Port Orange, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

City Code Article VII (§§ 18-196—18-202) covers any person buying, selling or dealing in secondhand articles of property in Port Orange, Florida, and classifies pawnbrokers, junk dealers and precious metals dealers as secondhand dealers under § 18-196. Dealers in used motor vehicles, used clothing, used furniture, thrift shops run by bona fide religious or charitable groups, and used-firearms dealers governed instead by Fla. ch. 538, pt. 335 are exempt under § 18-197. Every purchase must be logged under § 18-198: the seller's full name, address, phone numbers, employer, age, race, sex, signature, driver's license or other government ID number, a second identifying number and a thumbprint, plus a specific description of the item (type, material, manufacturer, serial number or marking), quantity, date and price paid.

A copy of that record must reach the Port Orange chief of police within 24 hours of the purchase. Section 18-199 then locks the item in place: the dealer must hold it, unaltered, in physical possession for ten days, though the dealer may sell the item to another licensed dealer during that window as long as physical possession and the ten-day clock continue, and the true owner may redeem it at any time within the ten days. Section 18-200 bars buying from anyone intoxicated, under 18, or who gives obviously false ID information.

Section 18-201 gives the chief of police or a designee the right to inspect the dealer's premises and required records at least once a month during business hours. Section 18-202 requires an annual business tax receipt from the city before a secondhand dealer, precious metals dealer, pawnbroker or junk dealer can operate; a dealer already taxed for selling new property is exempt from this extra fee but must still follow the article's other rules.