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

Chapter 287 of the Taunton Code, rooted in the 1964 Revised Ordinances, licenses dealers, shopkeepers and traveling collectors of coins, gold or silver, copper wire, antiques, junk and secondhand articles. Section 287-1 bars storing, keeping for sale or dealing in these items without a Municipal Council license, and Section 287-2 separately licenses junk collectors who use a vehicle, requiring the licensee's name and license number painted in letters at least three inches tall on each side of the vehicle, subject to Police Chief approval. The City Clerk issues and records every license for a $100 fee under Section 287-4, running from May 1 to the following April 30.

Section 287-8 requires every licensee to keep a bound, consecutively numbered record book logging each purchase's description, quantity, price, date, and the seller's name, age, address and vehicle registration or license number, plus a photocopy of the seller's ID, the vehicle's plate number and a photograph of the material bought. That record must be kept for at least one year and shown to any police officer on demand during business hours. m. Section 287-11 bars buying from minors and requires purchased articles to sit unsold for at least two weeks after purchase.