Stafford Township, NJ Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Chapter 170 of the Stafford Township Code covers garage sales, lawn sales, attic sales, rummage sales, yard sales, flea market sales and any similar casual sale of tangible personal property that is advertised so the public at large can learn of it. Section 170-3 makes it unlawful to hold one in the Township, including Manahawkin, without first filing the required information with the Township Clerk and obtaining a garage sale license. The fee is fixed at $5.

Section 170-4A issues a license to any one person only two times within a twelve-month period. No license covers more than two consecutive calendar days, and rain dates must be specified. Section 170-4B adds a cap that follows the address: no more than four garage sales at any one location in a twelve-month period. The license states the applicant's name and the sale location and must be prominently displayed on the premises throughout the entire licensed sale.

Charitable, religious and civic organizations can be allowed more than two licenses with the approval of the Township Council. Section 170-8B separately lets a bona fide not-for-profit organization be exempted from the two-day limit by demonstrating its right to the Township Council, and a certified copy of a certificate of incorporation under Title 15 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey is presumptive evidence of that right.

The application under § 170-5 asks for the name of the person or group conducting the sale, the property owner's name and consent when the applicant is not the owner, the number of days of the sale and the rain dates, the date and nature of any past sale, and a sworn statement that the information is true. Under § 170-6 every sale runs between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. only. Section 170-8A exempts court-ordered sales, public officials acting within their duties, a person selling or advertising specifically named items that do not exceed five in number, and sales by a business in a place where the land use ordinances permit them.