De Pere, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Sec. 110-6(b) separately defines a secondhand article dealer as any person, other than an auctioneer, in the business of purchasing or selling secondhand articles, with exceptions in Wis. 71(g), and a secondhand jewelry dealer as anyone, other than an auctioneer, purchasing, selling, receiving or exchanging secondhand jewelry, with exceptions in Wis. 71(h). "Article" is defined by a specific list running from audiovisual equipment and bicycles to computers, musical instruments, ammunition and knives, and small electrical appliances, but excludes jewelry, motor vehicles, large appliances, furniture, books and clothing other than furs.

Sec. 110-6(d) requires the licensee to take a color, digitized photograph of every item pawned or sold that lacks a permanently engraved or affixed serial or identification number, excluding only electronic media, with photos at least two inches by two inches and electronically cross-referenced to the transaction record; one group photo can cover mass items like several coins from a single transaction, and required digital images must be retained a minimum of 90 days. Sec. 110-6(e) requires every reportable transaction to be submitted to the police department daily by modem, with printed backup copies due by noon the next business day if the transfer fails, and a daily reporting-failure fee if a system problem is not corrected by the close of the next business day.

That failure-fee rule does not apply to a dealer with fewer than 200 reportable transactions in the past calendar year, though that dealer must still submit a written transaction form to police the business day after each transaction. A secondhand dealer mall or flea market license, unlike the calendar-year pawnbroker license, runs for two years, from May 1 of an odd-numbered year to April 30 of the next odd-numbered year.