Brockton, MA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Article III of Chapter 11, rewritten by a January 30, 2025 ordinance, licenses anyone who buys, sells or barters used precious metals, gems, jewelry, electronics, tools, musical instruments, sporting goods, vehicles or collectibles as a secondhand dealer or secondhand collector. The city council, acting as licensing authority, can deny, suspend or revoke a license after notice and a hearing for a prior revocation within five years, a public-nuisance finding, a felony or false-statement conviction, refusing a lawful police inspection, five or more violations in a two-year span, or a conviction for a crime like receiving stolen property or breaking and entering.

Every purchase requires acceptable government-issued identification and a signed purchase report form describing the seller and item, plus a digital photo of the item; licensees must deliver copies of that week's ledger to the Brockton Police Department every week, even to report that nothing was purchased. Cash purchases can't exceed fifty dollars, dealers can't buy from anyone under eighteen, and they can't buy property with a tampered or removed serial number. Regulated property must be held, unaltered, for at least twenty-one days from purchase, extendable to a maximum of one hundred eighty days if the Police Chief has reason to believe an item is tied to criminal conduct; used clothing, furniture, books and similar low-value goods are exempt from the twenty-one-day hold. , closed Sundays, under Sec. 11-52.