Federal Way, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Temporary license threshold
- 90 days or less at one location
- Hold period on purchased goods
- 30 days (3 days if consigned)
- Covered venues
- Flea markets, hotels, tattoo parlors, taverns
- Frequency trigger
- More than 3 transactions per year
- Hosted home party records
- 4 copies kept 3 years
Summary
Federal Way requires secondhand dealers, including precious metal buyers and part-time sellers at flea markets or hotels, to hold a city clerk license, hold purchased goods 30 days, and report suspected stolen property to police.
No secondhand dealer or secondhand precious metal dealer shall sell or dispose of any article received or purchased or permit them to be removed from his or her place of business within 30 days after the receipt of such goods has been reported to the law enforcement authority for the city as provided herein, except when the goods have been inspected by the law enforcement authority for the city and they have authorized the secondhand dealer to dispose of such goods within a lesser period of time; provided, that consigned property need only be held for three days prior to sale. ... "Secondhand dealer" means every person who, as a business, engages in whole or in part in the purchase, sale, barter, sale on consignment, or otherwise exchanges for value secondhand goods including metal junk and melted metals... including but not limited to flea markets, swap meets, hotels, gas stations, tattoo parlors, and taverns, and conducting business more than three times per year.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 26-1049, passed August 11, 2026).
Full Breakdown
140(1) covers secondhand dealers alongside pawnbrokers. 010 reaches beyond fixed shops: it covers anyone buying, selling, bartering or consigning secondhand goods, including at flea markets, swap meets, hotels, gas stations, tattoo parlors, and taverns, so long as they transact more than three times a year. 290 bars a secondhand dealer from selling or disposing of purchased goods, or letting them leave the shop, within 30 days after the purchase is reported to law enforcement, unless police inspect and authorize earlier release; consigned property need only be held three days.
265 adds detailed receipt and four-copy record requirements, one copy each for seller, host, purchaser, and local law enforcement, for secondhand precious metal purchases made at hosted home parties, with those records kept three years. hours restriction that governs pawnbrokers to secondhand dealers as well, without the pawnbroker's December extension.
Violations & Fines
FWRC 12.15.330 adopts RCW 19.60.066 as a gross misdemeanor for altering a serial number on secondhand goods, knowingly entering false information in the required business book, or a dealer receiving property from a minor, an intoxicated person, or someone convicted of theft, burglary, or possessing stolen property within the past 10 years. Selling goods before the 30-day hold period under FWRC 12.15.290 expires without police authorization is also a chapter violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long must a Federal Way secondhand dealer hold purchased goods before reselling?
Do I need a license to sell secondhand goods at a one-time flea market table?
What records must a secondhand precious metal dealer keep for a home party sale?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Federal Way
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Secondhand Dealers in Nearby Cities
How other cities in King County handle secondhand dealers.