Hawthorne, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- HMC § 5.52.020(B)
- Annual fee
- $150/yr or gross receipts, greater
- Resale hold
- 5 days, except most furniture
- Furniture exception
- No hold except sewing machines, instruments, typewriters
- Police reports due
- Every Monday & Thursday by 10 a.m.
Summary
Hawthorne charges secondhand dealers $150 a year (or gross receipts, whichever is greater) under HMC § 5.52.020(B), and holds them to the same five-day resale hold and police reporting duties as pawnbrokers under Chapter 5.52.
Every person engaging in the business of pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, junk dealer or junk collector shall pay a license fee as follows: ... B. Secondhand dealer—$150.00 per year, or on gross receipts basis, whichever is greater;
Full Breakdown
010 defines a secondhand dealer as a person engaged in buying, selling or otherwise dealing in secondhand goods, except bicycles, but excludes anyone whose principal business is selling new goods and who merely accepts secondhand items as trade-in credit toward a new purchase. 00 per year, or on a gross-receipts basis, whichever is greater, distinct from the $200 pawnbroker fee, the $60 junk dealer fee, and the $60-per-vehicle junk collector fee in the same section. 060. 090 bars reselling or disposing of any purchased item within five days of acquiring it.
100 carves out a partial exception: secondhand dealers need not keep records of, report, or hold household furniture for five days, except sewing machines, musical instruments and typewriters, which remain fully subject to the record, report and hold rules. 110.
Violations & Fines
Failing to file the twice-weekly police report, failing to maintain the required purchase records, or refusing to exhibit records or goods to police on demand is unlawful under § 5.52.070. Selling within the five-day hold period, outside the household-furniture exception, also violates Chapter 5.52.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a secondhand dealer license cost in Hawthorne?
Do secondhand dealers have to hold furniture for five days like other goods?
Is a store that takes trade-ins on new merchandise a secondhand dealer?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hawthorne
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