Tompkins County, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Section 127-12 of the Tompkins County Code, within Chapter 127 Peddling and Soliciting, adds rules specific to "the purchase and/or sale of precious metals" on top of the chapter's general transient-business licensing scheme. Dealers must transact in "accepted trade standards" (karat, metric, troy), conspicuously post the range of prices being paid, and use only New York State-approved scales for both lightweight and heavyweight metals. Every purchase must be recorded with a full description of the item, the seller's name, address and telephone number confirmed against a driver's license, Social Security card, or other picture ID, and the seller's physical description (height, weight, hair, eye color, complexion).

" Records must be kept available to law enforcement at any time covering transactions in the community, and for a period of 90 days after the fact. Any hawker, peddler, solicitor, or transient business dealing in precious metals must also secure the same bond required for advance-payment transactions under § 127-4B. Because § 127-12 sits inside the general peddling chapter, a precious-metals or jewelry buyer must first hold the underlying § 127-2 hawker/peddler/transient-business license from the Sheriff before these additional recordkeeping rules even apply, and violating either the base license requirement or the § 127-12 recordkeeping rules is punishable under the chapter's general penalty section.