Council Bluffs, IA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

CBMC 3.52.010 defines a secondhand dealer as anyone buying, selling or dealing in used clothing, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, jewelry, bullion, electronics, musical instruments, or guns, rifles, shotguns and other firearms, among other secondhand goods. As with pawnbrokers, a dealer must file an affidavit under CBMC 3.52.030 promising to follow the city's ordinances and disclosing the exact business address, and the police department investigates the applicant's moral character before the city clerk issues the CBMC 3.52.020 license. CBMC 3.52.040 requires a $2,000 bond with at least two sureties approved by the city council, and the license fee is set in the CBMC 2.08 schedule.

Every dealer must keep an inked register recording the seller's name, age and driver's license or social security number, a description and serial number of the property, and the purchase price, entered within one hour of the transaction and copied to the chief of police before noon the next day under CBMC 3.52.060; that register stays open to inspection by the chief of police, the Pottawattamie County sheriff and prosecuting attorney under CBMC 3.52.070. Purchased goods must be held for fifteen days for inspection under CBMC 3.52.080, shorter than the thirty-day pawnbroker holding period, and no dealer may buy from anyone under eighteen under CBMC 3.52.090.

CBMC 3.52.170 exempts secondhand furniture dealers and bookstores, nonprofit collection drives, licensed auctions, events lasting no more than ninety-six consecutive hours such as flea markets or hobby shows, wholesale or dealer-to-dealer sales, and garage, yard or moving sales held on a seller's own residential property.