Darlington County, SC Soliciting & Door-to-Door: Solicitor Permits (2026)

Sec. 10-31 defines a peddler, hawker, transient or temporary merchant as anyone with no permanent business address who sells or offers merchandise on county-maintained streets, on county-owned property, or from any location in unincorporated Darlington County where the seller has no permanent business address. Sec. 10-51 bars that person from offering or selling any goods, wares or merchandise unless he has received and can produce a license issued by the county administrator. Sec. 10-52 requires the application and approval to come before any selling begins, and the administrator may delegate the approval power.

Sec. 10-53 provides that an approved license runs until December 31 following its issue date, once the applicant pays the Sec. 10-55 fee. That fee schedule is based on the dollar value of gross receipts during the previous calendar year as reflected on federal tax returns: $100.00 on gross receipts not exceeding $5,000.00, plus $5.00 for each additional $1,000.00 or fraction of it; a new applicant who was not in business the entire prior year is charged on the average of monthly receipts while operating, times 12.

Sec. 10-54 exempts home-grown produce sellers, yard sales conducted on the seller's own or a cooperating resident's property, and licensed flea market vendors whose operator is current on fees and taxes, though the county administrator may still waive only the fee, not the license, for tax-exempt religious and charitable organizations under Sec. 10-54(c) and (d). Sec. 10-56 requires the license to be prominently displayed for the public to see, and Sec. 10-32 makes any violation of the peddler article, including aiding a violation, a misdemeanor punished under Sec. 1-8, with each day of a continuing violation after notice a separate offense.