Haverhill, MA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Chapter 204, Sales, Special, requires anyone holding a flea market, garage sale or yard sale in Haverhill to first get a license from the City Clerk under § 204-1, and the Clerk notifies the Police Department of every license issued. Section 204-2 then limits how often a given address can hold one: no more than two sales, each running no more than two consecutive days, within a twelve-month period for that address or location, and one rain date is allowed if weather forces a postponement.

The code closes an obvious loophole by treating multifamily and apartment buildings as a single address, so the two-sale limit applies to the whole building rather than to each unit inside it. Only antiques, secondhand articles, handmade articles and used household articles may be sold; new merchandise is not allowed at a licensed sale. City-sponsored flea markets get a special carve-out: they are exempt from the twelve-month frequency limit for the period from May 1 through September 30, and under § 204-3 they are exempt from the license fee entirely, as are churches.

The standard license fee is $75 for a flea market and $5 per day for a yard or garage sale, under § 204-3. Section 204-4 exempts flea markets held entirely inside a business building, which are instead licensed and treated like any other business selling new or used goods.