Peoria, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Peoria's secondhand-dealer regulatory framework is housed in the Code of Ordinances Chapter 18 (Licenses, Miscellaneous Business Regulations), Article XI (Secondhand Dealers), with the application process at Section 18-472 et seq. The license is one of several occupational licenses on Peoria's published list, alongside Retail Tobacco, Mobile Food & Drink Vendor, Cannabis Business, Hotel/Motel, Liquor License, Recyclable Metal Dealer, Tire Business, and Short-Term Rental Property. A 'secondhand dealer' generally includes any person or business engaged in the buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting in trade of used merchandise such as jewelry, electronics, musical instruments, sporting goods, household items, and used clothing (where commercially significant), but does not include garage sales, charitable thrift stores, or auctioneers operating under separate state-licensed frameworks. Application requirements typically include identification of the principal owner(s), business location with zoning verification, payment of an annual license fee set by Code, and consent to police background-check review for principals. Operational requirements include: (1) maintaining a transaction register identifying every item received with description, serial numbers (where present), purchase price, and date; (2) verifying and recording the seller's name, address, and government-issued photo ID; (3) reporting transactions to the Peoria Police Department through the LeadsOnline electronic reporting system (or successor) so that stolen-property investigations can match items; (4) observing a holding period (commonly 10 to 30 days, set by ordinance) before resale, during which time the item must be available for police inspection; (5) refraining from buying from any person under 18 years of age. Pawnbrokers are separately governed by the Illinois Pawnbroker Regulation Act of 2023 (205 ILCS 511/) and predecessor 205 ILCS 510/, and recyclable-metal dealers are separately licensed in Peoria. Sexually oriented businesses, transient merchants, and gold-buying booths often qualify as secondhand dealers if they accept used items.