New Brunswick, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chapter 5.108 of the New Brunswick Municipal Code covers the trade in used electronic equipment. Section 5.108.010 makes it unlawful to conduct or operate that business without a license from the clerk, and separately bars advertising for purchases or sales without one. The application goes to the city clerk on a form listing the applicant's name and address, the names and addresses of all officers and stockholders of a corporation, and the business location and hours. The clerk refers it to the chief of police or director of police, whose investigation of moral character and business responsibility takes no more than ten days. A recommendation to deny must state its grounds, and a conviction for a crime involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation is named as one.

Section 5.108.020 defines electronic equipment as any device operated with electricity, and lists stereos, televisions, cellular phones, computers, radar detectors and microwave ovens among the examples. Licensees must require each person offering an item for sale to produce identification and sign a receipt (Section 5.108.030). They must keep a log of every article purchased or sold showing the purchaser's name and address, the date, a description, the price paid and the purchaser's age, and make it available to any law enforcement officer on demand at the business premises (Section 5.108.040). Section 5.108.050 bars buying from anyone under 18 without a parent's or guardian's written consent. Each licensee delivers a $10,000 bond to the clerk under Section 5.108.060, and Section 5.108.070 sets the initial application fee at $100 and each annual renewal at $25. Purchased items must be kept at least 20 days before they are altered, resold or disposed of (Section 5.108.080). Wholesale purchases by regularly established businesses from wholesale dealers and suppliers for retail sale are exempt under Section 5.108.090.