Chelan County, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chelan County Code Chapter 5.08 requires anyone doing business as a secondhand dealer outside the limits of any incorporated city or town in the county to hold a county license first, under § 5.08.010, at a cost of $15.00 per year or any part of a year. Every employee the dealer puts to work buying or selling under that license also needs their own $5.00 annual employee license, issued jointly in the names of employer and employee, and it lapses automatically the moment that employment relationship ends. Section 5.08.070 defines a secondhand dealer broadly: anyone engaged in whole or in part in buying or selling secondhand personal property, metal, junk, or melted metals.

The recordkeeping duty is detailed and specific. Section 5.08.020 requires every dealer and employee to keep a permanent written record, in English, of each purchase or sale, logging the transaction date, the signer's identity, a physical description of the seller (age, address, dress, complexion, hair color and facial appearance), a description of the property and where it came from, the price, any witnesses, and the ticket number. That record and all goods on hand must stay open to inspection by any police officer during ordinary business hours under § 5.08.030. Beyond that, § 5.08.040 requires the dealer to send the Chelan County Sheriff a duplicate copy of every day's transactions, and to report immediately to the Sheriff and the nearest city police chief if the dealer has reason to believe an item bought was stolen. A dealer reselling property outside Chelan County must note the buyer's address on the registration slip, but only for goods originally acquired within the unincorporated county, under § 5.08.050.

Violating any part of Chapter 5.08 is punishable by a fine between $25.00 and $100.00, or up to thirty days in the Chelan County jail, under § 5.08.060.