New Berlin, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

71, and layers on local requirements: applicants must supply the name, age, race, date of birth and address of every employee, and each license runs January 1 to December 31. Covered articles include jewelry, firearms, knives and ammunition, paper money and coins, musical instruments, silverware, gold and silver bullion, and computers and electronic equipment. Garage sales, estate sales, licensed junk collectors and scrap processors, charitable organizations, and straightforward new-item returns or exchanges are excluded from the licensing requirement. The Police Department investigates every applicant, officer, member and employee before a license issues, and the license must be displayed on the premises.

For every reportable transaction, the dealer must log a detailed item description, purchase price, transaction date and time, the seller's full identifying information including a government photo ID number, and a color photograph of the item and any serial number, then upload the record to the RissProp system daily and keep it for three years, with photographs kept at least 90 days. Purchased items must be held separate from sellable inventory for at least 15 days, or 48 hours for gold and silver bullion before melting, and law enforcement can place a hold on any item for up to 90 days, renewable in writing.