Revere, MA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

16 of the Municipal Code governs anyone who keeps a shop to buy, sell, or barter "regulated property" (precious metals, gems, jewelry, sterling silver, electronics, power tools, musical instruments, sporting goods, and collectibles) as a secondhand dealer, or who travels place to place buying such items as a secondhand collector. 020 caps any single cash purchase at $40 and bars consignment sales outright. 030 bars buying or bartering regulated property from a minor when the dealer knows or has reason to believe the seller is a minor.

060, the license commission can deny an application or revoke an existing secondhand dealer or collector license on probable cause of several disqualifying conditions: a license revoked within the prior five years for grounds that would support denial, the business being found a public nuisance, a felony or dishonesty-related conviction within fifteen years by anyone who helps own or manage the business, false statements or omissions on the application, an unjustified refusal to allow a police inspection, or more than five violations of the ordinance or any state or federal law within a two-year period.

Dealers must also keep computerized transaction records, obtain acceptable photo identification and the seller's address, photograph both the seller and the items for at least ten years, and hold regulated property for 15 to 21 days (up to 180 days if police flag it as tied to criminal conduct) before resale.