Second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers

Individuals and companies opening a business where second-hand goods are sold must register with the Commissioner of Police one month before opening. This includes:

second-hand dealers
pawnbrokers
second-hand markets operators.

This is required under the:

General exemptions

Business registration is not required by:

organisations selling donated goods, e.g. churches and schools
individuals and companies selling goods covered by other legislation e.g. Firearms, Second-hand Vehicle Dealers.

Please also see provisions set out in the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Regulations 2013

Regulation 4 (1) states; Section 8 and 9 of the Act apply only in relation to the following kinds of goods;

(a) Goods that a dealer receives under a contract of pawn;
(b) Prescribed goods.

Further, Regulation 4 (6) states that; Sections 6,7,8,9 and 10 of the Act do not apply in relation to the following businesses;

(a)    The business of selling second-hand vehicles carried on by a person licensed as a dealer, or exempt from the requirement to be licensed as a dealer, under the Second-hand Vehicle Dealers Act 1995.
(b)    The business of repairing prescribed goods for customers;
(c)    The business of acquiring prescribed good for the purposes of recycling metal and selling scrap metal obtained from those goods.

In order for businesses to seek advice and guidance with respect to the new legislative provisions, the Commissioner has approved an extension of the current amnesty period until 30 September 2016 for second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers in which to provide information to SAPOL.