Davis, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Davis Municipal Code Article 19.04 sets the annual business license tax for specific business categories, and subsection (g) of Section 19.04.090 targets "junk dealers or dealers in old and/or used articles." The provision reaches anyone at a fixed place of business in the city who carries on, collects, buys, sells, or otherwise deals in junk, rubbish, waste material, refuse, old rags, sacks, bottles, cans, papers, metals, jewelry, precious metals, rubber, bric-a-brac, cordage, or used truck and automobile tires, accessories and parts, whether retail or wholesale, and whether the goods are resold as-is or repaired and prepared for reuse.

The tax is six hundred dollars per year regardless of gross receipts, which is a flat category rate rather than the percentage-of-receipts formula that applies to most other businesses under this chapter. The underlying licensing duty comes from Section 19.02.010: it is unlawful to transact any business, trade, calling or occupation in the city without first paying the prescribed business license tax and complying with the article's other requirements, and a separate certificate is required for each distinct business type at each location. The city's collector administers and enforces the chapter, with the police chief assisting as needed under Section 19.05.010, and the collector may examine any place of business in the city to confirm the license schedule is being followed.

Applications run through Article 19.03: a first-time applicant files a written statement, and license renewal, statement audits, and confidentiality of financial information are all separately addressed there. A license is nontransferable and does not carry over automatically on a change of location or ownership under Section 19.02.130.