skis and golf clubs; typewriters, computers, and office machines; bicycles and bicycle parts; and, as a catch-all, any item marked with a serial or identification number or priced to the dealer at $30 or more, other than motor vehicles, appliances, boats, or scrap metal.

An applicant pays the fee set by Section 4-20-17: a $75 application fee, a $101 license fee per twelve-month period, and $10 per person for a background check, prorated monthly for a new license. Every licensee must keep a record of each item's purchase, consignment, or pledge date, an English description with all serial numbers, and the seller's name, address, and driver's-license-verified physical description and date of birth, and must submit that record to the police chief before noon every Monday for the preceding calendar week (Section 4-17-7).

A dealer may not buy from anyone under eighteen, anyone the dealer knows or believes has a burglary, robbery, or theft conviction, or anyone who appears intoxicated (Section 4-17-9). Goods obtained through an ordinary purchase transaction must be held unaltered and separate from other stock for thirty days after purchase, and goods obtained under a contract for purchase must be held ten days past the contract's maturity date (Section 4-17-10). A city police officer may examine or demand to inspect any item a licensee bought, consigned, or pledged at any time (Section 4-17-8).