Shasta County, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

16 splits the trade into two license types: a junk dealer operating from a fixed location and an itinerant junk dealer who goes door to door or place to place buying and reselling secondhand articles, goods, wares, or merchandise. Both require a separate application to the Board of Supervisors, and a licensee needs both licenses if doing both kinds of business, though a junk dealer may use vehicles incidental to a fixed-location business without a separate itinerant license. Applicants supply their name, age, address, and business history for the prior year, and the sheriff may demand photographs and fingerprints of anyone who will buy or handle goods for the business; no license issues until that demand is met.

The sheriff has up to 60 days to investigate and file a report on whether the applicant is a proper person for the license, and the Board of Supervisors can suspend a license for a set period or revoke it on conviction of a violation of the chapter or of any related county or state law, or for conducting business unlawfully. Once licensed, every junk dealer must mail or deliver a daily report to the sheriff describing each item acquired, its cost, and the seller's name, address, and physical description, and must hold merchandise for seven days (21 days if usable as originally intended) before reselling it. or on Sundays and legal holidays.