St. Peters, MO Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Section 605.850 bars anyone from conducting the business of a junk dealer in St. Peters without first obtaining a general business license under Article I of Chapter 605, and Section 605.860 requires a separate license for each additional place of business. Section 605.875 sets the operating rules: every junk dealer keeps a written or electronic register, retained a minimum of twenty-four months, recording the seller's driver's license or photo ID, current address, birth date and photograph, the date, time and place of the transaction, the seller's vehicle license plate, and a full description of the item with its weight and price.

Separate records apply to copper, brass or bronze; aluminum wire, cable, pipe, tubing, bar, ingot, rod, fitting or fastener; catalytic converters; and motor vehicle, heavy equipment or tractor batteries. Transactions of fifty dollars or less are exempt unless the item is a catalytic converter, as are dealings with an established business relationship or metal that is only a minor part of a larger item. Any payout of five hundred dollars or more must be made by a prenumbered check to the documented seller or through an automated system that photographs or videotapes the recipient.

Junk dealers must let any person inspect junk on the premises at reasonable hours, and cannot do business with an unemancipated minor under eighteen absent the written consent of a parent or guardian for that specific transaction. Section 605.857 folds in Article I of Chapter 605 for license suspension, revocation, denial, renewal, penalty fees and the investigation fee set in Section 605.013.