Harrisburg, PA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Section 3-359.2 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, applies to any person who wholly or in part engages in the trade or business of buying or selling used goods such as antiques, precious stones, stained glass, metals, jewelry, tools, electrical devices, fixtures, appliances, household goods, firearms and bric-a-brac. The list is expressly not exclusive and reaches all articles and goods purchased, salvaged or received from any person, association, partnership or corporation. Four activities fall outside the definition: judicial sales and sales by executors or administrators, sales of unredeemed pledges by or for licensed pawnbrokers, occasional or auction sales of household goods sold from private homes, and auctions of real estate.

Every dealer must keep a book, legibly written in English at the time of acquiring each article, recording a full and accurate description including brand name, model number, serial number, inscribed initials, dates or names and any other identification; the date and time of purchasing, salvaging or receiving the item; the amount of money paid; and a description of the seller, including name, address, date of birth, sex, race and motor vehicle operator number.

The reporting deadline is daily. Before 12:00 p.m. of the following day of business, the dealer delivers a written report to the Bureau of Police describing all articles received during the previous business day and identifying the person who supplied them. The Bureau of Police provides the forms.

Goods must stay on the dealer premises in their original form, shape and condition, and cannot be sold or disposed of until seven days have elapsed from the time the police were furnished the form. A dealer also cannot accept a pledge from a person under 18, from anyone intoxicated, or from any known thief.

Two companion sections in the same chapter apply. Section 3-359.4 gives an affirmative defense to retention violations involving precious metals when the dealer proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, serious and substantial economic losses from rapid and highly fluctuating market conditions. Section 3-359.5 entitles a police officer showing a badge and proper identification to information the officer legitimately requires, including transaction records over the past 24 months, and failure to provide it results in revocation of any and all licenses.