Scranton, PA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency Limits (2026)

Unlike many surrounding Pennsylvania boroughs and townships, the City of Scranton has not adopted a frequency cap on garage or yard sales. The Code of Ordinances at https://ecode360.com/SC1588 includes no chapter dedicated to garage or yard sales, so as a matter of municipal law a Scranton household may hold any reasonable number of occasional residential sales without a permit or codified frequency restriction. The practical limit on frequency comes from three indirect sources: (1) Scranton's business license framework — Code Enforcement may treat repeated sales involving inventory the seller did not personally use as unlicensed retail activity requiring a business license; (2) Scranton Code Chapter 333 (Secondhand Goods and Dealers) at https://ecode360.com/11606630, which licenses and regulates ongoing resale of used goods and can capture habitual sellers operating as de facto dealers; and (3) PA Department of Revenue sales-tax rules (https://revenue-pa.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/552/~/do-i-need-a-sales-tax-license-when-i-host-a-yard-sale), which exempt non-recurring isolated sales but not frequent or commercial sales — frequent sellers must register and collect Pennsylvania's 6 percent sales tax. Scranton's Zoning Ordinance home-occupation rules also prohibit residential properties from being used for outdoor retail sales as a continuing use. Lackawanna County itself imposes no county-wide garage-sale frequency cap. Residents should confirm whether their property sits inside Scranton City limits or in an adjoining municipality such as Dunmore, Dickson City, Throop, or South Abington Township, where local rules may differ and some boroughs impose frequency caps.