Ventura, CA Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Sales allowed per year
- 1 per address
- Max duration
- 2 consecutive calendar days
- License needed if within limits
- None required
- Includes
- Yard and patio sales
- Governing section
- SBMC § 6.200.090
Summary
In the City of Ventura, a resident may hold only one garage sale per calendar year, and it cannot run longer than two consecutive days, under San Buenaventura Municipal Code Section 6.200.090. A sale that stays within those limits needs no business license, but selling more often, or extending the sale, converts it into an unlicensed business.
A garage sale is the sale from the residence or residential lot of a vendor of the vendor’s personal property which has been used in their home and which personal property was not purchased, acquired, or solicited by the vendor for the purpose of resale. A yard or patio sale is included within the definition of garage sale. ... It is unlawful for any person to conduct more than one garage sale in any calendar year. It is unlawful for any person to conduct a garage sale that lasts for more than two consecutive calendar days. ... No business license is required to be obtained by a person who conducts one garage sale, which does not exceed two consecutive calendar days in length, in any calendar year.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-008, passed May 12, 2026).
Full Breakdown
090(A) defines a garage sale as the sale, from a residence or residential lot, of the vendor's own used personal property that was not bought, acquired or solicited for resale, and folds yard and patio sales into the same definition. Subsection (B) makes it unlawful to conduct more than one garage sale at the same address in any calendar year, and unlawful for a sale to run more than two consecutive calendar days. Subsection (C) exempts a garage sale from the city's business license requirement only if it meets both limits: one sale per year, capped at two consecutive days.
A resident who wants to sell used household goods a second time in the same year, or who leaves a sale running for a third day, falls outside the exemption and must obtain a business license like any other seller, and remains separately subject to the frequency and duration ban in subsection (B). 200, Sales, alongside the city's other sale-specific ordinances for closing-out sales, auction sales, and peddler and solicitor registration, and traces back to Code 1971 Section 2258.
Violations & Fines
Holding a second garage sale at the same address within one calendar year, or letting a sale run longer than two consecutive days, violates Section 6.200.090(B) and forfeits the business-license exemption in subsection (C). A sale that exceeds either limit is treated as an unlicensed business sale, exposing the seller to the city's standard business-license enforcement and citation process that applies to any unlicensed commercial activity in Ventura.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many garage sales can I have per year in Ventura?
Do I need a business license for a garage sale in Ventura?
Does a multi-day moving sale count the same as a garage sale?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ventura
California rules heatmap·Compare Ventura to another location·View the California garage & yard sales overview
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Frequency, Duration & Permits in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Ventura County handle frequency, duration & permits.