Retail & Second-Hand · 6 min read · Last updated
A second hand shop licence covers a business that sells used or previously owned goods. The definition is deliberately broad: it includes jewellery and precious metals, and it applies regardless of the age and condition of what you sell. If your stock has had a previous owner, this is the licence to look at first.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “A business that sells used or previously owned goods, including jewellery and precious metals regardless of age and condition.”
Who needs this licence?
The definition is short and wide: a business that sells used or previously owned goods, including jewellery and precious metals, regardless of age and condition. Vintage does not exempt you and neither does poor condition; what matters is that the goods had a previous owner.
The value of this licence lies in knowing where its edges are. Two neighbouring classes cover related businesses and are not interchangeable with this one:
- A pawnbroker takes goods by way of pawn or pledge for the repayment of money lent on them. That is lending, not reselling.
- A precious metals and jewellery dealer buys jewellery or precious metals for the purpose of smelting them. That is buying material to be destroyed, not stock to be resold.
A shop can drift across those lines without noticing, for example by starting to advance cash against items rather than buying them outright. If your model changes, check with Licensing and By-law Services rather than assuming the second hand shop licence still covers it.
You need a Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check from the police service board in the city where you live, dated within 36 days of your application, and third party clearances are not accepted.
What documents do you need?
The checklist has five items. The completed application form and a business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within one year of the application come first.
The Zoning Verification Certificate confirms the address is zoned for the use, and the Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check covers the applicant. That check has to be dated within 36 days and issued by the police service board where you live, and third party clearances are refused.
The fifth item is a photo of the sign to be posted for the collection of personal information. It reflects how the trade works: you record details about the people who bring goods in, and the sign is the notice to those people that their information is being collected. Photograph it once it is mounted, not while it is still a file on your computer.
Schedule 22 of the by-law carries the definition, requirements and restrictions for this class, so read it alongside the checklist. The checklist tells you what to file; the schedule tells you how to run the shop.
Zoning and premises requirements
A Zoning Verification Certificate is required and confirms that the zoning at your address permits the use. It attaches to the property rather than to you or the business.
Where the same category of business was previously licensed at the address within one year, a Zoning Addendum may be completed instead of the full certificate. Second hand retail units change hands often, so this route saves time and money more frequently here than in most classes.
There is no premise plan or site plan on this checklist. Zoning is about the use at the address, and the interior layout is not something you file.
Inspections and approvals
One inspection is required: a parking inspection, with the request circulated by the Licensing Team after your application has been received.
It checks the parking serving the premises against what the site requires. For a shop that draws walk-in traffic and occasional deliveries of bulky used goods, this is a practical question rather than a technicality.
There is no fire or health inspection on this licence's checklist, and no licensing education inspection of the kind a salvage business gets. The parking inspection is the single visit tied to this licence.
How much does it cost?
A new application carries a processing fee, the licence fee and the parking inspection fee. HST applies to the processing fee and the inspection fee; the licence fee is not subject to HST.
Zoning verification, or the addendum where you qualify for it, is charged separately and carries no HST. The fee schedule shows the total with the zoning line and the total without it.
There is no security deposit for this class, which is a pawnbroker requirement, and no photo fee, because no municipal photo ID card is issued with this licence.
Renewal is charged as the licence fee, with no recurring inspection charge. A licence allowed to lapse carries a reinstatement fee with HST. The City sets all amounts in its fee schedule and confirms them when you apply.
How to apply
Confirm this is the right class. Reselling used goods puts you here; lending against goods makes you a pawnbroker; buying jewellery or precious metals to smelt makes you a precious metals and jewellery dealer.
Request the Zoning Verification Certificate for the address, or check whether the addendum route is open to you.
Complete the application form and obtain a business registration or corporate profile dated within the past year. Order the Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check from the police service board where you live so it is within 36 days when you file.
Mount the personal information collection sign and photograph it in place. File the application; the Licensing Team then circulates the request for the parking inspection.
Renewals and staying compliant
Declarations A and B both have to be completed at renewal. There is no in-person attendance or photo requirement for this licence.
The renewal charge listed is the licence fee, and no repeat inspection charge appears in the renewal structure.
Renewal is a good moment to check that the shop still fits its licence class. If you have started advancing money against goods, or buying jewellery for smelting, that is a conversation to have with the City rather than a change to make quietly.
Renew before the expiry date. A late licence has to be reinstated and reinstatement carries its own fee with HST added.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. Which goods fall within the second hand shop definition?
The definition covers used or previously owned goods including jewellery and precious metals, regardless of age and condition.
2. You start advancing cash to customers against items they may come back for. What changes?
A pawnbroker takes goods by way of pawn or pledge for money lent, which is a different licence class from reselling used goods.
3. What must be photographed and filed with a second hand shop application?
The checklist requires a photo of the sign to be posted for the collection of personal information.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Hamilton, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.