Benton County, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

010(b) as every person engaged primarily in the business of buying or selling second-hand personal property, metal junk, or melted metals. 060 narrows that coverage: the chapter applies only to persons principally engaged in buying and selling used personal property, metal junk, melted metals, or similar goods as a major part of their business, and it does not reach automobile dealers or retailers who merely accept used goods as trade-in credit toward new merchandise sold at wholesale or retail. 020, every secondhand dealer doing business in unincorporated Benton County must keep a book, written legibly in English, recording each purchase or sale: the date, the name of the person conducting the transaction, the seller's name and address or a physical description if unknown, the property owner's information, a description of the goods, the price paid, witnesses, and any pawn ticket number, all open to inspection by county law enforcement at any time.

030 requires the dealer to deliver a full transcript of the prior day's transactions to the Benton County Sheriff before noon, with Saturday's business reportable the following Monday, and to report immediately any goods believed lost or stolen. 040 bars removing purchased property from the place of business, except on redemption by the owner, until 48 hours after the Sheriff has been notified, unless the seller is personally known to and trusted by the dealer.