Wauwatosa, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

55, rewritten by Ord. 020 to carry on or operate as a secondhand dealer in the city without being duly licensed. 010 defines 'dealer' or 'secondhand dealer' as any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association operating, owning or leasing a fixed place of business for the in-person purchase, sale or exchange of secondhand merchandise, a category that includes china, crystal, silverware, precious coins, computers, small electrical appliances, video games, musical instruments, fur clothing, tools, and ammunition and knives, among others; items in specific categories such as compact discs, DVDs, video games or sporting equipment are 'reportable' if valued over fifty dollars individually or as a group, and dealers cannot split transactions to dodge that threshold.

020 exempts motor-vehicle, coin, stamp, bullion, fine-art and secondhand industrial machinery dealers, online sellers who never take physical possession of goods in the city, and charitable sales. 050 bars licensure to anyone without good professional character or whose manager has not resided in Wisconsin continuously for at least a year. 060 requires reporting every acquisition to police within twenty-four hours with the seller's name, address, phone number and article description, and holding the item for thirty days (or twenty-one days if using the electronic reporting system) before altering or reselling it.

070 requires daily electronic transaction reporting to the police department, with a sign posted notifying patrons of that daily reporting. 080 requires a color digital photograph of every seller, their ID, and most acquired items.