Second-hand goods licence

Any person operating a business where all or the majority of their goods sold are second-hand must be registered with us (Environmental Health) who will issue a Second-Hand Dealer Registration Certificate.

There is no registration fee and the Certificate is valid for 3 years at which point it must be renewed.

Every person registered as a Second-Hand Dealer must keep a register of every transaction made including the date of each transaction, the quantity and description of articles purchased/sold and the name and address of the person from whom the articles were acquired.

The register must be kept for at least 12 months and must be produced on request to any Authorised officer of the Council or to a Police Officer.

When an application for registration under Section 54 of the Greater Manchester Act 1981 is received, Rochdale Borough Council shall register the applicant and, if the application specifies premises, those premises and then issue to the applicant a certificate of registration.

To apply for a licence contact the Licensing Unit using the link below.

Registration will not be refused if the application form is properly completed.

Yes. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the local authority by the end of the target completion period of 5 working days.

You must still comply with the requirements of record keeping as stated in Section 54 of the Greater Manchester Act 1981.

• ​A summary of the eligibility criteria for ​this licence
• Anyone can apply for registration.
• There is no fee for registration.

There are exemptions from the need to register which include:

• Organisations that are registered as a charity under section 4 of the Charities Act 1960.
• A person registered under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964.
• The holder of a licence under section 22 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
• A person engaged in the business either of financing the acquisition of goods by means of hire-purchase agreements, conditional sale agreements or credit-sale agreements.
• A person engaged in a business of which the primary purpose is the supply of new unused goods and the supply of second-hand or used goods is incidental.
• A person dealing in waste paper, cardboard, textiles or plastics in bulk.
• A person dealing in motor vehicles.

Consumer complaint​s

We would always advise that in the event of a complaint the first contact is made with the trader by you – preferably in the form of a letter (with proof of delivery). If that has not worked, if you are located in the UK, G​OV.UK will give you advice. From outside the UK contact the ​ UK European Consumer Centre.

On receipt of a completed application form we would issue the Certificate of Registration within 5 working days, by second class post.

• Contact the Licensing Unit
• Contact the Public Protection Service