Duluth, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered dealers
- Secondhand, antique, consignment, auction house
- License trigger
- Items over 1% precious metal by weight
- Bond required
- $2,000 corporate surety bond
- License term
- Expires April 30 annually
- Exempt
- Licensed pawnbrokers, investment metal contracts
Summary
In the City of Duluth, a secondhand dealer who buys or sells items containing gold, silver or platinum must hold a precious metal dealer license under Duluth Legislative Code § 36-17, since the ordinance's definition of 'precious metal dealer' expressly includes secondhand dealers, antique dealers, consignment house dealers and auction house dealers.
Precious metal dealer. ... Any person except banks or financial corporations regulated under Title 12, U.S. Code or chapters 47, 48 or 80A of Minnesota Statutes who engages in the business of buying or selling secondhand items containing precious metal, including, but not limited to, jewelry, coins, watches, eating utensils and tableware, candlesticks, religious and decorative objects, ingots and other objects. Dealers in these items shall include, without limitation, antique dealers, consignment house dealers, secondhand dealers and auction house dealers. ... Secondhand dealer. Any dealer whose regular business includes the purchase, sale or trade of secondhand goods, wares or merchandise. ... (a) No person shall exercise, carry on, or be engaged in the activity, business or trade of a precious metal dealer or advertise or hold himself or herself out to be a precious metal dealer within the city unless the person is currently licensed pursuant to the provisions of this Article. Such license shall authorize the licensee to operate as a precious metal dealer only at the premises named on the license. Each premises shall require a separate license;
Full Breakdown
Chapter 36's Article II definitions in § 36-16 define a 'secondhand dealer' as any dealer whose regular business includes the purchase, sale or trade of secondhand goods, wares or merchandise, and then fold that category into the broader 'precious metal dealer' definition covering anyone who buys or sells secondhand items containing more than one percent silver, gold or platinum by weight, things like jewelry, coins, watches, tableware and religious objects. Because of that link, § 36-17(a) makes it unlawful for a secondhand dealer handling precious-metal items to exercise, carry on, engage in, or even advertise that trade within the city without a license, issued separately for each business premises.
A licensed pawnbroker does not need a separate precious metal dealer license to buy or receive precious metal items, per § 36-17(c), and investment metal contracts and federally regulated commodity transactions are exempt under § 36-17(b). Applicants post a $2,000 corporate surety bond and pay a fee under § 36-18, with licenses expiring every April 30. Licensees must record each reportable transaction, buyer identification, item description, price and signature, photograph both the item and the seller, and report daily to the Duluth Police Department's chief of police, who can require computerized recordkeeping and electronic transmission of records to headquarters.
Violations & Fines
Operating as an unlicensed precious metal or secondhand dealer, or falsifying required transaction and identification records, exposes a dealer to the same suspension-for-up-to-60-days or revocation-for-good-cause regime, and the same ten-day hearing-demand and city council appeal process, that governs pawnbroker licenses under this Chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a secondhand shop in Duluth need its own precious metal license?
Do pawnshops need both a pawnbroker license and a precious metal dealer license?
What records must a Duluth secondhand precious metal dealer keep?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Duluth
Compare Duluth to another location·View the Minnesota business licensing & operations overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.