Toms River, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chapter 415, Precious Metals and Secondhand Goods, makes it unlawful under § 415-3A for any person, partnership, LLC or corporation to buy, sell or pawn precious metals or secondhand goods within the Township without first obtaining a license from the Municipal Clerk. Secondhand goods covers a long list: antiques, gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals, jewelry, coins, gemstones, tools, phones, computers, TVs, cameras, musical instruments, firearms, sporting goods, furniture and clothing, among other used items (§ 415-2). Estate and executor sales, occasional household auctions, real estate auctions, and casual coin or stamp swaps between private collectors are excluded from the definition and do not need a license.

Applicants give the Municipal Clerk their name, date of birth, address, citizenship status and full criminal history (§ 415-3B). The Chief of Police then investigates within 30 days, running an FBI Criminal History Record Information System fingerprint check through the State Bureau of Identification, and recommends a grant or denial in writing (§ 415-4). Grounds for denial include past fraud or deceptive dealing, convictions involving theft, receiving stolen goods, or deceit, and inability to comply with the electronic reporting and retention rules. Dealers must advertise their license number in at least eight-point type on printed ads or state it audibly or visibly in electronic ads (§ 415-3C). Itinerant businesses and transient buyers, those without six months at a fixed Township address, cannot be licensed at all (§ 415-3D).

Every reportable transaction must be entered same-day into a Chief of Police-approved electronic database with a signed declaration of ownership, a 10-megapixel photo of the seller's face and ID, and photos of each item purchased (§ 415-5). Purchased goods must stay untouched and available for police inspection for 10 calendar days after the transaction is reported (§ 415-6A), and records must be kept for five years (§ 415-6C). Each dealer posts a $10,000 surety bond (§ 415-7).