Second Hand Good Dealers
A second-hand goods dealer registration certificate is required if you are involved in the business of dealing in second-hand goods.
A registration certificate is not required if the dealer is exempt from registration. Those exempted include charitable organisations, scrap metal dealers, motor vehicle dealers, jewellers and persons engaged in dealing in waste paper, cardboard, textiles or plastic in bulk. Also exempted are holders of a licence under section 22 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (i.e. those involved in credit or hire businesses) and persons engaged in any business whose primary purpose is the supply of new unused goods and to which the supply of second-hand goods is merely incidental.
Each certificate holder must keep a register at each of the premises within the Council's district at which s/he deals in second-hand goods sales. The register must be in the form of a bound book with consecutively numbered pages. The register must be kept until the end of a period of two years from the date on which the last entry was made in the register.
The register must record every transaction involving his or her acquisition of any such goods. It must also provide details of the date of the transaction, the quantity and description of the article(s), the name and address of the person from whom the article(s) was/were acquired and, where practicable, the registration number of any vehicle used by the seller to deliver the article(s) to the certificate holders premises.
Breaching any of these provisions constitutes a criminal offence.
How to apply
You can apply for a second hand good dealer's licence on the GOV.UK website: