Spokane County, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- License fee
- $25 per year
- License threshold
- Buying/selling more than 3x/year
- Records retained
- 3 years
- Consigned goods held
- 30 days minimum
- Minimum age
- 18 to hold license
- Daily transaction reports
- Due to Sheriff's Office
- Barred sellers
- Minors, intoxicated, past thieves
Summary
Anyone buying, selling or consigning used goods more than three times a year in unincorporated Spokane County must hold a secondhand dealer license under SCC 7.05.020. The county charges twenty-five dollars annually, bars licensees under eighteen, and requires the same detailed transaction ledger and stolen-property hold rules that apply to pawnbrokers.
It is unlawful for any person, association or corporation to do business as a dealer in secondhand goods without a license therefor, as herein provided; provided that no such license shall be granted or issued to any person under the age of eighteen, or to any association or corporation whose managing agent is under the age of eighteen years.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
Spokane County Code Chapter 7.05 governs secondhand dealers doing business outside incorporated cities and towns, defined by SCC 7.05.010 as anyone who buys, sells, trades, consigns or otherwise transfers used property, including metal junk and precious metals, more than three times a year, plus anyone running a flea-market or swap-meet stall that often. Items exempted from 'secondhand property' include coins that are legal tender, fabricated hallmarked bullion bars, and used books or clothing worth seventy-five dollars or less.
SCC 7.05.020 makes operating without a license unlawful and, like the pawnbroker chapter, bars anyone under eighteen, or a corporation whose managing agent is under eighteen, from holding one. SCC 7.05.030 sets the annual fee at twenty-five dollars, running through December 31st. SCC 7.05.040 requires the same kind of permanent transaction ledger as pawnbrokers: the customer's name, age, address and physical description, an itemized description of the property (including watch or jewelry markings), the price paid, government photo ID, and either a two-megapixel digital photograph or an inked thumbprint. SCC 7.05.060 requires a daily transcript of transactions to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, and SCC 7.05.080 requires consigned property to stay at the dealer's place of business, or within the county where it was received, for thirty days and be available for law-enforcement inspection. SCC 7.05.090 bars secondhand dealers from taking property from anyone under eighteen, anyone intoxicated, or anyone the dealer knows has a burglary, robbery, theft, or stolen-property conviction within the past ten years.
Violations & Fines
SCC 7.05.100 makes it a misdemeanor to skip a required ledger entry, falsify or destroy records within three years, refuse a sheriff's inspection, misreport to the Sheriff's Office, miss the noon daily-transcript deadline, fail to report suspected stolen property, release held goods before the five-day reporting window closes, or knowingly buy from a minor, an intoxicated person, or a habitual criminal under RCW 19.60.066(3).
Frequently Asked Questions
Who counts as a secondhand dealer under Spokane County's ordinance?
How much does a secondhand dealer license cost in Spokane County?
How long must a secondhand dealer hold consigned property before it can be moved?
Can a secondhand dealer buy from someone with a theft conviction?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spokane County
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