Cambridge, MA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Licensing authority
- Board of License Commissioners
- Standard dealer license
- $10 per year
- Furniture dealer license
- $5 per year
- Business hours
- Sunrise to 10 p.m. weekdays
- Resale hold period
- 30 days minimum
- Max penalty
- $50 per offense/day
Summary
Cambridge requires anyone who deals in junk, old metals, secondhand goods or rags to hold an annual license from the Board of License Commissioners before buying, storing or selling such items. Chapter 5.28 of the Municipal Code sets tiered fees, restricts hours to daylight through 10 p.m., and forces dealers to log every purchase in an inspectable book.
No person shall solicit for, be a collector of, or a dealer in junk, old metals, secondhand articles or rags, cotton, feathers, paper stock, excelsior, straw or other inflammable junk, or be a keeper of a shop for the keeping, purchase, storage, sale or barter of junk, old metals, secondhand articles or rags, cotton, feathers, paper stock, excelsior, straw or other inflammable junk, in the City, unless duly licensed therefor by the Board of License Comissioners, and unless such person complies with all ordinances and laws or and hereafter enacted with reference and applicable to junk, old metals, secondhand articles or rags, cotton, feathers, paper stock, excelsior, straw or other inflammable junk.
Full Breakdown
010 makes it unlawful to solicit, collect, deal in, or keep a shop for junk, old metals, secondhand articles, rags, cotton, feathers, paper stock, excelsior or straw without a license from the Board of License Commissioners. 020, a standard dealer's or solicitor's license costs ten dollars a year, a household-furniture dealer's license costs five dollars, and licenses for barrel and box dealers and collectors run five dollars and fifty cents respectively; every license expires each May 1st unless revoked sooner. A license covering storage of rags, cotton, feathers or other inflammable junk requires the dealer's building be fireproof-partitioned, and can issue only after a public hearing with seven days' mailed notice to abutting owners within one hundred yards.
030 requires a conspicuous sign naming the keeper and occupation. on weekdays. 050 requires a purchase log recording each seller's name, age and address and the time of sale, open at all times to the Board, Police or their designees. 080 forces dealers to hold any item at least thirty days before reselling it. 090.
Violations & Fines
Operating without a license, or violating any license condition, forfeits up to fifty dollars per offense under § 5.28.110, with each unlicensed day counted as a separate violation. A chapter violation is also independent grounds for the Board of License Commissioners to revoke the license outright under § 5.28.100, and buying from a minor or reselling within the thirty-day hold period exposes a dealer to the same fifty-dollar forfeiture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a city license to run a secondhand or junk shop in Cambridge?
How long must a Cambridge secondhand dealer hold an item before reselling it?
Can a Cambridge junk dealer buy from a minor?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cambridge
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Secondhand Dealers in Nearby Cities
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