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

Division 3 of Article III of Chapter 94 licenses secondhand dealers in three tracks. Section 94-151 requires a secondhand article dealer's license, and the license authorizes the holder to operate as a secondhand article dealer anywhere in the state. A dealer who operates only on premises or land owned by the holder of a secondhand dealer mall or flea market license under § 94-156 need not obtain a separate dealer's license. Section 94-152 requires a secondhand jewelry dealer's license. The owner of premises or land where two or more persons operate as secondhand article dealers can hold a mall or flea market license if each dealer occupies a separate sales location, the market runs under one name and one address under the license holder's control, and each dealer delivers a record of sales, with the location of each sale, at the close of every business day.

The definitions in § 94-102 set who counts. A secondhand article dealer is a person, other than an auctioneer, who primarily engages in the business of purchasing or selling secondhand articles. Transactions at an occasional garage or yard sale, an estate sale, a gun, knife, gem or antique show or a convention are excluded, as are transactions by or with charitable organizations on donated goods. The jewelry definition carries the same garage sale, yard sale, estate sale and show exclusions.

Under § 94-153 the applicant discloses name, birth date and place, residence address, the business and premises owner, entity type and officers, and any felony conviction in the preceding ten years or misdemeanor or forfeiture offense in the preceding five years that substantially relates to the licensed activity. The Police Department investigates and reports in writing to the City Clerk (§ 94-154), and the council grants the license when no such conviction exists (§ 94-155(a)). Licenses cannot be transferred. Dealer and jewelry licenses run January 1 through December 31; a mall or flea market license runs two years, from May 1 of an odd-numbered year to April 30 of the next odd-numbered year (§ 94-155(c)). Fees are $27.50, $30.00 and $165.00 (§ 94-158).

Operating duties sit in § 94-150: the customer must show one of nine listed forms of identification, a transaction with a minor needs the parent or guardian present or written consent, and each transaction form is signed in ink and kept not less than one year. Purchases are held 10 days for articles and 15 days for jewelry, with an exception for United States coins, gold or silver coins and gold or silver bullion, and for consigned goods. Within 24 hours of a purchase the dealer makes the form or inventory available to a law enforcement officer.