1000.1 Dealers in secondhand personal property in the District of Columbia shall be designated in classes, as set forth in this section.

1000.2 A Class A secondhand dealer shall be a person, firm or corporation, other than a Class B or a Class C secondhand dealer, engaged in the business of buying, selling, trading, exchanging or dealing in secondhand personal property of any description (other than motor vehicles), including the return or unused portion of any railroad ticket, order or token.

1000.3 A Class B secondhand dealer shall be a person, firm or corporation primarily engaged in the sale of new merchandise, and incidentally engaged in selling, trading, exchanging or dealing in secondhand personal property of any description (other than motor vehicles) as the result of having received that secondhand personal property in trade, or by repossession or as part payment for new merchandise.

1000.4 No Class B secondhand dealer shall engage in the business of dealing in used personal property except as an incident to the sale of other merchandise.

1000.5 A Class C secondhand dealer shall be a charitable organization, as defined in § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, which purchases or receives secondhand personal property (other than motor vehicles) for the purpose of resale; or a person, firm, or corporation which purchases or receives secondhand personal property of any description (other than motor vehicles) on consignment for the purpose of resale.

1000.6 Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring a secondhand dealer license for a person, firm, or corporation that sells the following kinds of secondhand personal property:

(a) Books, magazines, vinyl records, cassette tapes, compact discs, VHS videos, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, or other similar recorded media;

(b) Furniture, home furnishings, architectural salvage, or pianos;

(c) Rugs or tapestries;

(d) Used clothing;

(e) Household property, when offered for sale from the owner's residence on a temporary basis in connection with a garage sale or yard sale;

1. (f) Paintings, sculptures, drawings, etchings, engravings, photographs, lithographs, or prints;
2. (g) Jewelry that:
3. (1) Does not contain any precious metals and/or precious stones; or
4. (2) Contains precious metals and/or precious stones and has been purchased from an estate sale or certified auction; provided, that written verification shall be provided to any District government official, upon request, that any such jewelry was purchased from an estate sale or certified auction. For purposes of this subsection:
   1. (A) 'Written verification' shall mean a written record that includes a description of the jewelry purchased, any catalog numbers or identifying information, the date it was purchased, the purchase price, the identification of the seller (including the name, address, telephone number, and other relevant contact information), and an estimate of its fair market value;
   2. (B) 'Precious metals' shall include gold, silver, platinum, or palladium; and
   3. (C) 'Precious stones' shall include diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, or pearls;
5. (h) Merchandise that was accepted or received as a return, exchange, or for credit or refund if such merchandise was originally purchased as new merchandise from the person accepting or receiving it;
6. (i) The first sale, at retail, of merchandise that has been rebuilt by the manufacturer originally manufacturing it, or the licensed agents thereof, and sold as factory rebuilt or refurbished merchandise; or
7. (j) Puzzles or non-electronic games or game pieces, including game cards.

SOURCE: Commissioners’ Order 33-2803 (October 17, 1933); as amended by Section 1(a) of Article 1 of the Police Regulations (May 1981); as amended by § 2(d) of the Secondhand Dealers Regulation and Rental Housing Act of 1980 Clarification Act of 1981, effective July 14, 1981 (D.C. Law 4-15; 28 DCR 2255 (May 22, 1981)); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 11001, 11002 (September 21, 2012); as amended by the Charitable Solicitations Relief Amendment Act of 2016, effective February 18, 2017 (D.C. Law 21-0202; 63 DCR 15043 (December 9, 2016)).